- Title: Unreported World: Nigeria's Killing Fields
- Date: 2nd April 2010
- Summary: As the world's attention focuses on recent sectarian violence in Nigeria, Unreported World provides an exclusive report on the events leading up to the latest round of bloodletting. Reporter Peter Oborne and director Andy Wells were the only television journalists in the town of Jos in the immediate aftermath of a previous outburst of sectarian violence, which left 500 people dead. There, they uncover the truth about the convulsion of barbarism that is afflicting a country, and which is rapidly spiralling out of control. Unreported World suggests that the explanation for the violence in terms of Muslim versus Christian is far too simplistic. This is a battle for land and power, with deep roots in ethnic rivalry. They also hear how, at best, the government has done little to keep the peace, and allegations that, at worst, the military are fuelling the conflict. Though soldiers now patrol the streets of Jos and there is a 6pm curfew, Wells and Oborne soon discover that the crisis is far from over. Every day sees fresh flare-ups when Muslims and Christians try and return to their communities to rebuild houses and schools. Arriving at the outlying village of Kuru Kamara, the scene of a reported massacre, the team discovers only devastation - burnt cars and houses, and empty streets. They meet a villager, Abdullah, who gives an account of the day of the massacre. He claims that three vanloads of Christian youths had arrived early in the morning from neighbouring villages armed with guns and machetes. Abdulla shows Oborne a sewer that he claims had been filled with 30 dead and maimed bodies of young children from the age of six months to five years old. They are taken to a square where much of the killing took place. Every few yards there are black patches on the ground where human bodies were burnt alive. The team is told that 170 villagers were killed in total. Some of the bodies were thrown down wells. Though many have been removed, some are still visible. Unreported World hears claims that the local police made no attempt to halt the killing, and that one local police officer joined in. In an attempt to learn what happened, the team visits a hospital in the centre of Jos. Dr Golwa Philimon, a surgeon, tells them that there were 180 fatalities in his hospital alone. He says that the first batch of patients had suffered machete wounds, but that after approximately 12 hours the majority of fatalities were as a result of gunshot wounds apparently inflicted by army and police. Dr Golwa claims 'fake' security agents or men dressed as soldiers and police contributed to the killings. Dr Philimon introduces Oborne to Joshua, a Christian who had arrived at the hospital two days earlier with gunshot wounds. The team travels to Joshua's village and learns that Joshua was the victim of a reprisal attack by Muslims from the neighbouring Felani tribe. They discover that Joshua's fellow villagers are living in constant fear as a result of daily attacks. Back in Jos they visit a school that has been converted into a camp for displaced people. Muhammad Isa, a taxi driver, shows them round the camp then takes the team back to what was his home. His house has been destroyed and Oborne confronts Isa's neighbour, a pastor whose house was left intact. As the team leave, Mohammad begs the outside world for help, and in a prediction of what would follow just a week later, says that until someone intervenes, there will be more bloodshed. As they leave the country, Oborne concludes that the killings have only just begun and that Nigeria may be about to embark on a bloody civil war.
- Description:Critically acclaimed foreign affairs series offering an insight into the lives of people in some of the most neglected parts of the planet.
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:Quicksilver Films Ltd.
- Programme Episode:Episode 2
- Transmission Date:02/04/2010
- Rights:UK and Eire
- Decade: 2010s