But is America honest or do we bask in sin?

That night of December 2010, a sudden tension rose across Jos city. Christian youths mounted major roads, targeting Muslims. It was a quest for vengeance. Ungwan Rukuba had always been a boiling point during crisis and Muslims steered clear of it. The bombs at Ungwan Rukuba had exploded at the beer parlour where there was a police station and a checkpoint nearby. People were angry that the security didn’t do their jobs. No suspects were arrested. Later, news circulated, as usual, about how there had been rumours and even open declarations of the intended attacks, but nothing had been done by the security agencies which didn’t take it seriously or were even complicit.

The twin bombs were targeted at Christian-dominated areas and were thought to be a well-orchestrated reprisal from aggrieved Muslims. Or from Boko Haram, whose activities in northern Nigeria had increased following the extrajudicial execution of its former leader, Mohammed Yusuf, who was succeeded by Abubakar Shekau in 2009. When Yusuf and a number of Boko Haram members were captured by soldiers, some were executed, some imprisoned. The new leadership of the group threatened terror against security agencies and all who opposed the sect. True to their word, police posts, churches, mosques, and people—Christians and Muslims who antagonized the sect—were targeted. In the same 2010, on 11 September, in neighbouring Bauchi,, a prison was attacked and about 730 inmates escaped. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack and for the rescue of their members.

Generally, the years 2009 to 2010 saw a spike in attacks. While my town nursed the wounds inflicted on it on the eve of Christmas, another town in the northeast, Maiduguri, had also suffered the same fate on the same day. It was easily concluded that the bombings at Ungwan Rukuba were plotted by Boko Haram and not a reprisal.

Ungwan Rukuba was primarily targeted for a number of reasons. There is a widely known notoriety about Ungwan Rukuba: its dense Christian population, thuggish youths, and the wild execution of Muslims in it during a crisis. Crisis times were moments that truly showed the depth of carnality across divisions. In November 2008, another riot erupted following the local government elections in Jos, where rumours of victory for the Peoples Democratic Party Christian candidate, Barrister Timothy Gyang Buba, spread before the official announcement of the winner. Supporters of the Muslim candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Alhaji Aminu Baba, felt the results were rigged and began violent protests, attacking Christians. There were reprisals in the Christian communities, and I had happened to find my way to Ungwan Rukuba where I was shocked by the blackened body of a man, whom it was said was Muslim. He was burned, his frame leaning against a flaming car, and tagged ‘Moses’. A short distance away, another body burned tar black. I was told some youths dug out the victim’s heart and ate it. It was said they did it following a ritual, a belief that the act demonstrated bravery and complete subduing of enemies. Crises that were labelled Christian versus Muslims were most times moments of barbarism from people from both sides of the divide. People who were inherently psychopathic revelled in such times.

After a crisis, one time, there was widespread speculation that some Muslim butchers were selling human flesh in place of beef. In churches and communities, people were warned against buying meat from the butcher whose source was unknown. Mothers were told not to make soups and stews with meat. That for the sake of their families they should avoid beef. Young people were especially dissuaded from eating suya. That if they couldn’t control their gluttony, it would lead them to eat staked human flesh. My mother, though cautious, still bought meat from the market. I remember sometimes eating fearfully, wondering if it was truly beef. Now that I think of it, perhaps even within the Muslim communities at the time, there must have been warnings against buying meat sold by Christians.