Miss World riots

Miss World riots
Riots occurred mainly in Kaduna, other events in Abuja and Lagos.
Location	Kaduna, Kaduna State Abuja, FCT Lagos, Lagos State
Date	20 – 23 November 2002
Attack type	rioting, manslaughter, pillage
Deaths	c. 250
Non-fatal injuries	300+
Perpetrators	Islamists, later rioting Christians and Muslims
Suspected perpetrators	1000+ people arrested
Motive	Revenge for "insult" of the prophet Muhammad, later (also) avenging killed fellow believers

The Miss World riots were a series of religiously-motivated riots in the Nigerian city of Kaduna in November 2002, claiming the lives of more than 200 people. The Miss World beauty pageant, that was controversial in Nigeria, was relocated to London after bloody clashes between Muslims and Christians, caused by what some Muslims deemed to be a "blasphemous" article in a Christian newspaper about the event. The Miss World riots were part of the Sharia Conflict in Nigeria, that started in 1999 when several predominantly Islamic states in Northern Nigeria decided to introduce Sharia law.

Because the 2001 contest was won by the Nigerian Agbani Darego, Miss World 2002 would take place in (and be aired from) the Nigerian capital Abuja. In the run-up to the pageant there were many controversies, like the fact that it coincided with the Muslim holy month of ramadan, and the whole beauty contest was perceived by many conservative Muslims and also Christians to be unchaste. The organisation conceded to the first complaint by moving the event from the end of November to 7 December, but did not act on the second complaint. In several places, especially in the mostly Muslim North, peaceful protests were held against conducting Miss World in Nigeria.Feminists argued the pageant was too sexist because it merely considered women's beauty and paid no attention to intelligence and character; the organisation conceded to them by altering the swimsuit parade to a photo shoot.

However, conservative Islamic groups turned even more strongly against the Miss World organisation when it took a stand in the case of the Nigerian woman Amina Lawal. Amina had been condemned to death by stoning by a regional Islamic court because of alleged adultery. First, Miss Côte d'Ivoire Yannick Azébian and Miss Norway Kathrine Sørland indicated at the end of August 2002 that they would boycott the beauty contest; other Misses expressed their doubts as well. Miss Belgium, Denmark, France and Spain too decided to stay away, Miss Holland ignored calls to do so; the chairman of the Miss Holland opined: "Then you are actually giving the people in the North what they want. They are stopping an event which is 'perverse' in their eyes and are just continuing their ridiculous legislation." Other Misses also found that exactly by showing up in Abuja they could make a statement against conservative beliefs about women. Civil rights activists eventually were able to persuade the Miss World organisation as a whole to plead for the release of Amina Lawal to the Nigerian federal authorities, eventually convincing them to promise that the stoning would not be permitted.