Nigeria, Sept. 30 -- On an afternoon in 2003, Blessing Emmanuel, a young widow, was selling pastries and drinks at her shop on the University of Jos campus with her son and three siblings. By 3 p.m., news of violence broke across Jos town, the capital of Plateau State. Unknown to her then, it was the beginning of an ordeal that would change her life forever.

"We couldn't save anything," she said. "With the help of the military men, we managed to get to a church member's house, where we spent three days before getting another apartment in the Bible Faith community."

Plateau State has long been the epicentre of ethno-religious conflict in Nigeria's north-central region. In September 2001, sectarian clashes in Jos claimed about 1,000 lives...