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that he recognized those who carried out the attack—they were his neighbors. But he did not go to the police. “If I report it to the police, they won’t do anything,” he said, adding that “this is not the first time it has happened, and they haven’t done anything about it.” 498 Similarly, a Fulani man from Fadan Daji village in Kaura local government area of Kaduna State, who saw a man he knows murder his brother in April 2011, told Human Rights Watch that he has not gone to the police. “We know that even if we give a complaint to the police, they can’t do anything for us,” he said. As he put it, “We see that many crises have happened and the police never take any action. That’s why we decided not to go to the police to file a report.” 499 But the deputy commissioner of police in Kaduna State insisted that the police have changed: “If in the past there has been a lack of prosecutions, the present is different,” he said. 500 Yet the record of the police following the April 2011 violence in Kaduna State has not been encouraging. Similarly, the head of State CID in Plateau State insisted that since he came to his post in April 2011—after the January and March 2010 violence—“I have not seen any crisis that we have not charged people to court.” 501 Witnesses also pointed out that in some cases the police were present during the violence and know what happened but have taken no action, so it is pointless for them to come forward. “Going to the police is a waste of time. It is better to do nothing,” said a Christian man in Kafanchan whose property was burned in the April 2011 violence. “They [the police] were there during the crisis. They don’t need to wait for people to come to them.” 502 Similarly a Fulani man from a village in Zangon Kataf local government area who saw his brother murdered said he saw no point in reporting the incident to the police. “The policemen were living there when it happened, and they took no action, so it’s not necessary for us to go and tell them now.” He added that even if he went back to the police, “The police won’t do anything.” 503 Victims Displaced by Violence Have Limited Resources Many victims who have been displaced from their communities and had their homes and property looted or destroyed pointed to the sheer financial and logistical difficulty of pursuing 498 Human Rights Watch interview with a Fulani man from Fan district, Barkin Ladi, March 8, 2012. 499 Human Rights Watch interview with a Fulani man from Fadan Daji village, November 15, 2011. 500 Human Rights Watch interview with Nwodibo Ekechukwu, then deputy commission of police, Kaduna State, Kaduna, November 11, 2011. 501 Human Rights Watch interview with Ibrahim Umar, assistant commissioner of police in charge of State Criminal Investigation Department, Plateau State, Jos, March 12, 2012. 502 Human Rights Watch interview with a Christian man in Kafanchan, November 19, 2011. 503 Human Rights Watch interview with a Fulani man from Ayagon village, November 15, 2011. “LEAVE EVERYTHING TO GOD” 130
justice. For example, a Hausa woman from Kuru Karama who saw her husband killed said her house and all her property were also burned. “After what happened, I didn’t have a single shoe,” she said. “I don’t even have money to transport myself to the police station.” 504 Another Hausa man from Dogo Nahawa said that his house and car were burned in January 2010. “We did not report the incident to the police,” he said. “Everybody is trying to find where to live. Families are living outside as refugees.” 505 Perceived Religious or Ethnic Bias in the Police Other witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they believed the police were biased against them because of their religious or ethnic identity. The head of State CID in Plateau State acknowledged to Human Rights Watch that, “Even though we are trying our best to be nonpartisan—non-religious—the people see it along these lines.” 506 For example, a Christian woman in Kafanchan told Human Rights Watch, “We are Christians, but the DPO [divisional police officer] is Muslim and his assistant is Muslim. Even if you go report [the incident] to the police, they will not arrest them, they are supporting them.” Similarly, a Fulani man from Fan district in Barkin Ladi local government area in Plateau State, who witnessed Berom men from his village burn Fulani homes, said he has not filed a complaint with the police. “The police are mostly Berom at the police station there,” he said. “If we report it, they will do nothing about it.” 507 Witnesses Fear Reprisals for Reporting Crimes Fear is at times cited as a reason to not report a case to the police. “I haven’t spoken to the police,” a Fulani man from a village in Zangon Kataf told Human Rights Watch. “I am afraid to tell the police. I am afraid that the Bajju people will come and do us more harm.” 508 A Fulani man from another village in Zangon Kataf put it even more bluntly: “I am afraid to go report to the police,” he said. “If I go, the Kataf people may kill me.” 509 In Kuru Karama, Plateau State, a Berom woman, who is Muslim, said she has not gone to the police to report what Berom Christians did in the town. “I am afraid of my relations,” she said. “When I go home, they would kill me because I reported them to the police.” 510 504 Human Rights Watch interview with a woman from Kuru Karama, Jos, January 29, 2012. 505 Human Rights Watch interview with a Hausa man from Dogo Nahawa, Jos, January 29, 2012. 506 Human Rights Watch interview with Ibrahim Umar, March 12, 2012. 507 Human Rights Watch interview with a Fulani man from Fan district, March 8, 2012. 508 Human Rights Watch interview with a Fulani man from a village in Zangon Kataf local government area, November 15, 2011. 509 Human Rights Watch interview with a Fulani man from a village in Zangon Kataf local government area, November 15, 2011. 510 Human Rights Watch with a Berom woman from Kuru Karama, Jos, January 27, 2012. 131 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | DECEMBER 2013
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H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H “
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Copyright © 2013 Human Rights Watc
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Renewed Violence in Kaduna State, 2
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“Leave Everything to God” Accou
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On a sunny day in January 2010, in
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A mosque burned by mobs on April 18
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(above) A man stands in the rubble
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Photograph allegedly taken of a mob
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A mass grave for the victims of the
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RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT O
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RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PLATEAU STAT
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financial incentives or promise any
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Non-indigenes are often denied acce
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“peculiar attitudes” and will
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The conflict over indigene rights h
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II. Inter-Communal Violence in Plat
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curfew, which was widely ignored, a
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speech to the Nigerian Senate in Oc
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the police to investigate them. 78
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In the pre-dawn hours of January 19
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Satellite image of Kuru Karama 21 m
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communities. 102 When the Muslim le
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didn’t want to see the children [
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ut “[s]he was not able to reach m
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On January 20, some of the Muslim r
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Sabon Gidan Kanar Witnesses said th
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eeders association in Plateau State
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The March 2010 Dogo Nahawa Massacre
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mass grave: 16 men, 16 women, and 3
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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
Page 69 and 70: know us. They are still there in th
Page 71 and 72: provided Human Rights Watch with in
Page 73 and 74: Kafanchan Special Judicial Tribunal
Page 75 and 76: News of the Zango massacre sparked
Page 77 and 78: 2000 “Sharia Riots” In February
Page 79 and 80: killed scores of people before even
Page 81 and 82: government, found that 938 people i
Page 83 and 84: campus chanting pro-Buhari slogans
Page 85 and 86: cutlasses, and sticks, and they cam
Page 87 and 88: The police escorted the convoy of M
Page 89 and 90: men divided the Muslim men and wome
Page 91 and 92: Another Muslim man, whose 19-year-o
Page 93 and 94: Violence in Kafanchan The town of K
Page 95 and 96: gave a free rein to the Muslims—t
Page 97 and 98: The man said he later went back to
Page 99 and 100: the house. There were 10 men and 12
Page 101 and 102: free.” 405 Communal bloodletting
Page 103 and 104: identified. The team arrested a num
Page 105 and 106: about living their normal lives,”
Page 107 and 108: VIII. The Legal Framework Internati
Page 109 and 110: houses, shops, or places of worship
Page 111 and 112: The Nigeria Police Force has also b
Page 113 and 114: IX. The Anatomy of Impunity The fai
Page 115 and 116: arrest those they find at the scene
Page 117 and 118: advice, they refused to do that; [w
Page 119: more likely to know each other—an
Page 123 and 124: villages in Plateau State, and from
Page 125 and 126: emaining cases. 523 The federal tri
Page 127 and 128: We asked the people who have been a
Page 129 and 130: Plateau State Attorney General Edwa
Page 131 and 132: violence to book,” he told Human
Page 133 and 134: Political Compromises That Reinforc
Page 135 and 136: who set their homes on fire, those
Page 137: Plateau and Kaduna—two states in
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