VZCZCXRO8234
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHGI RUEHJS RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW
RUEHROV
DE RUEHUJA #1558/01 2011305
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201305Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0321
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0458
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 7450
RUEHCD/AMCONSUL CIUDAD JUAREZ 0459
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001558 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KISL NI
SUBJECT: ISLAMIC SCHOLAR GUNNED DOWN IN SOKOTO 
 
ABUJA 00001558  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (U)  SUMMARY: The Nigerian press reported that Umaru 
Hamza Dan-Maishiya, a prominent Islamic scholar and imam, 
died from wounds sustained after three gunmen opened fire as 
evening prayers at the Shehu Usmanu Dan Fodio Mosque in 
Sokoto on July 18.  Nigerian daily This Day reports that two 
suspects have been arrested while another remains at large. 
Sultan of Sokoto Muhammadu Abubakar appealed for calm, noting 
that joint military and police patrols were being dispatched 
throughout Sokoto metropolis to attenuate tensions.  The 
death of an outspoken Sunni scholar has precipitated fears 
that members of Sokoto's minority Shia community may be 
behind the attack.  Following a formal announcement of 
Dan-Maishiya's death on July 19, a peaceful protest calling 
on the government to investigate the murder spiraled into a 
violent confrontation between several hundred of the city's 
Sunni and Shia youth; an unidentified man was reportedly 
killed in the violence.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Dan-Maishiya's killing comes months after a similar 
shooting on April 13 that took the life of Kano-based Shaykh 
Ja'afar Adamu.  On April 15, BBC News reported that several 
hundred "Nigerian Taleban" attacked a police outpost in the 
Panshekara suburbs of Kano city.  Several "Taleban" and 
police officials were reportedly killed in the attack. 
Subsequent investigations revealed that the attackers may 
have, in fact, been acting alone and may have numbered fewer 
than twenty.  The motivation for the attack remains unknown, 
however, indications have emerged that the attackers were 
protesting the security services' inability to protect 
Shaykh's Ja'afar's killing. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Although the overwhelming majority of Nigerian 
Muslims adhere to Sunni Islam, a significant, vociferous 
minority of Shia Muslims reside in parts of the North, 
including Zaria, Bauchi, and Sokoto.  While Sunni and Shia 
Muslims have generally maintained convivial relations in 
Sokoto, the sects clashed in June 2005 over a botched Shia 
attempt to take over the central Sultan Bello Mosque. 
Nigerian newspaper "Vanguard" claims that Dan-Maishiya was 
"said to have spearheaded" the 2005 take over of the mosque; 
however, former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in 
Sokoto, Muhammadu Dingiyadi, who also served as the 
Democratic People's Party (DPP) gubernatorial candidate in 
April 2007 was rumored to have been behind the failed take 
over.  In press reports at the time, Dingiyadi neither 
confirmed nor denied his alleged participation in the plot to 
capture the mosque nor did he dissociate himself from the 
Shia community, of which he was believed to be an integral 
member.  Dingiyadi's presumed association with the Shia 
community and alleged involvement in the 2005 incident were 
seen to hamper his chances for victory at the April polls. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In northern Nigeria, Sunni Islam is further 
delineated into three prevailing sects: Tijaniyya/Qadiriyya, 
tariqa, and Izala.  Shia Islam, on the other hand, maintains 
its homogeneity and was introduced largely by Ibrahim Zakzaky 
in the early 1980s.  Clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims 
historically have occurred for political reasons, as the 
latter views perceived excesses of institutions such as the 
sultanate, the emirates, and other mainstream Islamic 
institutions and their leaders as "un-Islamic" or too closely 
allied with secular government.  Sectarian differences within 
the Sunni community, by contrast, often concern doctrinal 
issues.  Similar to Shaykh Ja'afar's death, in which members 
of the majority Tijaniyya/Qadiriyya sect of Sunni Islam were 
considered culpable, the press and contacts report that 
members of Sokoto's Shia community may have perpetrated 
Dan-Mashiya's killing in retaliation for his alleged 
anti-Shia statements.  Shaykh Ja'afar, educated in Saudi 
Arabia, initially joined the Izala movement only to part ways 
in early 2006; the Shaykh espoused beliefs consistent with 
the Izala doctrine which mirrors closely the Wahhabi version 
of Sunni Islam and militated against Tijaniyya/Qadiriyya 
practices, which he characterized as exogenous to Sunni Islam. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT: Though it is troubling that violence broke 
out in the streets of Sokoto and tensions are obviously 
running high, it appears that the Sultan is aware of the need 
to keep matters from escalating and the government has 
dispatched security forces to keep the peace.  At this early 
stage in the investigation, it remains premature to declare 
that members of Sokoto's Shia community perpetrated 
 
ABUJA 00001558  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Dan-Maishiya's killing in retaliation for his presumed 
anti-Shia rhetoric.  To be sure, differences between Sunni 
and Shia Muslims have historically been problematic, at times 
violent and bloody.  While a connection between 
Dan-Maishiya's July 18 killing and Shaykh Ja'afar's April 13 
murder has not been made nor have the perpretators in either 
case been identified or apprehended, this may signal a 
worrying trend wherein Islamic scholars are becoming the 
target of possible intra-religious dissension.  END COMMENT. 
CAMPBELL