Religious violence sparked by a Muslim cutting off a Christian's hand Oct. 26 in Niger state's Tungan Rogo village left three Christians dead and at least 13 others injured.
Adams Erena, secretary to the government of Niger state, told journalists on Oct. 27 that a Muslim Fulani tribesman had taken his cattle onto the farm of a Christian from the Gwari tribe, damaging his crops. When the Christian demanded to know why, the Muslim used a machete to cut off one of his hands.
News of the severed hand ignited violence that spread to Tungan Rogo, where a policeman, Sgt. Danladi Wasse, was among the Christians who died. The violence destroyed 18 houses.
Religious nerves in Niger state were already on edge following a September 21 attack by Muslims at the Bosso campus of the Federal University of Technology (FUT) at Minna. A group of Muslims, including at least one extremist brandishing a knife, broke into lecture halls at the school in an effort to enforce sharia, or Islamic law.
Joshua Ochoge, president of the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) at the university, said students were in class "when suddenly, the fanatical Muslim students stormed the halls and began attacking Christian students. The situation later resulted in a fight between the fanatics and the Christian students."
According to another account, a Muslim student had gone into one of the lecture halls and saw a Christian girl who did not have a veil as required by the Islamic dress code. He then stabbed her with a knife.
It was at that point that other Muslim students joined in the attack on other Christian students in other lecture halls, according to a university source. The result was a melee between the Christian students and their Muslim counterparts.
Ochoge, a fifth-year chemical engineering student, told Compass that five Christian students were injured. "Some Christian students have been taken to hospitals in the town, while others have left for medical attention out of the town," he said.
Christian students and lecturers told Compass that since the introduction of sharia in Niger state five years ago, pressure has mounted on the university administration to impose the Islamic code on Christians. As a result, school officials have set up a committee to design guidelines that will allow the enforcement of sharia.
David Jimoh, Patron of the FCS and a lecturer at the university, told Compass that the attack on Christians there did not come as a surprise.
