How selection of Nigeria as host of Miss World contest led to death of 200 people in 2002
In 2001, Nigeria’s Agbani Darego was crowned Miss World becoming the first black African to win the award. A year after in 2002, Abuja was chosen to host the next edition of the Miss World Beauty contest.
Controversy began over the fact that the contest was scheduled during Ramadan, the Muslim month for fasting which forced organisers to move it to December.
Trouble started when the organisers took a stand against the case of Amina Lawal, a Nigerian woman sentenced to death for having a child out of wedlock in Katsina.
Also, a column published in a Nigerian Newspaper that the Muslim Prophet Muhammadu would have approved of the beauty contest became the catalyst for the riot.
Although the newspaper issued an apology on November 19 and retracted the column, their Kaduna office was attacked and burnt the following day.
The protest became a full-blown religious riot when irate Muslims attacked and killed some Christians on November 21 in Kaduna
On November 22, some Christians carried out reprisal attacks killing Muslims and burning houses and the riots spread to Abuja.
On the same day, the Miss World Organisation decided to take the contest to London due to safety concerns of the participants
Finally, on November 23, the police were able to quell the riots. By then more than 200 people had died and about 30,000 people lost their homes while many more fled.
Among those who died in the riots were the parents of former Super Eagles player, Victor Moses.
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