|
Widespread dissatisfaction became apparent with the
Maitatsine, or Yan
Tatsine (followers of the Maitatsine), a quasi-Muslim fringe group that who
sparked religious riots in Kano in 1980, and Kaduna, and Maiduguri in 1982 after
police tried to control this activities. The disturbance in Kano alone resulted in the deaths of 4,177 people
between December 18 and 29, 1980...
In addition, a fringe Islamic cult, known as the
Maitatsine, started in the
late 1970s and operated throughout the 1980s, springing up in Kano around a
mystical leader (since deceased) from Cameroon who claimed to have had divine
revelations superseding those of the Prophet. The cult had its own mosques and
preached a doctrine antagonistic to established Islamic and societal leadership.
Its main appeal was to marginal and poverty-stricken urban in-migrants, whose
rejection by the more established urban groups fostered this religious
opposition. These disaffected adherents ultimately lashed out at the more
traditional mosques and congregations, resulting in violent outbreaks in several
cities of the north.
|
