TAFAWA BALEWA, Nigeria (Compass) -- At least 30 Christians were killed during a June outbreak of violence between Muslims and Christians in the Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro areas of northern Nigeria's Bauchi state.
More than 158 Christian-owned houses were burned, along with two churches and a Bible school belonging to the Church of Christ in Nigeria, according to a statement signed by four leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
The religious clashes began on June 18 after Bauchi Governor Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Muazu declared on June 1 that Islamic (sharia) law applied to all persons in the state, not Muslims only. On June 4, Muazu assigned an Islamic court judge to Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Local Government Areas to enforce Islamic law in the predominantly Christian villages.
The four Christian leaders, Rev. Markus Musa, Rev. Canon H.A. Eluwa, Michael Lulu and Yunusa Manzo, accused the governor of masterminding the Christian killings.
"He knew well that Christians were slaughtered at a roadblock at Zwall and Burgel villages by Muslim jihadists. Yet, to date he did nothing about it," the Christian leaders claimed.
"The fact that Governor Ahmed Adamu Muazu, as the chief security officer in the state, did nothing to prevent the slaughtering of the Christians at those roadblocks means that he actually helped in the planning and execution of the jihad against the Christians in Bauchi state," they said.
Christian opposition to the adoption and implementation of the Islamic legal code began two years ago when the Bauchi State House of Assembly made known its intention to enact a bill to declare an Islamic state.
Sporadic violence continues to occur with little relief in sight.
"It will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for sharia to operate in Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa local government areas," one Christian leader declared.