Religion 'hijacked'

Christian communities have been targeted and churches burned, but Imam Ashafa says the latest violence is first and foremost political.
"Religion has been hijacked as just one of the major instruments used and abused by politicians," he says.
"Religion is a tool used by those politicians, particularly if they are losing, in order to win favour by harnessing the passion of religion so deeply felt in our society."
Mr Wuye accepts that, on different occasions, politicians on both sides of the religious divide are to blame and calls those who orchestrate the violence "conflict entrepreneurs".
Both men have striven for the past two decades to bring down the wall of mistrust between the two communities.
But has it all been in vain? Does this latest flare-up of violence not demonstrate that Muslims and Christians in Kaduna are as far apart as they ever were?
No, there is progress, says Imam Ashafa, but "the sooner we stop this negative propaganda that this is all about religion", and tackle the political causes behind it, "the sooner both sides can live in peace the better".