SUMAILA, Nigeria — Church leaders said violence over local November elections in the Sumaila area of Nigeria included a religious element, with Muslims killing one Christian in an attack on a Christian settlement.
Eyewitnesses said violence broke out in the Gani electoral ward of Sumaila Nov. 17 after news reports showed that the Christian candidate for councillor for the People’s Democratic Party, Zara Gambo, was ahead in the polls, signifying the first-ever victory for a Christian candidate in the area.
As a result, Muslims attacked Christians in the town of Gani and in Gani Mission, a Christian settlement in the area, destroying their houses and shops, injuring several of them and killing schoolteacher Danyaro Bala. Sani Duma, Bala’s brother, said he believes Muslims killed the church elder in order to bully area Christians into submitting to Islam.
“Religion is at the center of this attack on us and the killing of my brother,” Duma said. “The selection of only houses of Christians and their shops for destruction shows clearly that Muslims were out to force us into submitting to their hold on political leadership.”
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