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The police escorted the convoy of Muslims to the compound of the government oil refinery, which
had heavy security, on the outskirts of Kaduna. Two days later, some of the Muslims returned to
the town under military and police escort and discovered other Muslim residents who were still
hiding. The Muslim man, who escaped with the police convoy, said he went back with the group,
and they found survivors hiding in wells and in the ceilings of houses. Other Muslims were saved
because Christians hid them in their houses, he said. 345
In a memorandum submitted to the state commission of inquiry, Muslim community leaders listed
the names of 40 Muslims killed in Maraban Rido and stated that about 400 houses, 6 mosques,
and 8 Islamic schools were burned. 346 A Human Rights Watch researcher visited Maraban Rido on
April 24, 2011—the week after the violence. Scores of burned-out houses and shops were visible
from the main road leading through town, as was the charred frame of the central mosque, with
anti-Islamic and anti-CPC graffiti—“Fuck Islam” and “Fuck Buhari”—and the words “Jesus is Lord”
inscribed on the walls. 347
Muslim residents who fled Maraban Rido were unable to vote in the gubernatorial election held
the following week in Kaduna State. A Human Rights Watch researcher returned to Maraban Rido
on April 28—the gubernatorial election day. Results posted on the wall of a polling station near the
burned-out central mosque showed the PDP candidate for governor, a Christian from southern
Kaduna State, received 441 votes, while the Muslim candidate for the CPC failed to register a
single vote. 348
Sectarian Violence in Southern Kaduna State
Mass Killings of Muslims in Zonkwa
On the afternoon of April 18, Christians in the southern Kaduna town of Zonkwa, who were mostly
from the Bajju ethnic group, set up roadblocks on the main road leading through Zonkwa. That
evening, some of the youth attempted to stop a truck driven by a Hausa-Fulani man. The driver
initially refused to stop, but the youth managed to stop the vehicle and the driver fled. Christian
leaders said the youth manning the roadblock suspected that the vehicle, loaded with yams, was
also carrying weapons. 349 A Muslim shop owner who saw the incident said the youth removed the
345 Ibid.
346 See “Memorandum Submitted by the Muslim Community of Maraban Rido,” p. 5.
347 Human Rights Watch site visit to Maraban Rido, April 24, 2011.
348 Human Rights Watch site visit to Maraban Rido, April 28, 2011.
349 Human Rights Watch interview with Christian leaders, Zonkwa, May 1, 2011.
97 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | DECEMBER 2013