SUMMARY

The non-state conflicts in Nigeria’s Plateau State, most notably in Jos town (as well as neighboring Taraba state and adjacent Adamawa state) are connected to a larger pattern of tensions between ethnic and religious communities. The states are home to over 30 distinct ethnic communities, which have coexisted in relative peace for a long time. Around the turn of the century, however, conflicts started to arise over land ownership and access to political and economic power. At the root of these conflicts is the notion of "indigeneity", which often serves as the basis for citizenship, land ownership and political power. This has led to recurring conflicts between groups perceived as indigenous to the area and groups that have migrated to the region more recently. These tensions have been further exacerbated by religious differences and perceived marginalization.

Violent clashes between the mostly Muslim Hausa and the primarily Christian Jukun broke out in February of 2013 in Wukari town, Taraba state. A dispute over the use of a football field escalated to violence along ethnic and religious lines, leading to 31 deaths. In May of the same year, a Jukun funeral procession passing through a Hausa-dominated area sparked another period of violence.

The Hausa – Jukun conflict must also be viewed in the broader spectrum of the ethnic and religious non-state conflicts that have ravaged Nigeria in the past and intensified with the end of military rule, from 1999 and onwards. The conflicts throughout Nigeria have ethnic, political, economic, and religious components, which have become inextricably linked over time, pitting various groups and alliances of groups against each other along different dividing lines.

The non-state conflict between Hausa and Jukun is first included in UCDP data in 2013. In February of that year, a dispute over the use of a football field in Wukari town, Taraba state, escalated to violence along ethnic and religious lines, leading to 31 battle-related deaths.