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didn’t want to see the children [die]. I was begging them, and they left me with my
two other children. 111
As the killing continued during the day, some of the Muslim residents were able to flee to the
nearby compound of the Kavitex mining company. But members of the mob also entered the
compound and continued their killing there. A Muslim woman who ran to the Kavitex compound
recalled what she saw in the compound:
About 1:30 or 2:00 p.m. the mob saw us and came into the compound. They saw
my father and went to him. They started hitting him with a stick on his head. He
became unconscious and fell into a ditch. They then poured petrol on him and put
fire on him…. I saw this with my eyes.
Many of the small children had lost their parents and were crying: “Mother, Mother!”
One of the men took a machete and hit a small girl on her head with a machete.
When I saw this, I lay down on top of my two children. As I lay on my children, they
hit me with machetes. They hit me on my head, and my left arm was broken in three
places. The blood came on my children and they thought I was dead. My boy was
five years old and my girl was seven years old. I stayed there until 8 p.m. Some of
our men came and started shouting our names. I shouted, “I am here!” But I
couldn’t get up. Some of them picked us up and took us to safety. 112
Witnesses recalled that some of the attackers mocked the religious beliefs of the Muslim victims.
A Muslim woman, whose husband and two children were killed, said that after she saw the mob
kill her husband, she heard them say, “Where is your God and where is Prophet Mohammed
today?” 113 Another Muslim woman who was injured in the attacked said that some of the men
taunted the victims saying, “Since you are Muslim and believe in Allah, let him come and save
you.” The attackers then set her father on fire and began to hack at her with their machetes. 114
Other witnesses recalled that members of the mob referenced land and indigene disputes during
the attack. A Muslim man, whose wife was killed, noted that the attackers boasted that they would
111 Human Rights Watch interview with a Berom woman from Kuru Karama, Jos, January 27, 2012.
112 Human Rights Watch interview with a Kuru Karama resident, Bauchi State, January 27, 2010.
113 Human Rights Watch interview with a Hausa woman from Kuru Karama, January 29, 2012.
114 Human Rights Watch interview with a Muslim woman from Kuru Karama, January 27, 2012.
55 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | DECEMBER 2013