Nigeria is home to over 250 tribes and 140 million people of various religious leanings. Over the years, sectarian violence has broken out between Muslims and Christians, especially in the northern part of the country. The last few years have been relatively free of significant violence but all that changed on Thursday, November 27th.
As the world renowned Dalai Lama gave a speech about religious tolerance in Lagos, the northern city of Jos, in Plateau State, was set ablaze with sectarian violence. The irony is that the violence and deaths began on the same day the Dalai Lama was praising Nigeria and saying,
“[b]asically here in Nigeria, I think the large number of Muslims, the large number of Christians, I think basically remain very harmoniously, this is wonderful, please keep this type of harmonious relationship.”
Fighting was initially sparked by supporters of two political parties, the ANPP and PDP, as they awaited local government election results. The chaos soon took a religious tinge resulting in the death of at least 300 citizens.
