SUMMARY
The northern states of Nigeria are home to 53 million people, and over 160 ethnicities. Northern Nigeria, namely Kano and Kaduna states are home to a majority of Nigeria’s Muslim population. The issue of religion has on several occasions been problematic, especially concerning the minority-majority relationships between the Muslim and the Christian population. Fear of domination has led to a situation where mistrust and suspicion between the different groups run high. Religious beliefs are often unanimous within ethnic groups; the clashes between Christians and Muslims can therefore often be seen and reported as clashes between the different ethnicities. Given the divided and sometimes even suspicious mindset of the different groups the animosities between the groups tend to accumulate and erupt, often in relation to what is perhaps a trivial argument. It should however be understood that the ethnic and religious differences are present in concert with various divides and perceived injustices making even the smallest issue a potential conflict.
The other dyads that belong to the same northern Nigeria cluster of non-state conflicts are; Hausa – Igbo, Hausa – Ninzam and Hausa – Igbo, Yoruba.
The conflict between the mainly Muslim Hausa, and Christian Atyap ethnic groups started as an argument over land ownership. There had been a long-running dispute concerning farmland between the two groups. The complex history of the interaction between these groups has been beset by religious differences and the remnants of British colonial power structures. The background to the conflict that caused several deaths and widespread devastation in 1992 can be traced back to the religious differences and the superimposed hierarchies. The dispute that got out of hand involved the allocation of land for a market in Zango Kataf town by the Emir of Zaria. The market, which was to be used by the Hausa population of Zango Kataf was subsequently a Muslim market. This was seen as a great inconvenience to the Atyap population. It was also a symbolic demonstration of power by the Emir of Zaria who had been appointed by the British during their colonialization. This move was perceived as a provocative act by a group of Atyap youths who attacked the market.
The actual fighting began as ethnic clashes but soon evolved into religiously motivated violence between Hausa, being mainly Muslims, and Atyap being mainly Christians. The violence started in the market town of Zango-Kataf, but soon spread to Kaduna town, the central town in Kaduna state. Eyewitness accounts of the violence describe riot-like scenes and diplomatic sources gave horrendous reports from the hospitals, describing overflowing morgues with bodies battered beyond recognition.
The violence did not decline until the state governor requested, and received, assistance from the army. The violence in this conflict was limited to two periods of violence, in February and in May 1992, both episodes lasting only a few days.
The violence was confined to Kaduna State in central Nigeria. During the aftermath of the violence 17 people were sentenced to death for their part in the violent uprisings.
The Atyap - Hausa conflict must also be viewed in the broader spectrum of the ethnic and religious non-state conflicts that have ravaged Nigeria in the past. 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 Atyap and Hausa is first included in UCDP data in 1992. In February of that year, clashes between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
