Influence of Socio-Ethnoreligious Violence Conflict in Jema'a Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Purpose: Crisis has become a recurrent phenomenon in Kaduna state. The state is arguably, said to have experienced more episodes of conflicts than most states in northern Nigeria. These violent conflicts have claimed the lives of many people and have led to loss of properties worth billions of naira. Jema'a local government area of Kaduna state arguably has experienced more violent conflicts than the whole state. Materials and Methods: Qualitative method of research was adopted and In-depth Interview (IDI) and Key Informant Interview (KII) were administered to obtain valuable data from the participants in light of the purpose for the research and the data was analyzed with content analysis. Findings: Notable among these violent conflicts are the 1987 college of education Gidan-Waya Crisis, the 1999 Jema'a Emirate tussle, the year 2000 Sharia law crisis, the 2011 post-election crisis and the protracted farmers-herders' conflict. These conflicts have polarized the local government area on the basis of religion and ethnicity. Settlements choice, politics and political parties are made, practiced and created along ethno religious lines respectively. Identity politics especially on the basis of religion and ethnicity has ensured bitter animosity among the people living in the region. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: It is for this reason that this paper seeks to unearth the triggers of these crises from especially the victims' perspective. Conflict triggers like religion, indigene and settlers' issues, competition for political space, and the economy were found to be the core factors precipitating violent conflicts in Jema'a LGA area.