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.
The other dyads that belong to the same Plateau state cluster of non-state conflicts are; Afisare, Anaguta, Birom - Fulani, Hausa, Hausa – Tarok, Fulani – Mambila, Gamai - Pan, Junkun – Tiv, Karimjo – Fulani, Kwala – Tiv and Birom – Fulani, Hausa.
The conflict between the Azara and the Tiv ethnic groups has a religious, as well as a territorial aspect. The Azara is Muslim, whilst the Tiv are Christian. Further complicating the relationship, they both claimed ownership over the same lands. The interaction between the two groups have a long history of being strained, with growing competition for land and age-old ethnic and political rivalries making the coexistence of the groups highly volatile.
The fighting in this conflict flared up after a traditional leader of the Azara, Alhaji Musa Ibrahim, was killed, and along with him his entourage including two policemen. Ibrahim who was a special representative to the government, as well as emir of the Azara people were killed in a particularly brutal manner, a fact that further enraged the Azara population. The blame for the killings was quickly assigned to the Tiv community of the town Lafia.
The violence that followed in the footsteps of the killings was widespread. According to the Red Cross over 50 000 people fled the adjacent Nasarawa state due to the eruption of ethnic violence. This enormous refugee flow led to the subsequent establishment of refugee camps in the neighboring states.
The violence played out in a chaotic context. Since central Nigeria is home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, the demarcation, as to who fought who, became increasingly difficult as the confusion and violence intensified. Reports of lynch mobs raiding the streets were common.
The majority of the violence was confined to the central state of Nasarawa.
The Azara - Tiv 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 Azara and Tiv is first included in UCDP data in 2001. In June of that year retaliatory killings started a spiral of violence resulting in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
