Highlights

Over the last decade, the political crisis over ‘indigene’ rights and political representation in Jos, capital of Nigeria’s Plateau State, has developed into a protracted communal conflict affecting most parts of the state. At least 4,000 and possibly as many as 7,000 people have been killed since late 2001. Clashes between Muslim and Christian youths rocked the city of Jos in 2008, killing at least 700. The year 2010 has been one of the worst on record, with more than 1,000 lives lost.

A Deadly Cycle: Ethno-Religious Conflict in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, a forthcoming Geneva Declaration Working Paper by Jana Krause, examines the root causes of conflict in Jos and its transformation into a wider ethno-religious protracted conflict.

An Executive Summary of the Working Paper has been produced for distribution at an intergovernmental meeting on armed violence prevention and reduction, being held this week in Abuja, Nigeria. The full report will be released later this year.

A Deadly Cycle maps the spatial spread of violence that reshaped the face of the city. It first outlines the historical background and socio-economic characteristics of Plateau State, and then analyses the root and proximate causes of the conflict, documenting perceptions of the current situation among the local population. The report finishes by providing an overview of violence prevention and peace-building efforts by the Plateau State government, civil society actors, and international donors over the last decade.

The report is based on field research carried out in Jos in November and December 2010, including over 60 interviews with local residents, community and religious leaders, local NGO staff, journalists, university researchers, ward heads, and local politicians.
 

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