Muslims war on Christians.

Kaduna, Nigeria--As previously reported (C. I. March 2000, p.20), clashes between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria began when several of the states defied the central government by imposing the Sharia, the strict Islamic legal code. After religious riots in the northern state of Kaduna had left hundreds dead in February, the federal government directed all states in the country to suspend the enforcement of the code.

However, in March a man in Zamfara state accused of stealing a cow had his right hand amputated in keeping with the code. In April the governor of Katsina state, also in the north, sent forward a bill to establish Sharia, urging Muslim leaders not to be put off by Christian opposition.

In Saki, a town in southwestern Nigeria, Muslim extremists angered by Easter activities embarked on street demonstrations, burning two Baptist churches. Retired General A.K. Togun said he was unhappy with the way the police handled the crisis, and pointed to Muslim leaders as the masterminds of the anti-Christian crusade.

Archbishop Onaiyekan of Nigeria's capital Abuja noted that some circles dislike the policies of President Obasanjo and are exploiting religious differences to make trouble for him. The Catholic bishops of Nigeria have condemned the violence on all sides and said the Church is committed to a united Nigeria, in which persons of different ethnic and religious traditions can live together in peace and harmony. They mentioned that their opposition to Sharia legislation does not diminish their respect for Islam and its adherents.

But in May, an estimated thousand people died in clashes in Kaduna province alone, culminating in the particularly brutal murder and mutilation of Father Clement Ozi Bello at the end of the month. The U.S. National Catholic Register reports a British-based Nigerian priest, Father Augustine Ihedinma, as saying that the Islamic bloc within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are increasingly trying to forge strong links with Nigeria and, by inference, furnishing arms to Muslim extremists. "There are good relations in some parts of the country between Christian and Muslim," the priest said, "but I also believe that Christians are right to be worried about the Muslims."

Kauda, Sudan--In February, government bombs fell on Holy Cross School in Kauda, in the Nuba mountains, killing 14 children and one teacher and wounding 17 other students. Government officials defended this atrocity, saying that schools are a legitimate target in the country's lengthy civil war. One official said, "The bombs landed where they were supposed to land."

Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obeid, whose jurisdiction includes the Nuba region, said, "Truly, this is a 'slaughter of the innocents,' an unbridled attempt to destroy the Nuba's hope, and, indeed, their future by destroying their children." Bishop Gassis, exiled from his See and called the most wanted man in Sudan, has received the William Wilberforce Award, named after the British parliamentarian who fought against the slave trade 200 years ago. The comparison with Wilberforce is very much in order, for among the abuses which the bishop denounces are attempts to force the country's Christian population to convert to Islam, concentration camps for Christians, and slave raids which steal Christian children from their parents.

An anti-slavery campaign based on the U.S. is doing its best to counter this kind of abuse. Christian Solidarity International buys slaves at market price in order to set them free. By February, 25,000 slaves had been rescued. Bishop Gassis rightly calls the government's policy a campaign of genocide; it is estimated that two million Christians and animists have been killed as a result of it.

There is a Canadian aspect to the Sudanese problem. An Amnesty report, Sudan, The Human Price, concludes that a Calgary oil company, Talisman, is partly responsible for the atrocities in the country because of the royalties it pays to the regime. Dr. Janet Epp Buckingham of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada declares that Talisman is in a business partnership with the government of Sudan and has the responsibility of ensuring that its business activities do not contribute to violations of human rights. So far, Talisman has not made a satisfactory response.

Lahore, Pakistan--Two Christian brothers, Rasheed and Saleen Masih, were given 35- year prison sentences in mid-May for alleged blasphemy against Islam. The offences were said to have taken place after an ice-cream vendor refused to serve the two Christians ice cream in the same bowls used by Muslims. He filed a complaint with the police, claiming that the brothers had made "bad remarks" against Islam and Mohammed.

The defendants' lawyer, Pervaiz Aslam Chaudhry, called the ruling "very strange," both because a lower court does not have jurisdiction to hear the case and because there were clear contradictions in the evidence given by witnesses for the prosecution.

At the concluding hearings, an appeal was broadcast from a nearby mosque, urging faithful Muslims to gather at the courthouse where a blasphemy trial was in progress. The mob which demonstrated outside the courtroom demanded the death sentence for both culprits.

Also in May, seven Christian women were raped near Lahore by five armed men who hijacked the bus in which the women were travelling after concluding their night shift in a garment factory. The Christian Liberation Front demanded an enquiry, but five days after the incident the police registered a case that did not include rape charges. One week after that, no suspects had been arrested, nor are they likely to be if it becomes clear that religious motives are behind the attack (Tablet, May 20.)