| Miss World riots | |
|---|---|
 Riots occurred mainly in Kaduna, other events in Abuja and Lagos. | |
| Location | Kaduna,Kaduna State Abuja,FCT Lagos,Lagos State |
| Date | 20 – 23 November 2002 |
Attack type | Rioting,manslaughter,pillage |
| Deaths | c. 250[1][2] |
| Injured | 300+[3] |
| Perpetrators | Islamists, later rioting Christians and Muslims |
| Motive | Revenge for supposed insult ofMuhammad, later (also) avenging killed fellow believers |
TheMiss World riots were a series ofreligiously motivated riots in theNigerian city ofKaduna in November 2002, resulting in the deaths of more than 200 people. TheMiss Worldbeauty pageant, which was controversial inNigeria, was relocated toLondon after bloody clashes betweenMuslims andChristians, caused by what some Muslims deemed to be a "blasphemous" article in the Christian newspaperThisDay about the event. The Miss World riots were part of theSharia conflict in Nigeria, that started in 1999 when several predominantly Islamic states in Northern Nigeria decided to introduceSharia law.
Because the 2001 contest was won by the NigerianAgbani Darego,Miss World 2002 would take place in (and be aired from) the Nigerian capitalAbuja. In the run-up to the pageant there were many controversies, like the fact that it coincided with the Muslim holy month oframadan, and the whole beauty contest was perceived by many conservative Muslims and also Christians to beunchaste.[2] The organisation conceded to the first complaint by moving the event from the end of November to 7 December, but did not act on the second complaint.[4] In several places, especially in the mostly Muslim North, peaceful protests were held against conducting Miss World in Nigeria.[2]Feminists argued the pageant was toosexist because it merely considered women's beauty and paid no attention to intelligence and character; the organisation conceded to them by altering theswimsuit parade to aphoto shoot.[4]
However, conservative Islamic groups turned even more strongly against the Miss World organisation when it took a stand in the case of the Nigerian womanAmina Lawal. Amina had been condemned to death bystoning by a regional Islamic court because of allegedadultery.[5] First, Miss Côte d'Ivoire Yannick Azébian and Miss NorwayKathrine Sørland indicated at the end of August 2002 that they would boycott the beauty contest; other Misses expressed their doubts as well.[6] Miss Belgium, Denmark, France and Spain too decided to stay away, Miss Holland ignored calls to do so; the chairman of the Miss Holland opined: "Then you are actually giving the people in the North what they want. They are stopping an event which is 'perverse' in their eyes and are just continuing their ridiculous legislation."[7] Other Misses also found that exactly by showing up in Abuja they could make a statement against conservative beliefs about women. Civil rights activists eventually were able to persuade the Miss World organisation as a whole to plead for the release of Amina Lawal to the Nigerian federal authorities, eventually convincing them to promise that the stoning would not be permitted.[4]
After this, acolumn appeared in theLagos-based Christian newspaperThisDay on Saturday 16 November,[4] in which journalistIsioma Daniel wrote that theIslamic prophetMuhammad would probably have approved of the Miss World competition: 'The Muslims thought it was immoral to bring ninety-two women to Nigeria and ask them to revel in vanity. What would Mohammed think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from one of them.'[2] This sparked outrage among someMuslims, and from 20 till 23 November the city of Kaduna was the stage of bloody riots between Muslims and Christians.[1] Two years earlier, Kaduna had already seenviolent Christian-Muslim clashes. Many inhabitants had a strong sense of injustice because none of the perpetrators had been prosecuted afterwards.[2] Moreover, the riots had caused Christians and Muslims to concentrate and isolate themselves in separate districts. TheThisDay incident caused latent tensions in the religiously divided city to erupt.[2][8]
On 26 November, Islamic clerics fromZamfara State[who?] issued afatwa against the journalist Isioma Daniel for insulting the prophet. The fatwa constituted adeath sentence, and all Muslims worldwide were called on to murder her.[12] In a statement that was later broadcast on local radio, the deputy governorMamuda Aliyu Shinkafi of Zamfara declared: "LikeSalman Rushdie, the blood of Isioma Daniel can be shed. It is binding on all Muslims wherever they are to consider the killing of the writer as a religious duty."[13][14] The federal government of Nigeria rejected the fatwa,[14] and it was declared null and void by the relevantSaudi Arabian authorities.[15][16][17][18]
The Kaduna riots claimed the lives of about 250 people, mostly men and boys; 20,000 to 30,000 people lost their homes.[2] More than 1,000 people were arrested on suspicion of inciting or partaking in the violence.[1] TheCommittee to Protect Journalists andAmnesty International eventually helped Daniel to go inexile in Europe, because it was too dangerous for her to return to Nigeria.[9] Among those killed were the parents of Nigerian footballer and international,Victor Moses, who fled the country as a result.[19]
Amina Lawal, who was very thankful to the Misses for their concern about her fate, but who had spoken out against a boycott (just before the riots broke out),[20] was eventually acquitted on 25 September 2003.[21] Upon the pageant's return to England, many of the boycotting contestants chose to attend, including Miss Norway, Kathrine Sørland, who was tipped in the last few days as the number one favourite for the crown she had previously boycotted.[22][23][24][25][26] The competition was eventually won by the TurkishAzra Akin; at the time she was the second and at present last Miss World from a Muslim-majority country (the first being the EgyptianAntigone Costanda in 1954).
A number of years later, some extremists in Indonesia had similar riots.[27]