Mick Hartley

Either, we're told, the recent massacre in Nigeria had little to do with religion, or it was Muslim revenge for earlier Christian-instigated killings in January. Here's Baroness Cox, CEO of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, writing to the Times:

[Y]our leading article reflects an inaccurate misrepresentation of the history of violence in referring to “a Christian-on-Muslim attack in January”. There are always claims and counter-claims, but on that occasion, reports clearly indicated that the killings began when Muslim youths attacked Christians on a Sunday morning, on their way to church. Muslims were also killed as those under attack began to fight back.

In the violent attacks, not only in Plateau state, but also in neighbouring Bauchi and other northern states, a consistent pattern has emerged: they are initiated by well-armed Muslim extremists, chanting militant slogans, attacking and killing Christian and other non-Muslim citizens and destroying homes and places of worship.

In the early stages of the attack, the Muslim militants take corpses to mosques, where they are photographed and released to the media, creating the impression that these are Muslim victims. The security forces have reportedly been too slow to intervene to stop the massacres. Subsequent retaliation has led to the deaths of Muslims, some of whom also died when security forces eventually intervened….

All the evidence on the ground indicates that these acts of violence are not primarily political or tribal. They are instigated by militant Islamist extremists.

Indeed, here's a report from January:

Angry Muslim youths set fire to a church filled with worshipers, starting a riot that killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 300 in Jos, in northern Nigeria, officials said Monday.

See also Leo Igwe.