OWN CORRESPONDENT, Abuja | Wednesday 3.30pm.
NIGERIAN parliamentarians on Wednesday urged President Olusegun Obasanjo to end the religious riots over the strict Islamic Sharia code in the northern city of Kaduna, which have left at least 100 dead this week.
“The (federal) government should step in as a matter of urgency to assist the Kaduna State government in stopping the carnage and forestall further spread,” the house of representatives resolved after an emergency session here.
The resolution, based on a motion put by Binta Garba-Koji from Kaduna State, also asked the Abuja government to “deploy all available security agencies to arrest further destruction of lives and properties”.
Condemning the riots as “vicious and barbaric”, the house said it will liaise with the judiciary to seek a proper interpretation of the 1999 constitution as it affects the strict Islamic Sharia code.
On Tuesday, Obasanjo promised to do whatever it considered necessary to restore law and order to the city, whose population is roughly half Muslim and half Christian.
Sharia has not been decreed in Kaduna, but Christians fear that it could be applied to them, though authorities in states where it has been imposed or where it is on the cards have said that it will not.
Obasanjo decried the wanton destruction of lives and property, saying it could have been avoided, and called on Nigerians, irrespective of their religious differences, to live peace and be tolerant of other people’s views.
More than 1000 armed paramilitary police and troops were later drafted into the city.