How Muslim and Christian Women in Nigeria Banded Together to Fight Violent Extremism

[polly7]

Posted 19 January 2015 6:30 GMT


Nigerian pastor Esther Ibanga joined with Muslim leaders in the city of Jos to call for the return of Chibok girls who were kidnapped by the extremist group Boko Haram. Credit: Women Without Walls Initiative (Willie Abok). Published with PRI's permission

But even after the Christian and the Muslim demonstrations, the violent clashes continued. At that point, Ibanga reached out to a local Muslim religious leader, Khadija Hawaja.

“That's when I realized the issue is really not religion, the issue was politics. But religion was used as a very powerful tool,” she says. “I reached out to her and I said, ‘Hey listen, you know we're not each other's problems. It's not about you being a Muslim and me being a Christian. These politicians are knocking our heads together. And it's all about them maintaining power.'”

“She could have been killed,” Ibanga says. “And I could have been killed also, going into a Muslim community.”

After months of collaboration, Ibanga and Hawaja founded the Women Without Walls Initiative.

“We want to do away with the walls that divide and separate us, whether it's the walls of social class or the wall of ethnicity or the walls of religion,” she says. “We really cannot join the politicians in this fight. We are mothers. We are life givers and we are solution bearers. And we think that we should bring solutions to the table, rather than dwell on the problem.”

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/01/19/how-muslim-and-christian-women-in-nigeria-banded-together-to-fight-violent-extremism/