US embassy cable - 02ABUJA1728

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 ABUJA 001728 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR: DRL/CRA,DRL/IRF, DRL/PHD 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIRF, PHUM, NI 
SUBJECT: 2002 RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ENTIRE TEXT 
 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 
 
 
 
 
The status of respect for religious freedom in Nigeria 
remained basically unchanged during the year. The 
Constitution provides for freedom of religion, including 
freedom to change one's religion or belief and freedom to 
manifest and propagate one's religion or belief in worship, 
teaching, practice and observance.  The Constitution also 
prohibits state and local governments from adopting an 
official religion, but it provides that states may elect to 
apply Islamic (Shari'a) criminal law. Following the lead of 
ten other Northern States, Borno and Gombe States also 
adopted forms of criminal Shari'a law in 2001. 
 
 
Discrimination based on religion continued during the period 
covered by this report in some states. Although Christians 
and other non-Muslims are exempt from Shari'a law, the 
ramifications of expanded Shari'a law at times infringed upon 
the rights of non-Muslims in the states that have enacted 
expanded Shari'a. 
 
 
Inter-religious tension remained high in parts of  Nigeria 
during the year. Plateau State was the scene of violent 
ethno-religious conflict in September 2001.  Discrimination 
against religious minorities was noted in some areas of the 
country. 
 
 
U.S. Embassy officials regularly discussed religious freedom 
issues with various federal, state and local officials and 
prominent Nigerians. U.S. Embassy officials and U.S. 
Government officials based in Washington advocated the 
peaceful resolution of ethnic and religious conflicts in the 
country. The U.S. Government stressed that human rights and 
religious freedom must be respected in any resolution of the 
Shari'a question. 
 
 
 
 
SECTION I. RELIGIOUS DEMOGRAPHY 
 
 
The country has a total land area of 356,700 square miles, 
with an estimated population of 120 million; however, there 
has not been an accurate census for more than 30 years, and 
many observers believe  the country's population  exceeds 
this estimate. Approximately half of the country's population 
practice Islam; approximately 40 percent practice 
Christianity, and approximately 10 percent practice 
traditional indigenous religions or no religion. Many persons 
practice elements of Christianity or Islam and elements of a 
traditional indigenous religion. The predominant form of 
Islam is Sunni. The Christian population includes Roman 
Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, 
and a growing number of evangelical and Pentecostal 
Christians. Catholics constitute the largest Christian 
denomination. 
 
 
There is a strong correlation between religious differences 
and ethnic and regional diversity. The North, which is 
dominated by the large Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups, is 
predominantly Muslim; however, there are Christian majorities 
in several Middle Belt states and significant numbers of 
Christians in all urban centers of the North. In the 
Southwest, where the large Yoruba ethnic group is in the 
majority, there is no dominant religion. Most Yorubas 
practice either Islam or Christianity, while others continue 
to practice the traditional Yoruba religion, which includes a 
belief in a supreme deity and the worship of lesser deities 
that serve as agents of the supreme deity in aspects of daily 
life. In the East, where the large Igbo ethnic group is 
dominant, Catholics and Methodists are in the majority, 
although many Igbos continue to observe traditional rites and 
ceremonies. 
 
 
Foreign missionaries operate in the country and include 
Jesuits, Dominicans, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day 
Saints (Mormons), the Church of Christ, and the Society for 
International Missions, among others. Rough estimates put the 
number of foreign Christian missionaries at over 1,000, with 
many in the area around Jos, in Plateau state.  Many have 
resided in Nigeria for a decade or longer.  There are 
reportedly fewer foreign Muslim missionaries, and they tend 
toward briefer stays than their Christian counterparts. 
Muslim organizations often focus on training Nigerians in 
traditional centers of Islamic education and then returning 
them to Nigeria. 
 
 
 
 
SECTION II. STATUS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
 
 
 
 
LEGAL/POLICY FRAMEWORK 
 
 
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, including 
freedom to change one's religion or belief, and freedom to 
manifest and propagate one's religion or belief in worship, 
teaching, practice, and observance.  The Federal Government 
generally protects these rights.  However, some state 
governments restricted these rights in practice in certain 
respects with impunity. 
 
 
The Constitution prohibits state and local governments from 
adopting an official religion; however, some Christians have 
alleged that Islam has been adopted as the de facto state 
religion of several Northern states, citing the 
reintroduction of Shari'a criminal law, and the continued use 
of state resources to fund the construction of mosques, the 
teaching of Alkalis (Muslim judges), and pilgrimages to Mecca 
(Hajj). However, state funds also are used to fund Christian 
pilgrimages to Jerusalem. In general, states with a clear 
Christian or Muslim majority overtly favor the majority 
faith. There are 36 states in the country; governors have 
substantial autonomy in decision-making but derive the vast 
majority of their resources from the Federal Government. Both 
the federal and state governments are involved in religious 
matters, including the regulation of mandatory religious 
instruction in public schools, subsidized construction of 
churches and mosques, state-sponsored participation in the 
Hajj, and pilgrimages to Jerusalem. 
 
 
The Constitution provides that states may elect to apply 
Islamic (Shari'a) law. Until the reintroduction of criminal 
Shari'a by Zamfara State in January 2000, the jurisdiction of 
Shari'a courts had been limited to family or personal law 
cases involving Muslims, or to civil disputes between Muslims 
who consent to the courts' jurisdiction. However, the 
Constitution states that a Shari'a Court of Appeal may 
exercise "such other jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it 
by the law of the State." Some states have interpreted this 
language as granting them the right to expand the 
jurisdiction of existing Shari'a courts to include criminal 
matters (see Section III). On October 8, 1999, the Governor 
of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani, signed a bill that established 
Shari'a courts and courts of appeal in Zamfara state, and 
another bill that constituted the Shari'a penal code; the 
bills took effect on January 27, 2000. Zamfara's law adopted 
traditional Shari'a in its entirety, with the exception that 
apostasy was not criminalized. Other Muslim communities, 
particularly from the states of Kano, Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa, 
Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, and Katsina states, began to echo the 
call for Shari'a in their states. At the end of the period 
covered by this report, twelve Northern states had adopted 
forms of Shari'a law-- Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kano, 
Katsina, Kaduna Jigawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Borno and Gombe. 
According to media reports there has been some lobbying among 
elements of the large Muslim minority of Oyo State for the 
implementation of elements of civil  Shari'a.  However, the 
government has not responded.  Adherence to the new Shari'a 
provisions is compulsory for Muslims in some states and 
optional in others. The Constitution also provides that the 
Federal Government is to establish a Federal Shari'a Court of 
Appeal and Final Court of Appeal; however, the Government had 
not yet established such courts by the end of the period 
covered by this report.  Appeals are generally heard by 
regular courts empanelled with justices who have some 
knowledge of Shari'a law. 
 
 
In November 1999, President Obasanjo expressed the view that 
the expanded Shari'a provisions were unconstitutional; 
however, the federal Government did not intervene legally to 
annul the provisions. Defendants have the right to challenge 
the constitutionality of Shari'a criminal statutes through 
the courts.  To date, no such challenge filed by any person 
with legal standing has reached the Federal appellate level. 
Nigeria's higher courts have not, therefore, had occasion to 
determine if penalties under Shari'a law, which differ from 
those applicable under secular law are constitutional. In 
March 2002, Justice Minister Kanu Agabi made public a letter 
to Northern Governors in which he stated that sentences given 
under Shari'a should not be harsher than those imposed by 
general secular law.   The only noticeable effect was to stir 
debate in the press. 
 
 
Christian and Islamic groups planning to build new churches 
or mosques are required to register with the Corporate 
Affairs Commission (CAC). The law requires that such groups 
name a board of trustees, place a notice of the group's 
intent to organize in three nationwide newspapers, and send 
trustee information to the CAC. If no objections are 
received, the group can proceed with its meetings. This law 
was put into effect to stem the proliferation of new 
buildings in the absence of zoning laws, to resolve legal 
questions arising from disputes over church ownership and 
control, to provide a single registry for government 
reference in the event that compensation is demanded 
following civil disturbances, and to allow for legal 
solemnization of marriages. The CAC did not deny registration 
to any religious group during the period covered by this 
report; however, some religious groups experienced delays in 
obtaining permission from local zoning boards to build houses 
of worship.  Many nascent churches and Islamic congregations 
ignore the registration requirement, placing themselves 
outside the bounds of legality and making themselves 
vulnerable to sometimes selective enforcement of zoning laws. 
 
 
The military's chaplaincy corps includes imams, Catholic 
priests, and Protestant pastors. There were no reports in the 
military of discrimination or nonadvancement to senior 
positions due to religious beliefs. No one religious faith 
dominates the senior ranks of the military. 
 
 
The Government remained a member (observer status) of the 
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) during the period 
covered by this report and continued to send representatives 
to the annual meeting in Cairo. Christian citizens were 
concerned that this action undermined the concept of a 
secular state. 
 
 
Each year the Government declares the following Islamic and 
Christian festival days as national holidays: Eid-el-Adha, 
Eid-el-Fitr, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Eid-el-Maulud, 
Christmas Day and Boxing Day. 
 
 
Some state governors actively have encouraged interfaith and 
interethnic discussions. For example, Kaduna Governor Ahmed 
Mohammed Makarfi appointed Muslims and Christians to 
reconciliation committees following the riots of February and 
May 2000. Governor Makarfi also consulted with the 
reconciliation committees on proposed criminal law reforms. 
Reconciliation committees are also consulted before any major 
decisions are taken. The government also encourages the 
activities of NGOs like the Kaduna-based Inter-Faith 
Mediation Center, Muslim/Christian Dialogue Forum. 
 
 
Restrictions on Religious Freedom 
 
 
Throughout the year, the Government nominally required 
organizers of outdoor public functions to apply for permits, 
although both government authorities and those assembling 
often ignored this requirement. The Government retained legal 
authority to ban gatherings whose political, ethnic, or 
religious content might lead to unrest. In 2000 several 
Northern state governments banned open air preaching and 
public religious. Such bans were viewed as necessary public 
safety measures after approximately 2,000 people died in 
Shari'a related violence nationwide in 2000. None of these 
bans had been lifted formally by the end of the period 
covered by this report; however, state governments granted 
some permits on a case-by-case basis. In the southern part of 
the country, large outdoor religious gatherings continued to 
be common. (Note: Trampling deaths from poor crowd control 
are a common occurrence at large outdoor Christian gatherings 
in the South. International evangelists routinely visit 
Nigeria for "crusades" which can attract over 100,000 each 
evening.) 
 
 
Following nationwide Shari'a-related violence in 2000, many 
Northern states banned public proselytizing, although it is 
permitted by the Constitution. Some states, however, allowed 
some public proselytizing by Christians and Muslims. 
Missionaries reported that law enforcement officials often 
harassed them when they proselytized outside of their 
designated zones. Both Christian and Muslim organizations 
alleged that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the 
Immigration Department restricted the entry into the country 
of certain religious practitioners, particularly persons 
suspected of intending to proselytize. Proselytizing did not 
appear to be restricted in the southern part of the country. 
Many missionary groups also have noted bureaucratic delays 
and obstruction and attempts to extort money for the 
processing of necessary residence permits for foreigners; 
however, many foreign businesses and other nonreligious 
organizations have encountered similar difficulties. 
 
 
Although the expanded Shari'a laws technically do not apply 
to non-Muslims, the non-Muslim minority, especially in 
Zamfara state, was affected by certain social provisions of 
the laws, such as the separation of the sexes in public 
transportation vehicles and decisions by some entrepreneurs 
not to engage in certain activities out of concern for 
offending Shari'a sensibilities.  For example, beauty 
contests typically are not held in Shari'a states.   In 
Zamfara state, Christian associations have arranged for 
private transportation services for Christian females so that 
they are not forced to wait for female only transportation 
provided by the Zamfara state government. Sokoto state's 
transportation system is run completely by private operators. 
Sokoto state governor Dalhatu Bafarawa said that the state 
cannot compel private operators to carry female passengers if 
doing so violates their religious convictions. In Zamfara 
state schoolchildren continued to be segregated by gender in 
schools. The Governor of Zamfara also disbursed public funds 
to refurbish mosques. There is a long tradition of separating 
schoolchildren by gender in the North; this practice was 
codified in Kebbi and Sokoto states in May 2000 and is 
enforced in all of the Shari'a states. 
 
 
In Zamfara state, laws proposed during the period covered by 
this report included a dress code for women that bans short 
skirts and trousers, the mandatory closing of shops on 
Fridays, and a ban of video rental clubs. The Christian 
Association of Nigeria (CAN) branch in Zamfara state has 
protested these new laws to the Zamfara state government. 
Reportedly they were told that the first law was proposed on 
public decency grounds, and that the second law only would 
apply to Muslim businesses.  These laws have been read on the 
floor of the State House but have not been enacted. 
 
 
All Muslims in states that expanded Shari'a to criminal 
matters are subject to the new Shari'a criminal codes. In 
Zamfara state, all cases involving Muslims must be heard by a 
Shari'a court. Other states with Shari'a law still permit 
Muslims to choose common law courts for criminal cases; 
however, societal pressure forces most Muslims to use the 
Shari'a court system. 
 
 
The law prohibits religious discrimination; however, state 
government officials often discriminated against adherents of 
minority religions in hiring practices and in awarding state 
contracts. 
 
 
Christians in the predominantly Muslim northern states also 
alleged that local government officials used zoning 
regulations to stop or slow the establishment of new 
Christian churches. Officials have responded that many of 
these new churches are being formed in traditionally 
residential neighborhoods that were not zoned for religious 
purposes. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) offices 
in Zamfara and Sokoto states alleged that local authorities 
there delayed or denied to Christians certificates of 
occupancy (CO's), which are required to show title to land. 
For example, the Catholic Church in Zamfara state has been 
unable to retake possession of a clinic that was confiscated 
during a period of military rule in the 1970's. Renewal of 
the CO for the church building was approved; however, the 
Church has been unable to obtain a CO to reoccupy the clinic 
building and the adjoining land. Zamfara and Sokoto state 
officials denied that discrimination was behind the cases 
cited by CAN. State officials said the certification boards 
were dealing with a large backlog of cases for all persons, 
regardless of religious faith.  Muslims have complained that 
they were denied permission to build mosques in the 
predominantly Christian southern states of Abia and Akwa Ibom. 
 
 
Although distribution of religious publications remained 
generally unrestricted, the Government continued to enforce 
lightly a ban on published religious advertisements. There 
were reports by Christians in Zamfara state that the state 
government restricted the distribution of religious 
(Christian) literature. In 2000 Bishop Samson Bala of Gusau 
Diocese said that the state radio station had closed its 
doors to Christians. According to the Bishop Bala, 
commercials and paid advertisements containing Christian 
content were not accepted, and only Islamic religious 
programs were aired. Similar discrimination against the use 
of state-owned media for Muslim programming was reported in 
the South.  This situation remains unchanged through the 
reporting period. 
 
 
According to the Constitution, students are not required to 
receive instruction relating to a religion other than their 
own; however, public school students throughout the country 
are required to undergo either Islamic or Christian religious 
instruction. Islamic studies are mandatory in public schools 
in Zamfara and other northern states, often to the exclusion 
of Christianity. State authorities assert that students are 
permitted to decline to attend these classes or to request a 
teacher of their own religion to provide alternative 
instruction.  However, teachers of "Christian Religious 
Knowledge" cannot be found in many Northern schools. There 
are reports that Christianity is taught in the same manner in 
Enugu and Edo states, and that Muslim students cannot access 
"Islamic Religious Knowledge" in the public schools. 
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leaders volunteered to 
place teachers of Christianity in Zamfara and Sokoto state 
schools, where students alleged that they were being forced 
to take courses in Islamic religious knowledge in order to 
graduate. Governors of both states accepted the offer of 
assistance and stated that they had not been aware of the 
problem; however, CAN did not provide any teachers in either 
state during the reporting period, stating that they lacked 
the available funds to send teachers to the states. 
 
 
The Government continued to enforce a 1987 ban on religious 
organizations on campuses of primary schools, although 
individual students retain the right to practice their 
religions in recognized places of worship. 
 
 
On December 5, 2000, over 1,500 Muslim students from the 
University of Ibadan and Ibadan public schools gathered at 
Oyo state government offices to protest the failure of public 
schools to offer Islamic studies courses alongside Christian 
courses. To date Islamic courses are still unavailable. 
 
 
There are no legal provisions barring women or other groups 
from testifying in civil court or giving their testimony less 
weight; however, the testimony of women and non-Muslims is 
usually accorded less weight in Shari'a courts. For example, 
if one woman testifies, a second woman must also provide 
testimony to equal the weight of the testimony of one man. 
 
 
 
 
Abuses of Religious Freedom 
 
 
The extension of Shari'a law in many Northern states 
generated a public debate on whether Shari'a punishments such 
as amputation for theft, stoning for adultery and caning for 
fornication and public drunkenness constituted "torture or 
... inhuman or degrading treatment" as stipulated in the 
Constitution. 
 
 
On July 6, 2001 Umaru Aliyu had his hand amputated in Sokoto 
State after being convicted of stealing a goat and 
approximately $400 cash. 
 
 
On October 19, 2001 a local Shari'a judge in Sokoto State 
sentenced Safiya Hussaini to death by stoning for adultery. 
The judged based his decision on his interpretation that the 
divorced Hussaini's  pregnancy was conclusive proof of 
adultery. The court found that Hussaini had also confessed. 
However, Hussainiappealed the sentence arguing ten separate 
grounds for her acquittal. Defense drew from the Koran, the 
Hadiths, the Nigerian Constitution, the Sokoto State Shari'a 
Penal Code and the Shari'a Procedure Code. Accepting several 
of the defendant's arguments, the Sokoto State Shari'a Court 
of Appeal overturned the conviction in March of 2002.  The 
court cited several fundamental flaws in the original court's 
findings.  First neither the date nor location of the alleged 
crime was specified. Second the charge was not sufficiently 
explained to Ms. Hussaini.  Third, Shari'a law allows a 
defendant to withdraw a confession any time prior to the 
execution of a sentence, which the defendant did.  Finally, 
the age of the child indicated that the alleged crime must 
have been committed prior to the implementation of criminal 
Shari'a in Sokoto State. 
 
 
A Katsina man was hanged in January in Kaduna State after 
being convicted in a Shari'a court of stabbing a woman and 
her two children to death while robbing her home. Nigeria's 
constitution permits capital punishment, however this is the 
first execution since its return to democracy in 1999. 
 
 
Also in January a Shari'a judge was publicly flogged after 
being convicted of consuming alcohol. 
 
 
In late March in Katsina State, Amina Lawal was sentenced to 
death by stoning after confessing to having a child while 
divorced. The court has allowed Lawal to return to her own 
village at least until January 2004.  The appeals court is 
scheduled to begin hearing her appeal on July 8. 
 
 
Four other women have been convicted of adultery under 
Shari'a law.  Two of these women have been released on bail, 
while two were sentences to pay a fine, which they have done. 
 
 
Seven men convicted of stealing and housebreaking have been 
sentenced to have their right hands amputated in Kano State. 
Two of the men have appeals pending, the other  five have not 
exercised their right to appeal.  In Bauchi State, four men 
convicted of stealing have been sentenced to have their right 
hands amputated.  Bauchi State Governor Adamu Mu'azu referred 
these cases to the Inspectorate Division of Shari'a Courts 
for review.  Once the review is complete it is the governor's 
decision whether or not the sentences are carried out. 
 
 
Other convicted Muslim criminals in Shari'a law states were 
subjected to public caning for various minor offenses, such 
as petty theft, public consumption of alcohol, and engaging 
in prostitution. Indigent persons without legal 
representation were more likely to have their sentences 
carried out immediately upon being sentenced. 
A number of state-sanctioned and private vigilante Shari'a 
enforcement groups have formed in states with expanded 
Shari'a law. In Zamfara state, Governor Ahmed Sani vested the 
local vigilante group with full powers of arrest and 
prosecution because he believed that the police were not 
enforcing the new Shari'a laws. Governor Saminu Turaki of 
Jigawa state also mobilized a statewide Shari'a enforcement 
committee to arrest, detain, and prosecute Muslim offenders. 
These groups still exist, but their activities decreased 
during the reporting period. 
 
 
On March 2, 2002  Pastor Tunde Bakare was detained and 
interrogated for 16 hours by the State Security Service (SSS) 
after returning to Nigeria from Ghana.  It is alleged that 
Bakare prophesied the fall of the Obasanjo government and 
that he left Nigeria to avoid the anticipated chaos.  Bakare 
was arrested upon his return from Ghana and questioned by the 
SSS but was not charged.  Media reports claiming that his 
passport was confiscated could not be verified. 
 
 
Six Pakistani Muslim scholars were arrested in Benue 
State September 23 on suspicion of immigration violations. 
They were questioned by Federal Government officials in Abuja 
and subsequently deported. 
 
 
 
 
Forced Religious Conversion 
 
 
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, 
including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or 
illegally removed from the United States, or of the 
Government's refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to 
the United States. 
 
 
 
 
Improvements and Positive Developments in Respect for 
Religious Freedom 
 
 
Curfews, bans on large religious gatherings outside of 
traditional houses of worship, on religious processions, and 
on proselytization remain in effect in some areas; however, 
some local and state authorities informally relaxed the bans 
in practice, and allowed some public proselytizing. 
 
 
Since the outbreak of Shari'a-related violence in 2000,  the 
governors of Kaduna, Abia, and Lagos states have taken steps 
to prevent further violence and tension. During the period 
covered by this report, the governors made more tempered 
public statements, and focused on shared economic 
opportunities between residents of their states and migrants 
from other regions of the country. 
 
 
Many non-Muslims had feared that implementation of Shari'a 
would change their way of life but there has been little or 
no change for most people.  While some state and local 
governments have stringently interpreted the new Shari'a 
laws, most others have interpreted their laws differently and 
have implemented them with moderation.  Additionally, there 
is trend developing among some elements in the Muslim 
community to shift focus from  the criminal law aspects of 
Shari'a law to its  tenets of social justice and charity for 
the poor.   Islamic scholars and many Muslim lawyers are 
educating the poor and the less well informed about their 
procedural rights under Shari'a.  Several lawyers offer pro 
bono services to the indigent in cases where the potential 
punishment might be severe. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Section III: Societal Attitudes 
 
 
Religious differences often correlate to regional and ethnic 
differences.  For example, the North, including part of the 
Middle Belt, is overwhelmingly Muslim and the large Hausa and 
Fulani ethnic groups tend to dominate these  areas. Most 
southern ethnic groups are predominantly Christian. 
Consequently it is often difficult to distinguish between 
religious conflict and discrimination, and ethnic conflict 
and discrimination.  It is not unusual for two ethnic groups 
with a long history of conflict to adopt different religions, 
thereby placing a religious overlay atop tensions that 
originally arose from ethnic confrontation. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
During the weekend of September 7, violence erupted in 
Jos that eventually claimed more than 2300 lives.  It is 
unclear how the unrest began, but tensions had risen over the 
appointment of an ethnic Hausa to the chairmanship of a local 
Poverty Alleviation Program, and earlier violence between 
Christian Sayewa and Muslim Hausa-Fulani in Tafawa Balewa, 
Bauchi, only 60 kilometers away. Reliable sources indicate 
that most of the casualties were Hausa-Fulani Muslims, who 
constitute a significant minority in Jos.  The military was 
able to restore order, but thousands of Hausas fled Plateau 
state for Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and Bauchi.  This conflict 
appears to have been primarily ethnic, and secondarily 
religious.  Christians of different sects were reported to 
have attacked each other, and Yoruba Muslims reportedly 
joined in attcking their Hausa co-religionists.  The Jos 
conflict produced approximately 11,600 internally displaced 
persons according to the Nigerian Red Cross. 
 
 
 
 
Similarly, in February 2002, violent clashes rocked the 
Idi-Araba area of Lagos as Yoruba youth clashed with Hausa 
residents. The incident was caused by interethnic tensions 
but had some religious overtones. 
 
 
Nigerian law prohibits religious discrimination; however, 
private businesses frequently are guilty of informal 
religious and ethnic discrimination in their hiring practices 
and purchasing patterns. In nearly all states, ethnic 
rivalries between majority groups and minority "immigrants" 
lead to some societal discrimination against minority ethnic 
and religious groups. 
 
 
Purdah, the Islamic practice of keeping girls and women in 
seclusion from men outside the family, continued among some 
families in some parts of the far North. 
 
 
In many parts of the country, girls are discriminated against 
regarding access to education for social and economic 
reasons, with religious belief sometimes being a factor. 
Girls in the more traditionalist rural areas, both in the 
predominantly Muslim North and the predominantly Christian 
South, are even more disadvantaged than their urban 
counterparts. 
 
 
 
 
Section IV: U.S. Government Policy 
 
 
U.S. Embassy officials regularly discussed religious freedom 
issues with various federal, state and local officials. 
Embassy officials raised religious freedom issues with 
government officials in the context of the U.S. Government's 
overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights. The U.S. 
Government, through the U.S. Embassy and in statements from 
officials in Washington, sought to encourage a peaceful 
resolution to the Shari'a issue and urged that human rights 
and religious freedom be respected in any resolution. The 
Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) created programs for 
conflict resolution training that are being continued by the 
U.S. Agency for International Development. 
 
 
In February 2002, the Embassy's Public Affairs Section 
sponsored the visit to Nigeria of the Executive Director of 
the American Muslim Council, Aly Abuzaakouk to discuss the 
War Against Terror, religious  tolerance, and the religious 
freedom that Muslims enjoy in the United States. Abuzaakouk 
addressed over 500 Muslims and Christians in Abuja, Ibadan, 
Jos, Lagos, Kaduna and Kano. 
 
 
The Embassy facilitated the visit to Nigeria of former 
President Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates Sr., of the Bill and 
Melinda Gates Foundation, who promoted HIV/AIDS awareness and 
prevention.  President Carter addressed the Presidential 
Chapel at the Sunday service, where he preached a message of 
abstinence and faithfulness as a way to halt the spread of 
HIV/AIDS. 
 
 
In June, 2002 the Embassy's Public Affairs Section  sponsored 
the Reverend Eugene Rivers of the Ten Point Coalition, who 
addressed inter-religious groups with his message of 
abstinence and fidelity.  Rivers engaged Muslims and 
Christians in Kaduna and Lagos and challenged them to 
overcome their differences, in order to cooperate in the 
fight against HIV/AIDS. 
 
 
ANDREWS