RISING RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM AND MOB

VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA
Threats to National Integration and Sustainable Development

By

ISMAIL HUSAIN MSHELIA

Sociology Department, University of Abuja, Abuja,
Nigeria
mshelia.ismail@uniabuja.edu.ng
+2348188077841
 Content
1. Introduction
2. Conceptual and Theoretical overview
3. Methodology
4. Wave of Religious extremism and mob violence in
Nigeria
5. Factors that cause religious extremism and mob violence
in Nigeria
6. The implications of religious extremism and mob
violence on Nigeria
7. Pathway for Solving religious extremism and mob
violence on Nigeria
INTRODUCTION
• Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the
sixth most populous in the world with over 216 million
people (United Nations, UN, 2022 P, 6).
• The Nigerian people spread across over 250 ethnic and
500 ethnolinguistic groups, with just three of the
ethnic groups—Hausa (30%), Igbo (15.2%) and Yoruba
(15.5%)—constituting an overwhelming majority
(European Asylum Support Office, EASO, 2021, P. 20).
• A research has revealed that religion, rather than
ethnicity, is the major dividing factor in the country
being it the people’s most salient source of identity
(Okpanachi, 2010).
• With only 0.6 % of Nigerian population practising
other religions, Islam and Christianity are the
dominant religions in the country with about 53.5%
and 45.9% adherents respectively (EASO 2021, p. 20).
• Broadly, the country is divided along the majority
Muslim northern region and the majority Christian
southern region.
• The regions are subdivided into six geo-political zones
(three from each region) and 36 states (19 northern
and 17 southern) as units of a federation being held at
the centre by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT,
Abuja).
• The northern region has been a hotbed for not only
violent ethno-religious crises but also terrorist attacks
with the dreaded Boko Haram sect operating therein.
• In addition, religiously motivated mob violence has
been flourishing in the region.
• Recently, a college student was gruesomely murdered
in Sokoto state for alleged blasphemy.
• Beyond push factors like poverty and unemployment,
this paper examines the historical basis of extremism
in the north in particular and the country in general.
• The paper goes further to analyse the implications of
and possible solutions to the phenomenon.
CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL
OVERVIEW
1. Religious Extremism
• It is used to describe people’s expression of religion.
• It is ‘the extent to which there are clear norms about
appropriate behaviour and very little latitude in
accepting different pattern of norms or particular
behaviour’ (Wibisono et al., 2019).
• Gregg (2016) has explored the following three theories
of religious activism:
a. Social movement: Explains religious groups that seek
political influence
b. Fundamentalism: Explains groups or individuals who
seek to restore the purity of religious doctrines in the
face of perceived distortions
c. Apocalyptic war: Explains groups or individuals who
engage in violence as a sacred duty.
2. Mob Violence
• It is a form of collective behaviour—‘actions by a group
of people who bypass the usual norms governing their
behaviours and do something unusual’ (Henslin, 2005,
p. 614).
• It is usually preceded by tension, exciting event, milling,
common object of attention and common impulses.
• Mob violence among other forms of collective
behaviour has been adequately explained by the
emergent norms theory of Turner and Killian (1972).
• It explains collective behaviour as a consequence of not
just a precipitating event but also the mob’s suddenly
created norms which exempt the mob from the feeling
of guilt and provide rationale for their action.
3. National Integration
• It is interchangeable use with terms like ‘social
cohesion’ and ‘national unity’ (Ojo, 2009).
• Viewing through the lens of system theory, violent
extremism and other challenges that affect the
cooperation of all the segments of the Nigerian
federation need necessarily be addressed if national
integration is to be achieved (Samson, 2019).
4. Sustainable Development
• It means an enduring development the process of which
has no adverse effect on the ecosystem and the future
generations (Browning & Rigolon, 2019).
• Its three conceptual pillars are economic, social and
environmental sustainability (Mensah, 2019).
• Built upon these pillars are the United Nation’s (UN)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) signed by
Nigeria and 192 other countries.
• The SDGs among other developmental agenda find
expression in the ‘basic needs approach’.
• It advocates the prioritisation of human basic needs
like food, clothes and shelter for their physical, mental
and social stability (Streeten, 1979).
METHODOLOGY
• Desk review of secondary data is used.
• Published documents including peer reviewed articles,
reports and national dailies served as the major sources
of the data.
• In addition, data were sourced from various web pages.
• Basis for the selection of data was authenticity and
strict relevance to the subject matter.
WAVE OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
AND MOB VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA
• The frequency and magnitude of religiously motivated
mob violence have increased since the inception of the
Nigeria’s fourth republic.
• Viewing through the lens of Gregss’ theories of
religious activism, the phenomenon is obviously an
interplay of fundamentalism, social movements and
apocalyptic war
• The seed of religious extremism in the country began
to germinate in the form of the rise of fundamentalist
groups in the 1970s.
• The rise of the Islamist group ‘Jama’atu Izalatul Bidiah
wa Iqamatissunnah’ (shortly called Izala) and Christian
Pentecostal movements first set the stage for fierce
intra and inter religious rivalry and conflict (Marshal-
Fratani, 1998).
• The first religious group with militant posture,
opposition to formal authority and quest for revolution
was the Muslim Brothers (now the Islamic Movement
in Nigeria, IMN) which emerged in 1979.
• They had at different times incurred the wrath of the
Nigerian security forces.
• In 2015, the military had massacred over 340 of their
members, demolished their buildings and arrested
their leader (Aljazeera, 2016).
• The first fundamentalist movement that deployed
physical violence in their operations was the Maitastine
sect that emerged In 1980 (Alao, 2009).
• Between 1980 and 1992, an uprising followed the
killing of the sect’s leader by the Nigerian security
forces.
• Consequently, up to 4,177 people (in Kano), 763 (in
Jimeta) and 175 (in Kaduna) were killed (Ikengah-
Metuah, 1994).
• The first violent inter religious conflict in the country
was the Fagge violence that occurred in 1982.
• Attacks and counter attacks by the Muslims and
Christians left ‘several hundreds of people’ dead and
valuable properties destroyed’ (Ugwu, 2023, p. 22).
• Since the inception of the fourth republic, there has
been intermittent ethno-religious crises most notably in
Kaduna and Plateau states.
• There is also the rise of terrorism since ‘Boko Haram’
metamorphosed to a violent group in 2009.
• The group has made the country rise from 16th to 3rd
position on the Global Terrorism Index (Institute for
Economics and Peace, IEP, 2022).
• Mob violence has also been on the rise. Few cases
include:
i. Riot in Kaduna over This Day newspaper column that
disparaged prophet Muhammad in 2006, which led to
over 6789 deaths.
ii. Riot in Borno over a Danish newspaper drawing of
prophet Muhammad cartoon in 2006, which led to the
killing of many people in (Abimboye, 2009).
iii. The killing of Deborah Samuel, Ahmad Usman and
Usman Buda in different incidents between 2022 –
2023.
CAUSES OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
AND MOB VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA
• Religious intolerance, fundamentalism and extremism
form the base (sub-structure) upon which other
sources of religious violence (super-structure) rest
(Sampson, n.d.).
• Many complex, multifaceted and inter-related factors
converge to make Nigeria, especially the northern
region, a fertile ground for extremism.
• These broadly cut across historical, political, economic
and social dimensions.
1. Historical Factors
i. Nature of precolonial empires
ii. State religion—the Sokoto caliphate
iii. Colonial structure
iv. Rise of religious fundamentalist groups
2. Political Factors
i. Muslim vs Christian competition over political
powers
ii. North vs South competition over political powers
iii. Politics of divide and rule
3. Economic Factors
i. High level of poverty
ii. Rising unemployment
4. Social Factors
i. Poor socialisation
ii. Obstructive and disruptive religious activities
iii. Provocative preaching
iv. Inciting publications
v. Mass media exaggerated and alarming reports
vi. Social media fake news and hate speeches
vii. Perception of injustice
THE EFFECTS OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
AND MOB VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA
• Casualties, displacement and loss of valuable
properties are the immediate effects of Religious
Extremism and violence in Nigeria.
• Mob violence incidents have over the year led to a
considerable number of death and destructions.
• It is hard to quantify the magnitude of these over the
years.
• The Boko Haram phenomenon has led to the death of
over 350,000 people with over 310,000 others
displaced (IEP, 2020).
• Beyond the immediate effects, the casualties of violent
extremism in the long term are the country's prospect
for national integration and sustainable development.
• It increases division among the citizens by reinforcing
hatred for the religions, their adherents and anything
that represent them.
• It also increases mutual suspicion of marginalisation
attempt and controversies over some national issues,
ranging from very significant to extremely trivial ones
• The implication of national division is the creation of an
unfavourable climate for sustainable development.
• It contributes to making Nigeria’s vision of achieving the
UN SDGs elusive.
• Though the country narrowed down the focus to just
seven SDGs (1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 16 and 17) achieving them too
is unlikely (VNR, 2020).
SOLUTIONS TO RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
AND MOB VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA
• In its ‘Strategic Framework for Countering Terrorism and
Targeted Violence’, the US Department of Homeland
Security (Dhs, 2019) outlined the following major areas
effort on countering violence should focus on:
1. Prevention
2. Protection
3. Response
4. Mitigation
5. Recovery
1. Prevention
• The UN ‘Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors
to Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to
Atrocity Crimes’ has recommended ways religious
leaders and other actors can contribute to preventing
incitement to violence as direly needed in Nigeria.
• Furthermore, in an effort to ‘inform global, regional
and national strategies for preventing Violent
extremism (PVE)’, the UNDP (2016, p. 4) has developed
a conceptual framework.
• It ‘proposes eleven interlinked building blocks for a
theory of change explaining how development can
help prevent violent extremism’ which invariably
address the drivers of extremism in Nigeria.
2. Protection
• It is necessary to enhance security to protect people’s
lives and properties against violent attacks by religious
extremists.
• The key to this is information gathering through
intelligence and effective communication.
• Therefore, state actors need to work with
communities to enhance preparedness.
3. Response
• In the event of violence, the security should
collaborate with the affected community to promptly
respond so as to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators.
• Except in a combat, extra judicial killing of the suspects
must be avoided as it not only violates the right to fair
hearing but also has the potential of escalating the
situation as the Boko Haram phenomenon proved.
4. Mitigation
• A wide range of actions concerning perpetrators and
victims need to be carried out.
• The perpetrators should necessarily be swiftly
prosecuted, tried and convicted.
• The victims should be compensated to facilitate their
physical, psycho-social and or economic recovery—in
cases of death, families of the deceased should be
granted robust relief support.
5. Recovery
• The society need to ultimately put past extremists’
violence behind it and move forward.
• Continuously living in the shadow of such past will not
only be counterproductive but also destructive.
• Achieving this, however, relies as much on mitigating
measures as preventive ones.
 1.
Prevention

5. 2.
Recovery Protection

4. 3.
Mitigation Response
CONCLUSION
• Notwithstanding the enormous contributions they
rendered to development of Nigeria, Islam and
Christianity have served as umbrellas for violent
extremism in the country.
• Being a country with Muslim and Christian majority, as
well as a sizeable minority across other faiths, national
integration and sustainable development will remain an
elusive goal for the country so long as the wings of
religious extremists in not clipped.
• Achieving this ‘requires a full spectrum of initiatives’
(Sodipo, 2013).
• Through the five solution area framework analysed
above, this will be achieved when political will leverage
on digital technologies to supersede mere rhetoric.
• The ongoing efforts of the Nigerian state and non-state
actors in this regard are grossly inadequate and are
negated by corruption among other banes, hence the
persistence of the phenomenon.
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