Gilian Gibbons

The case of Gillian Gibbons reminds me of an incident which happened in Nigeria, about eight years ago.

A young Christian man resident in Kano in the heart of Nigeria's Muslim North got into an argument with a Muslim neighbour- as neighbours do all over the world- the Muslim neighbour whilst having considered the most effective way to retaliate, raised the alarum accusing the young Christian chap of having used pages of the Quran in place of Andrex for the err..purpose of ablutions. Anyway, the young Christian man promptly received mob justicep he was beheaded. No questions asked, no quarters given.

It didn't end there, the mob then proceeded on a rampage round town killing, maiming and impaling any man-jack remotely identifiable as Christian. This was not the first time this had happened, the history of Kano and indeed the North of Nigeria being replete with such incidents. I will never forget looking through the windows of the Coca Cola Offices in Kano where I was engaged in a Consultancy Project when the religious riot started and witnessed the mob swarming all over a pregnant Christian woman and hacking her to pieces, my pleas to my colleagues for us to go out and help were met with the simple warning that if the mob now a couple of thousand strong even had any idea of our being there, they would burn the building down and probably behead us all if we managed to survive the fire.

Gillian Gibbon's case thus touched a nerve with me, because of the similarities. A disagreement between a Secretary and the Director, a false and malicious report based on Religious sentiment and an innocent woman is put in mortal danger. The fact is that at least Gillian Gibbon had the benefit of a"Trial", public outcry and Governmental intervention, thousands of natives of Darfur were not so lucky, also thousands of innocent men, women and children who have lost their lives to mob action from savage, fanatic morons.

I am extremely glad that there was an almost universal outcry from British Muslims, my sadness being that this gives fodder to Nick Griffin's equally deranged hordes. They'll probably be licking their lips at the opportunity this gives them to bleat louder, well same meat different gravy, the BNP and their ilk are of the same stock as the fanatics, all it takes is a sympathetic Government and there you have it.