April (Web-only) 2004

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Was massacre much larger than earlier reported?
Compass Direct, a news service focusing on religious persecution issues, issued a stunning report this week by Obed Minchakpu in Jos, Nigeria. While reports last month noted the destruction of four churches torched by Muslim youths, Minchakpu reports that the violence continued. The final death toll, he reports is 1,500 Christians, including eight pastors. He also reports that 173 churches, not four, were destroyed in the violence, which spread into multiple states. Tens of thousands of others have been displaced by the violence.

Compass's main source was quoted by Nigerian newspapers, but their articles do not include most of the staggering figures. However, on at least one figure, the Nigerian media's numbers are higher than those of Compass. The Daily Times of Nigeria says that at least 60,000 people were displaced by the violence; Compass puts the number at "about 50,000." Still, Weblog hasn't found any media references to 1,500 Christian deaths. Any help from readers who monitor Nigeria?

In any case, while The Daily Times hopefully wrote, "60,000 displaced as Plateau clashes end," violence continues. Accusing a Christian youth ("suspected to be insane," says the Vanguard newspaper of Lagos) of desecrating a copy of the Qur'an, a Muslim mob on Saturday went on a fresh rampage. They destroyed 10 churches.

Sam Kujiyat, vice chairman of the Kaduna branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria, told Reuters that "foreign-funded Islamic extremism" was behind the attack. "We want to alert both the federal and state government that terrorists, hiding under religion, have invaded Kaduna state," he said at a press briefing. "Unless something urgent is done to identify and fish them ...