Rioters demand stoning of Christian woman accused of ‘blaspheming’ Muhammad.
DUTSE,
The attacks on September 19 and 20 were sparked by allegations that a Christian woman had blasphemed the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Angered Muslims demanded that the woman, identified only as a tailor named Jummai, be stoned to death for her comments.
“Muslims believed that the Christian woman would not be stoned to death, and that is why they decided to vent their anger on Christians and their churches,” Malam Isa Hussani told Compass.
Rumors spread rapidly, and after a few skirmishes on the evening of the dispute, a rampage broke out the following morning against the churches, homes and businesses of local Christians.
Hundreds of Muslims assembled on September 20 at 10 a.m. at Dutse’s Central Mosque, with another group congregating at the district Muslim leader’s residence. Christian leaders said the mobs were addressed by the Emir (Muslim leader) of Dutse, Dr. Nuhu Muhammadu Sanusi, his defense minister, and Jiwaga State Governor Ibrahim Saminu Turaki.
According to the South Korean online “OhmyNews” website, all three officials as well as State Police Commissioner Abubakar Sardauna were trying to “keep the protest from getting out of hand,” but failed when police fired teargas into the crowd, enraging the protestors and sending them on a rampage. Sardauna declined to speak to Compass about the incident.
The Rev. Joseph Hayab, secretary of the North-Western Nigerian chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, confirmed that 10 churches were torched in the attack, although a police spokesman told Reuters that a total of 11 churches had been burned.
Pope’s statements fuel dispute
Hussani, one of the Dutse Muslims protesting against the woman, said that Jummai’s argument with an unidentified Muslim man on September 19 had started over controversial statements about Islam attributed to Pope Benedict XVI the previous week.
But persons who witnessed the verbal dispute stated that Jummai was reacting to a blasphemous remark against Jesus Christ made by the Muslim man.
“Such a minor incident between a Muslim man and a Christian woman should not have led to the destruction of churches,” Hayab told Compass. “This is a heinous crime in the name of religion.”
