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Nahauwa was taken and everyone at the meeting was assigned a role in the
mayhem. How much they were promised and how much they eventually paid. 249
The two men, who had no formal education, also disclosed in their police statements the names of
the people who called them to attend the meetings, assigned them their individual role, and gave
them money to participate in the attack. 250 The judge stated, over the defense lawyer’s objection,
that he believed the “contents of the confessional statements.” 251 Yet since that time there have
been no known arrests or prosecutions of the individuals named, or other organizers or planners,
of the Dogo Nahawa massacre. 252
Federal and State Prosecutions for Renewed Violence
The federal attorney general’s focus on federal prosecutions was short-lived. Using private lawyers
was expensive, and by the middle of 2010 the federal and state governments reached an
agreement that cases going forward would be handled by either the state or federal attorney
general, depending on the nature of the offenses. 253 The officer in charge of the police’s legal
department in Plateau State said they agreed that police lawyers would file charges against the
accused, without first seeking “advice” from the attorney general, and then hand the case over to
the federal or state attorney general, based on the type of offense. He said that between April 2010
and March 2012, they had filed charges against more than 820 suspects in some 240 cases. He
estimated that about 200 cases were filed in state courts—either the magistrates’ courts or the
High Court—while about 40 cases were filed in Federal High Court. 254
The director of public prosecutions in Plateau State gave Human Rights Watch information on 21
cases, involving 90 accused persons (79 Muslims and 11 Christians) who had been charged in
state High Court in relation to incidents of communal violence in 2010 and 2011. In addition, he
249 Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Dauda Abubakar & Anor, Federal High Court of Nigeria, Jos Judicial Division, Judgment,
FHC/J/14C/2010, February 14, 2011, p. 10.
250 Ibid., pp. 12-13.
251 Ibid., p. 10. The defense counsel stated at trial that the accused persons denied making or signing the statements. The judge ruled
that because the accused persons did not enter a defense, they could not successfully deny making the statements. Ibid., pp. 8-10.
252 The Federal Attorney General’s Office stated in November 2013 that it had no record of any prosecutions of the organizers of the
Dogo Nahawa attack. Letter from the Department of Public Prosecutions, Office of the Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation, Federal
Ministry of Justice, Abuja, to Human Rights Watch, November 29, 2013.
253 Human Rights Watch interview with Edward Pwajok, March 12, 2012, and an interview with Egoh Ahomafo, officer in charge of the
Legal Department, Plateau State, Nigeria Police Force, Jos, March 12, 2012.
254 Human Rights Watch interview with Egoh Ahomafo, Jos, March 12, 2012. Human Rights Watch requested information from the
Federal Attorney General’s Office on these cases but received no information on their status. Human Rights Human Rights Watch letter
to Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke, October 21, 2013.
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