By Felix Onuah
ABUJA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Islamist militant groups in
Nigeria have begun targeting Christians in an attempt to provoke
a religious war, the information minister said on Thursday.
Islamist insurgents in Nigeria have killed around 35,000
people and displaced at least two million in the past decade,
driven first by Boko Haram and more recently by its offshoot,
the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Information Minister Lai Mohammed said jihadist groups in
the northeast of the country have now adopted a "deliberate
policy of attacking Christians."
"They have started targeting Christians and Christian
villages for a specific reason, which is to trigger a religious
war and throw the nation into chaos," he told reporters.
Nigeria's 200 million inhabitants are roughly split between
Islam and Christianity.
Mohammed cited a number of flashpoints. In December, ISWAP
beheaded 10 Christian men, and shot dead an 11th. And in
January, Boko Haram executed the chairman of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN). He also pointed to raids on
Christian villages in the north.
Mohammed said Nigeria was serious about tackling violent
extremism and committed to protecting Christians and Muslims.
"We want to therefore appeal to our religious leaders ...
not to fall for this desperate move by the insurgents, not to
allow them to divide us as a people and weaken our resolve," he
said.
Kwamkur Samuel, a spokesman for CAN, said Mohammed was
engaging in political rhetoric.
"Boko Haram and ISWAP have always been killing Christians
and even liberal Muslims," he said. "The problem is government
management of the situation. No decisive actions have been taken
to stop the killings."