Tension has eased in Jos in Nigeria's Plateau State following a weekend of deadly violence, but resentment is growing among members of the Christian community there who feel that the international media's reporting of events has been “biased and inaccurate", according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
The wave of violence saw rioters armed with guns, spears, machetes and other weapons attack a number of Christian businesses, churches and the homes of clergymen.
They are angry that several international news agencies reported that the wave of violence was triggered by the results of a local government election.
Sources in Jos told CSW, however, that voting took place peacefully and that the violence broke out in the early hours of last Friday, before electoral results had been announced.
A local source told CSW: “As usual they took Jos by surprise, and are now hiding behind election results to launch and excuse their mayhem.”
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Plateau State, the Most Rev Ignatius Kaigama, said the attacks were religiously motivated.
“We were taken aback by the turn of events in Jos. We thought it was political, but from all indications it is not so," he said.
"We were surprised at the way some of our churches and property were attacked and some of our faithful and clergy killed. The attacks were carefully planned and executed. The questions that bog our minds are why were churches and clergy attacked and killed? Why were politicians and political party offices not attacked if it were a political conflict? Why were the business premises and property of innocent civilians destroyed?
"We strongly feel that it was not political but pre-meditated act under the guise of elections.”
CSW said it was even more concerned over reports that appeared to suggest that Christians had killed 300 Muslims and deposited their bodies at a central mosque over the weekend.
The persecution watchdog said that the men died while obeying orders from a mosque in the Dilimi area, which issued a call over its loudspeakers to all Muslims to defy the authorities, participate in the “jihad”, loot properties for money and then burn them.
Local security sources say the rioters were shot while defying a night-time curfew and launching fresh attacks, including an unsuccessful attack on police barracks.
