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[h1]Reuters[/h1]
[h2]Violence erupts in Norther Nigeria[/h2]
August 26, 1955

	ABUJA – A wave of violence has swept northern Nigeria today in response to comments made by the Nigerian premier Akinwunmi Jacobs. In a radio interview earlier that week he expressed disdain for the majority Muslim population saying that, “We shouldn't let the Muslims have so much power, less they oppress the rest of the country. It was the sovereign will of God that their power was scattered”.

	At a time of uncertainty and contention the comments did not raise the country's Muslims confidence in the premier. A number of clerics in the country have written open letters of condemnation against the premier, criticizing him for his open hostility. The statement comes at a time where the Nigerian government has been expanding farming settlement in the north and was seeking to offer aid to the Federal home office in London, but this adventure may have to be scrapped.

	Following these comments, a riot broke out in the northern city of Kano as mobs took to the streets in protest to the president's words. Earlier that afternoon many gathered before the mosque of Kano has local leaders gave speeches of condemnation against the Premier. Shouts of “Allahu ackbar” rang in the streets as streams of invective against the premier were shouted forth. That night violence broke and local police and military positions were attacked.

	During the ten hours of night fighting, twenty national policemen were attacked and killed and three members of the Nigerian Army were killed by mobs of rioters armed mostly with knives and clubs. Several banks and businesses were attacked and burned, accused of being Christian or southern. At least ten additional civilians were killed and thirty others wounded before the sun rose the next morning.

	In response, the government declared martial law over Kano state. The arrival of the armed forces the following afternoon frightened the rioters who abandoned the streets. But peace has not come to Kano as sporadic raids and attacks now continue against local government forces. The Nigerian National Police have however commented that they do not believe there is an organized group behind the attacks, and that the situation should be under control in short time. However, Akinwunmi Jacobs has refused to withdraw his comments. Parliament is urging him to do so before things grow out of hand.

	The initial raids were initially carried out by bands from the Fula people, an indigenous ethnic minority in the north of Nigeria and who range across much of western Africa. They are a majority practicing Muslim group. They mounted resistance against initial British settlement of the Nigerian interior organized around the Sokoto Caliphate. The caliphate was eventually defeated in 1903 and the present territory of Nigeria was formed.

	In recent history the Fula  have been initiated in conflict with numerous local groups in northern Nigeria and abroad as the impact of expanded farm land encroaches on their domain. Part of the possible reason to violence was the expansion of farming and sedentary industry in the north under Akinwunmi's program of expanded economy. The premier and his party, the Nigerian Democratic Party or the NDP has sought to relieve the pressure of urban growth in Lagos and the capital Abuja by turning people back to the countryside by resettling them on uncultivated ground with the expectation they would develop the land. The plan has received criticism from the Delta Congress Party for being a waste of resources and finances and criticizing it for a lack of results. The premier and his party meanwhile have urged patience, saying it will soon overflow the country with food. They have no commented on the conflicts it has caused with pastoral Nigerian populations.

	 Akinwunmi Jacobs is Nigeria's second president since the country achieved autonomy from London following the Federalization protocols in 1937.