The deaths of a pregnant woman and her four young children in Anambra State in southern Nigeria has generated concern among citizens who believe the brutal killings could create violence and enmity between the north and south of the country.

Harira Jubril and her children, were callously killed by unknown gunmen on Sunday, May 22. Harira was due to give birth this week. They were buried in Akwa, the state capital, on Wednesday.

Her husband, Ahmed Jubril, told BBC News pidgin that he had “lost everything in this world. This is the worst thing any person would experience in life.”

Originally from Adamawa State in the northeast, he said he would now return there.

The attack has been described as callous, brutal and demeaning.

Politicians and analysts have said the killings could result in more ethnic and religious conflicts between the mostly Christian southern part and mostly Islamic northern part of Nigeria.

Divisions are exacerbated by the continuing demand by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a nationalist separatist group in Nigeria, that aims to restore the Republic of Biafra, a country which seceded from Nigeria prior to the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) and later rejoined Nigeria after its defeat by the Nigerian military.

Another factor that has been festering for years in many parts of north and south Nigeria has been continuing clashes between farmers and herders.

RNI spoke to some dealers at the popular Kasuwan Shanu cattle market in Maiduguri.

Isa Hassan, who drives cattle trucks to many parts of Nigeria, told RNI: “There are divisions across Nigeria. There is no unity. We used to take cattle to Benin, Warri of Lagos State, Agbo, Asaba of Delta State and sometimes Port Harcourt and other states but we cannot use some of those routes anymore because of thugs who stop us and take our money and sometimes they even burn our trucks and animals. Some drivers have been injured and some have even been killed. Now we have had to find safer routes.

“We are not afraid of travelling because that is our business but sometimes residents in all parts of the country, but especially in the south, threaten us.”

Hassan said farmer-herder clashes contributed to the violence and affected the very uneasy coexistence in both north and south Nigeria.

“Sometimes herders allow their animals to graze in residents’ farmlands which causes conflict that has spilt into our neighbouring countries too.”

Sheriff Bakura, who spoke on behalf of the Kasuwan Shanu Cattle Association of Borno State in Maiduguri, said: A lot of cases of violence have been witnessed by our men, especially in the south, but it is hardly ever reported and no one cares about the danger to which we are exposed. Recently there was a case in Sokoto State, in the northwest, which resulted to the death of a woman who was burnt and killed. Residents attacked the cattlemen. It was only after we talked to some elders, who directed them to stop, and they did. If they had not done so, our men could have died that day.

“The main problem are our leaders. No good leader will allow his people to go and kill someone because he comes from a different part of Nigeria. We are all Nigerians. The spiritual leaders must intervene and tell their followers to stop attacking one another. We have had enough violence from the Boko Haram insurgency, kidnappings, killings, banditry and other crimes, which have affected us in the north. All we want is peace and unity in the whole of Nigeria.”

Jidda Ibrahim, from the public administration department at the Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri, told RNI reporter Aisha Jamal that most of the crises in the country were man-made.

“According to the Nigerian constitution, under section 41(1) of the 1991, it says that every citizen is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom.

“The crises affect the administrative, political and security of the country on daily basis. But some leaders’ play a role in this because of their poor governance, injustice and self-interest, all of which have fuelled the crises.

“Some northerners are afraid of danger and have been forced to abandoned their rights and leave the southern states. Racism is on the rise among youths and this is likely to affect peace in Nigeria, especially if injustice continues. The political state will continue to collapse due to selfish interests,” Ibrahim said.

“Political, religious, traditional, scholars and even ordinary citizens need to work together before things get out of hand because if we don’t there will be retaliation instead of peaceful coexistence.”

AISHA SD JAMAL