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Witnesses Report Crimes to Commissions of Inquiry
Many witnesses who had not gone to the police said that they provided information to their
community leaders who filed a report to a government commission of inquiry. For example, a
Christian man in Kafanchan, whose house was burned, said he has not gone to the police. “It was a
general crisis problem. You cannot seek redress anywhere as an individual, because thousands of
people were affected in this crisis, so they will not listen to you as an individual,” he said. “Rather
we compiled our report as a group as Christians affected by this crisis.” 511 Similarly, a teacher in
Gidan Maga, Kaduna State, who saw Bajju men he recognized murder several people in April 2011,
explained that in a communal crisis, “no one can file single complaints.” Rather, he said, the
community compiled a joint report and submitted it to the government commission of inquiry. 512
Victims Leave “Everything to God”
Some victims said it was futile to report to the police and instead said they would leave it to God
to find justice. A Hausa man in Zonkwa who said he saw Berom men, whom he knows, open fire
with AK-47s on a group of Hausa residents, said he had not gone to the police. “I don’t have an
interest to go and do that,” he said. “I leave everything to God.” He added, however, that if the
police came to him, “I would tell them what I saw.” A chief magistrate in Kaduna State explained
that the community has lost complete confidence in the police and criminal justice system:
It is a systems failure. Unless the police, Ministry of Justice, and the courts change
to make sure we do these things by the book, things will not work. If they don’t
work, people will not have confidence. And it is this crisis of confidence that is
holding back witnesses to come forward. They prefer to leave everything to God.
They believe if they go to the police or the court, eventually they get frustrated, and
the suspect gets discharged, and you create more enmity between yourself and the
suspect rather than getting justice. 513
Police Fail to Pursue Leads
Although many witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they had not come forward to
speak with the police, in many other cases witnesses did go to the police to report the crimes,
including cases of murder and arson of homes and property. As the report documents above,
Human Rights Watch interviewed witnesses from Kuru Karama, Tim-Tim, and rural Fulani or Berom
511 Human Rights Watch interview with a Christian man from Kafanchan, Kafanchan, November 19, 2011.
512 Human Rights Watch interview with a teacher from Gidan Maga, Kaduna, August 17, 2011.
513 Human Rights Watch interview with a chief magistrate in Kaduna, Kaduna, November 10, 2011.
“LEAVE EVERYTHING TO GOD” 132