SINCE 1953, exactly seven years before independence, which was consummated on October 1, 1960, Nigeria has been a haven for flurry of political and ethno-religious mayhem, which have claimed about 3.5million lives.
After the Kano riots of 1953 that claimed many lives, violence has become a recurring decimal in the country. If two or three of the estimated 400 ethnic groups are not on one another’s throats, members of the two dominant religions – Christians and Moslems would be slaying each other.
The first and perhaps the biggest threat to Nigeria’s unity came less than six years after independence following political crisis in the the then Western region. The crisis led to the first military coup, which later degenerated to a full-blown 30-month war between Nigeria and the Eastern region, which seceded and declared itself Republic of Biafra. The East lost the war after an estimated three million lives were lost on both sides and Nigeria as a united country was preserved.
Thereafter, the country did not cease to be a killing field. Self-determination pursui
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/06/unceasing-bloodshed-nigeria-remain-united-part-peacefully/#sthash.pXDWrMLX.dpuf
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