VIII. IMPACT OF THE JOS CRISIS ON OTHER AREAS

Given the spread and movement of people across Nigeria, the crisis in Jos had a direct impact in other parts of the country. As with other conflicts, for example, when the February 2000 riots in Kaduna led to reprisal killings in the southeast, the consequences of the violence in Jos were felt as far away as the southeast and some northern cities.

In the town of Onitsha in the southeastern Anambra state (an area predominantly inhabited by Igbos, with a small minority of Hausas), some Igbo civilians began attacking Hausas indiscriminately, after Igbos fleeing the violence in Jos returned to Onitsha and brought back the bodies of Igbos killed in Jos. A journalist and human rights activist who was present in Onitsha said vehicles were burnt, and mobs with sticks, knives and iron rods tried to lynch people. Some Igbo people were shouting and crying, saying that the killing of their relatives in Jos had to be avenged. At least seven Hausas were killed by Igbos in retaliation for the killing of Igbos by Hausas in Jos. The victims were Hausas who happened to be driving past in their vehicles; Igbos reportedly flagged down the vehicles, pulled out the passengers and killed them. A representative of the Hausa community reported that earlier the same day, some Igbo youths had come into the Hausa-dominated market at Bridgehead, in Onitsha, and started abusing them, protesting about killings of Igbos by Hausas in Jos; several Hausa people were injured in the argument that ensued. The police encouraged Hausas to relocate to the army barracks and offered them protection later, but by mid-October, no one was known to have been arrested. ⁵³

Violence sparked off by news of killings of Igbos in Jos was also reported in several other southeastern states in September. In Uyo, in Akwa Ibom state, four Hausas were reportedly killed and several others injured, apparently in revenge for killings of Igbos in Jos.⁵⁴

Tension was also heightened in the northern city of Kano, where Muslim youths protested and attacked a church on September 10; however, it was unclear whether these riots were directly connected with the crisis in Jos.

53 Human Rights Watch interview, Enugu, October 8, 2001.
Also see "Blood for blood", The News magazine (Lagos), October 1,2001, and "Aftermath of Jos Riot, 5 killed in Onitsha," This Day (Lagos), September 17, 2001.

54 See "Blood for blood", The News magazine, October 1, 2001.