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A church in Jos, Plateau State, that was destroyed during sectarian violence on January 17-19, 2010. Christian leaders said 23 churches were destroyed in the violence. © 2010 Susan Schulman This report details the major incidents of violence in Plateau and Kaduna states, in particular brutal massacres in 2010 and 2011, and documents how the Nigerian authorities responded to these mass killings. The incidents documented in this report are not simply bygone historical events but remain very present in the lives of the victims and survivors. In the absence of effective remedies through the criminal justice system, similar violence continues to threaten these states, as aggrieved individuals seek retribution for the loss of their loved ones, homes, and livelihoods. While the root causes driving communal violence in the Middle Belt are varied and often entail longstanding grievances and disputes, they are exacerbated both by divisive state and local government policies that discriminate on ethnic or religious lines and by the failure of authorities to hold to account those responsible for the violence. The report examines the reasons that Nigerian officials have not prosecuted perpetrators and recommends steps the government can and should take to end the pervasive culture and practice of impunity that have helped fuel this violence. The communal strife in Plateau and Kaduna states has primarily pitted Hausa-Fulani Muslims—the largest and most politically powerful group in northern Nigeria—against smaller predominantly Christian ethnic groups that, together, constitute the majority in the Middle Belt. Members of these Christian groups say they feel threatened by the expanding Hausa-Fulani communities in the region. Some Christian Children stand outside a mosque that was burned during the January 17-19, 2010 sectarian violence in Jos, Plateau State. © 2010 Susan Schulman 8 “Leave Everything to God” Human Rights Watch | December 2013 9
A mosque burned by mobs on April 18, 2011 in Maraban Rido, Kaduna State. Muslim leaders said 40 Muslims were killed in the town. © 2011 Eric Guttschuss/Human Rights Watch leaders accuse the Hausa-Fulani of trying to impose Islam on the region and point to a history of oppression and violence suffered by non-Muslims in the northern region of the country to back up these concerns. They also accuse Hausa-Fulani in the Middle Belt communities of resorting to violence to achieve these ends. In Plateau State, state and local government officials have responded to this perceived threat by implementing policies that favor members of predominantly Christian “indigene” groups—those who can trace their ancestry to what are said to be the original inhabitants of an area—and exclude opportunities, such as state and local government employment, to Hausa-Fulani and members of other ethnic groups they deem to be “settlers.” The situation is more complex in Kaduna State, where the ethnic and religious divisions are more evenly split. In the northern part of the state, Hausa-Fulani hold the majority, and Christians claim they face discrimination, while in the southern part of the state—where numerous predominantly Christian ethnic groups, together, make up the majority— Hausa-Fulani complain that they are treated as perpetual “settlers” and second-class citizens, despite the fact that, in some cases, their families have lived in those communities for multiple generations. The struggle for “ownership”— cultural, religious, and political control—of these areas has been at the heart of much of the inter-communal conflict. A church burned during sectarian violence on April 18-19, 2011 in Kafanchan, Kaduna State. Christian leaders said 129 churches were burned in Kaduna State during the violence. © 2011 Eric Guttschuss/Human Rights Watch 10 “Leave Everything to God” Human Rights Watch | December 2013 11
Page 1 and 2: H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H “
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2013 Human Rights Watc
Page 5 and 6: Renewed Violence in Kaduna State, 2
Page 7 and 8: “Leave Everything to God” Accou
Page 9: On a sunny day in January 2010, in
Page 13 and 14: (above) A man stands in the rubble
Page 15 and 16: Photograph allegedly taken of a mob
Page 17 and 18: A mass grave for the victims of the
Page 19 and 20: RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT O
Page 21 and 22: RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PLATEAU STAT
Page 23 and 24: financial incentives or promise any
Page 25 and 26: Non-indigenes are often denied acce
Page 27 and 28: “peculiar attitudes” and will
Page 29 and 30: The conflict over indigene rights h
Page 31 and 32: II. Inter-Communal Violence in Plat
Page 33 and 34: curfew, which was widely ignored, a
Page 35 and 36: speech to the Nigerian Senate in Oc
Page 37 and 38: the police to investigate them. 78
Page 39 and 40: In the pre-dawn hours of January 19
Page 41 and 42: Satellite image of Kuru Karama 21 m
Page 43 and 44: communities. 102 When the Muslim le
Page 45 and 46: didn’t want to see the children [
Page 47 and 48: ut “[s]he was not able to reach m
Page 49 and 50: On January 20, some of the Muslim r
Page 51 and 52: Sabon Gidan Kanar Witnesses said th
Page 53 and 54: eeders association in Plateau State
Page 55 and 56: The March 2010 Dogo Nahawa Massacre
Page 57 and 58: mass grave: 16 men, 16 women, and 3
Page 59 and 60: man who survived the attack told Hu
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finish.” He continued, “Fightin
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IV. Impunity for the 2010-2013 Viol
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charge them with. Federal prosecuto
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moving about freely. One of the wit
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know us. They are still there in th
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provided Human Rights Watch with in
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Kafanchan Special Judicial Tribunal
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News of the Zango massacre sparked
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2000 “Sharia Riots” In February
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killed scores of people before even
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government, found that 938 people i
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campus chanting pro-Buhari slogans
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cutlasses, and sticks, and they cam
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The police escorted the convoy of M
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men divided the Muslim men and wome
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Another Muslim man, whose 19-year-o
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Violence in Kafanchan The town of K
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gave a free rein to the Muslims—t
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The man said he later went back to
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the house. There were 10 men and 12
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free.” 405 Communal bloodletting
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identified. The team arrested a num
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about living their normal lives,”
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VIII. The Legal Framework Internati
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houses, shops, or places of worship
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The Nigeria Police Force has also b
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IX. The Anatomy of Impunity The fai
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arrest those they find at the scene
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advice, they refused to do that; [w
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more likely to know each other—an
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justice. For example, a Hausa woman
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villages in Plateau State, and from
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emaining cases. 523 The federal tri
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We asked the people who have been a
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Plateau State Attorney General Edwa
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violence to book,” he told Human
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Political Compromises That Reinforc
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who set their homes on fire, those
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Plateau and Kaduna—two states in
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