On January 17th, news began circulating that violence had erupted in the central Nigerian city of Jos. In the following hours, reports of the fighting spread as witnesses reported mobs armed with knives and machetes roving among burning houses, mosques, and churches. source: wikimedia commons The conflict is ostensibly sectarian: Jos is a major city along Nigeria's “Middle Belt” – the border area which divides the country's Christian-majority south from its Muslim-majority north. This is not the first time violence has erupted in Jos: once known as a favorite destination for expatriates and tourists, the Plateau State capital has previously seen deadly riots in 2001 and 2008. During the past decade, more than 13,500 deaths have been attributed to sectarian violence in Nigeria — conflict which many observers say is more about resources than religion. The initial cause of the fighting in Jos remains unclear: some witnesses cite a disagreement over the rebuilding of houses destroyed by rioting in 2008, some point to a row over a football match, some to the burning of a church. However, regardless of its source, the violence spread quickly: some sources have estimated the death toll as high as 400 with up to 17,000 people displaced. Authorities declared a 24-hour curfew on the city and on January 19th, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan (standing in for the absent President Yar'Adua) sent the military to take control of the city. Brenda Hartman-Souder wrote about her view of the conflict: Yesterday we seesawed between eerie quiet with almost no traffic on the road below our home and gunshots, the cackling fires of destruction and the excited voices of hundreds of onlookers. They were standing on the rocks and hills behind us watching gangs of youth torch and destroy buildings and homes – Muslim or Christian – depending on which neighborhood you lived in. All of it barbaric and still hard to believe. This morning we climbed the hill again to see raging bonfires in the empty lot over our wall. Youth were carrying loads of household goods – pots, pans, a bookshelf – and feeding the black and smelly fire. We realized they were burning the possessions in those destroyed houses and other buildings that had been occupied by Muslims. These acts of pure meanness and revenge are happening all over Jos. One group starts a fight or fire, the other side takes revenge, people are killed, their homes destroyed. And what has this accomplished? Acclaimed journalist Sunday Dare, wrote about the destruction of his childhood home: My family home in the Nasarawa area where I grew up with all my siblings and where we all lived for nearly three decades was razed down by irate Hausa youths. My only elder brother who had just returned from church moments ago while trying to escape from a burning house was hacked down with knives and machete and left to burn with the house. Even as I write, his charred body lies on the ground around the house because it is impossible to recover his body due to a breakdown of security. I know of several family friends whose homes were equally burnt and relatives missing. I know of thousands of Jos residents hunkered down in hide outs and safe heavens in different parts of Jos unable to venture out. He reflected on more peaceful times: Jos never used to be like this. Not the killing fields that it has now become…. My primary and secondary school days were bright and simple. I had friends, many of them and their religion was never an issue. My friends and I, though of different religions and tribe bonded like brothers and shared almost everything. That was then. This is now. Now in full adulthood, our friendships still remain though pushed into the realm of uneasiness because we all have suffered loss from the several conflicts that have engulfed the State. We have all failed to find an explanation, nay justification for what is happening. When, why and how did Jos lose it? What changed that turned friendly neighbors into bitter enemies and near savages? Olusegun Gbolagun also wondered what had gone wrong: Why will a dispute over a building project throw the whole city into predicament? Why would a difference of opinion in a section of the city grossly affect the entire Jos city? What would make neighbours and friends suddenly become enemies? A simple disagreement claimed over 300 lives, destroyed hundreds of houses, cars and various properties. These are issues I kept thinking about during this present mayhem in Jos City. I keep thinking why there is such a tensed atmosphere in this city. Trust seems elusive. There must be more than meet the eye in this crisis. Adeola Aderounmu saw a connection between the conflict in Jos and the attempted bombing by Umar Abdulmutallab.