Masaalah 'blasphemy' lagi...
BBC News Africa
22 November 2012 Last updated at 20:20 GMT
Nigeria riot over 'blasphemy' against Islam's prophet
A rumour that a Christian man blasphemed against Islam has sparked a riot in
the northern Nigeria town of Bichi, police have said.
Residents said four people were killed and shops were looted.
The riot came on the day the incoming head of the Anglican Church, the Rt Rev
Justin Welby, launched an initiative to promote religious tolerance in Nigeria.
Religious clashes have claimed thousands of lives in Nigeria since military
rule ended in 1999.
The militant Islamist group, Boko Haram, has also been waging an insurgency
since 2009 to impose strict Sharia across Nigeria, which is roughly divided
between a mainly Muslim north and a Christian and animist south.
'Learning about religions'
Nigeria's Kano state police chief Ibrahim Idris said "misinformation" had
triggered the riot, AFP news agency reports.
"Rumours went round that someone blasphemed the Prophet [Muhammad] and there
was a breakdown of law and order," he is quoted as saying.
The BBC's Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai in Kano, the main city in northern Nigeria,
says that a heavy contingent of soldiers and policemen have been deployed to
Bichi to restore order.
It is a small town about 30km (18 miles) from Kano.
Mr Idris said the riot broke out when a Christian tailor mispronounced the name
of a dress while chatting with his Muslim neighbour in Hausa, the main language
spoken in the north, changing the meaning to "the Prophet has come to the
market", AFP reports.
Angry Muslim youths then attacked Christian-owned shops, looting and burning
them, he said.
Residents said four Christians were killed, but Mr Idris could not confirm this.
Our reporter says some residents gave him a different account of what caused
the riot.
They told him that a Muslim crowd first attacked a Christian man for wearing a
T-shirt that they alleged blasphemed against the Prophet Muhammad.
In the capital, Abuja, Bishop Welby joined Nigerian Muslim and Christian
religious leaders and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to launch a campaign
to promote religious tolerance.
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation - which organised the programme - got students
from Christian and Muslim communities in Nigeria to chat via a video link with
students from different faiths in the UK city of Derby.
Bishop Welby is a former oil executive who will become the Archbishop of
Canterbury in March.
He has visited Nigeria 70 times, and was the special envoy to Africa for the
outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who is stepping down after
10 years in the role.
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