Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Friday, November 30, 2012

State under siege (maybe)

It's often the case that the news out of African countries involves violence and catastrophe. There are few Western reporters in those countries and few African reporters with access to international media, so only the most sensational stories get to us who rely on those Western media. That's why it's difficult to know whether news reports are about isolated incidents or part of a general breakdown of law and order.

Take, for example, recent reports from Nigeria

Nigeria riot over 'blasphemy' against Islam's prophet
22 November 2012: 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…

Church Bombing Kills at Least 11 at Nigerian Post
25 November 2012: At least 11 people were killed and about 30 were wounded when twin car bombs hit a Protestant church in a major military compound in northern Nigeria, officials said on Sunday, a month after a deadly church bombing in the same state.

A bus laden with explosives rammed into the St. Andrew Military Protestant Church in the military barracks in Jaji in Kaduna State…

Nigeria gunmen attack Abuja Sars police HQ
26 November 2012: A "large number of gunmen" have attacked a Nigerian police base in the capital, Abuja, where Boko Haram militants are often held, police say.

A police statement said the attack was repelled but that 30 detainees escaped, 25 of whom were recaptured.

None of those who escaped were held on terror-related charges, it said…

Plateau state: Nigeria gunmen 'dressed as soldiers' fire in pub
27 November 2012: Ten civilians have died after gunmen stormed a pub in central Nigeria's Plateau state and opened fire on customers, authorities say.

The attackers wore military uniforms according to eye witness reports, but the army has denied any involvement...

Hundreds of people have been killed in Plateau state in recent years in clashes between rival ethnic groups.

The state lies on the fault line between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian and animist south.

As a result rival groups, split along religious, ethnic and political lines, have clashed in the region on numerous occasions over the past decade...

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