Nigerian Christians Join Attempts to Deradicalize Terrorists

On a spring night in the mid-1990s, a teenage Ibrahim Alhassan awoke to a voice calling for Christians to step out of their dormitory rooms at Sani Dingyadi Unity Secondary School in Sokoto state, northwest Nigeria. A group of Muslim boys then ordered about 10 Christian high school students, including Alhassan, to crawl on their knees. The Muslims then beat them with sticks from a dongoyaro tree as the Christian boys crawled down the school hallways and out into the open fields. “They called us infidels,” Alhassan said. “To hate them was the easy thing. But I still loved them.” Alhassan grew up in a devout Christian home from the Zuru tribe in Kebbi state, 85 miles southwest of Sokoto. He enjoyed playing soccer with Muslim boys from the Hausa and Fulani tribes. Sometimes Alhassan tried to lead Christian prayer before a game.