GPN World Genocide Situation Room staff is posting this report of what is best described as a genocidal massacre of between 150 and 500 in the predominately Christian villages surrounding the city of Jos in central Nigeria with the latest report in March 2010 - see http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=91029.
We define a genocidal massacre as an episode in which a group kills, rapes, or mutilates members of another group defined by its national, religious, ethnic, race or political identity or another criterion, destroys and plunders their property, and forces their expulsion.
Who: (Victims, Perpetrators, Inciters, Enablers, Witnesses, Investigators, and Key Civil Society Officials)
Perpetrators: Groups of a few hundred Muslim men speaking Hausa and Fulani, (some also spoke both in Fulani and in the local language of Berom), armed with guns, machetes, and knives. Many were wearing black, and covered their faces; some were wearing military or pseudo-military uniforms. Witnesses believed the men to be former neighbours, recognizing them by their voices, and said the men were former residents of the village who had left in January 2008 or earlier, in 2001. 98 people have reportedly been arrested by state police in connection with the attacks.
Victims: An estimated 200 (150-500) Berom Christian villagers (villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa), including scores of women, children and babies, and the elderly. Witnesses described “seeing bodies, including corpses of young children and babies, inside houses, strewn around the streets, and in the pathways leading out of the villages.” 375 people are counted as dead or missing.
Civil Society Officials:
Investigators and observers:
Where: The central Nigeria Plateau State, the border region between the Muslim North and the Christian South. The flashpoint is the state capitol of Jos and its surrounding villages.
When:
Please click here for NIGERIA TIMELINE.
Since the end of military rule in 1999, more than 13,500 people have died in religious or ethnic clashes.
In September 2001 in Jos, as many as 1000 were killed in violence. In May 2004: inter-communal clashes took place in the southern Plateau State town of Yelwa. On November 28 and 29, 2008, at least 700 people were killed in violence in Jos, including 133 documented (Human Rights Watch) cases of unlawful killings by members of the security forces responding to the situation. On January 19th, 2010, more than 150 Muslim residents were killed in an attack on the town of Kura Karama.
The latest violence took place on March 7, 2010 in the early morning hours beginning at around 3 am: 200 Christian villagers were massacred in the villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot, and Ratsat, 10 kilometres south of Jos, the capital of the Plateau State. The massacre ended with the arrival of the military at around 430 am. Police reportedly have arrested 98 people in connection with the attacks.
• Alleged causes include struggles for control of fertile lands
Context:
The immediate motivation for the March 7 attack, according to witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch, and numerous other observers is the retaliation for a previous attack by Christians against Muslim communities in the area (300 dead in January, 2010), and retaliation for theft of cattle from Fulani herdsmen.
The context is Muslim-Christian rivalries along the country's fertile and contested land, which parallel frictions between established Christian Berom ethnic group farming community (settlers) and incoming “non-indigenous” immigrants, mostly Muslim Fulani herders, who claim they have fewer economic and political rights and that they are discriminated against. The Christians claim there have been repeated periods of Muslim violence and tension in 2008, 2004, 2001 and before.
In addition, there is a a delicate North/South balance, the replacement of ailing absentee President Umaru Yar'Adua, by Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan has little support from the country's powerful state governors. The state governor of Plateau State blames poor coordination with central government for inhibiting military and security intervention. The end of military rule has also created vacuums in central authority in recent years. Critics say that a collapsed educational system, joblessness, extreme rich-poor differences between established “settlers” and newly arriving immigrants from North, and readily accessible weapons enable local unrest to develop into violence.
How (Incitement, Organization, Planning):
Tipping Points and What If’s
Nigeria now stands at a critical tipping point. It is clear that an emergency response requires firm government action to restore authority. The failure of the government to prevent this massacre during what was supposed to be a curfew begs investigation. The role model for such action comes from India, in the State of Gujarat. There, the government of India quickly carried out what it called a flag march and sent in troops and armor to ensure order and quiet in response to the threat of impending violence and a repeat massacre along religious lines between Hindus and Muslims. Since then, the State has been quiet.
What should be done?
There appears to be no choice but to separate the two populations. The responsibility is that of the Federal Government. Should the federal government fail to restore order and protect the populations, there would be a case for sending in international forces, observers and monitors. There is a need to track early warning signs of future repeat episodes, with emphasis on hate language and incitement, not only from the media, but now via text messaging, as occurred in Kenya. Other warning signs would be individual acts of terror carried out by extrajudicial groups. Following models in Kenya and elsewhere, political authorities, religious leaders and elders need to mobilize immediately to restore quiet and ensure personal safety.
The story in Jos also states the case for recognizing the need for intervention triggered by a genocidal massacre—a term not yet formally accepted in international genocide law.
Please click here for pictures of the situation in Jos.
Please click here for Appendix - Selected Witness Accounts.
Please click here for NIGERIA TIMELINE.
We define a genocidal massacre as an episode in which a group kills, rapes, or mutilates members of another group defined by its national, religious, ethnic, race or political identity or another criterion, destroys and plunders their property, and forces their expulsion.
Who: (Victims, Perpetrators, Inciters, Enablers, Witnesses, Investigators, and Key Civil Society Officials)
Perpetrators: Groups of a few hundred Muslim men speaking Hausa and Fulani, (some also spoke both in Fulani and in the local language of Berom), armed with guns, machetes, and knives. Many were wearing black, and covered their faces; some were wearing military or pseudo-military uniforms. Witnesses believed the men to be former neighbours, recognizing them by their voices, and said the men were former residents of the village who had left in January 2008 or earlier, in 2001. 98 people have reportedly been arrested by state police in connection with the attacks.
Victims: An estimated 200 (150-500) Berom Christian villagers (villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa), including scores of women, children and babies, and the elderly. Witnesses described “seeing bodies, including corpses of young children and babies, inside houses, strewn around the streets, and in the pathways leading out of the villages.” 375 people are counted as dead or missing.
Civil Society Officials:
• Saleh Bayari, the regional leader of the Fulanis.
• Mohammed Lerama, Plateau State police spokesperson, interviewed by Human Rights Watch.
• Goodluck Jonathan, acting Nigerian president, who after the January 2010 violence committed to bring Nigerian perpetrators to justice, and is quoted as having said: “Those found to have engineered, encouraged, or fanned the embers of this crisis through their actions or pronouncements will be arrested and speedily brought to justice. We will not allow anyone to hide under the canopy of group action to evade justice. Crime, in all its gravity, is an individual responsibility, not a communal affair.”
• Umaru Yar’Adua, president of Nigeria, on medical leave, who in 2008 set up a panel to investigate the Jos violence.
• Jonah Jang, Plateau State governor, who formed a commission of inquiry holding public hearings into the Jos violence of 2008.
• Gregory Yenlong, a Plateau State spokesman, said officials would conduct mass burials for the victims. Yenlong also said that police were seeking to arrest Saleh Bayari, the regional leader of the Fulanis, because Bayari's comments incited the attack. However, the chairman of the local Fulani organization denied that his people were involved in the attack.
Investigators and observers:
• Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.What:
• Robin Waubo, a spokesman from the International Red Cross: Red Cross officials have reported that more than 600 people have fled to a makeshift camp that still held victims from January's violence. They expect more to come, putting an even bigger strain on the already limited humanitarian aid for those fleeing the violence.
Death toll:Human Rights Watch reports 375 people counted as dead or missing. Extremely well planned brutal attacks by mobs (reportedly hundreds) of men passed through two villages outside Jos shooting and hacking to death anyone they caught – women, the elderly, and even toddlers – with machetes; and then burned and destroyed homes, cars, and other property.
• State official claiming more than 500 had been killed.
• Christian aid worker said that 93 had been counted in one village alone.
• Police would confirm no more than 100 victims, but were still counting.
Where: The central Nigeria Plateau State, the border region between the Muslim North and the Christian South. The flashpoint is the state capitol of Jos and its surrounding villages.
When:
Please click here for NIGERIA TIMELINE.
Since the end of military rule in 1999, more than 13,500 people have died in religious or ethnic clashes.
In September 2001 in Jos, as many as 1000 were killed in violence. In May 2004: inter-communal clashes took place in the southern Plateau State town of Yelwa. On November 28 and 29, 2008, at least 700 people were killed in violence in Jos, including 133 documented (Human Rights Watch) cases of unlawful killings by members of the security forces responding to the situation. On January 19th, 2010, more than 150 Muslim residents were killed in an attack on the town of Kura Karama.
The latest violence took place on March 7, 2010 in the early morning hours beginning at around 3 am: 200 Christian villagers were massacred in the villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot, and Ratsat, 10 kilometres south of Jos, the capital of the Plateau State. The massacre ended with the arrival of the military at around 430 am. Police reportedly have arrested 98 people in connection with the attacks.
• Alleged causes include struggles for control of fertile lands
Context:
The immediate motivation for the March 7 attack, according to witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch, and numerous other observers is the retaliation for a previous attack by Christians against Muslim communities in the area (300 dead in January, 2010), and retaliation for theft of cattle from Fulani herdsmen.
The context is Muslim-Christian rivalries along the country's fertile and contested land, which parallel frictions between established Christian Berom ethnic group farming community (settlers) and incoming “non-indigenous” immigrants, mostly Muslim Fulani herders, who claim they have fewer economic and political rights and that they are discriminated against. The Christians claim there have been repeated periods of Muslim violence and tension in 2008, 2004, 2001 and before.
In addition, there is a a delicate North/South balance, the replacement of ailing absentee President Umaru Yar'Adua, by Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan has little support from the country's powerful state governors. The state governor of Plateau State blames poor coordination with central government for inhibiting military and security intervention. The end of military rule has also created vacuums in central authority in recent years. Critics say that a collapsed educational system, joblessness, extreme rich-poor differences between established “settlers” and newly arriving immigrants from North, and readily accessible weapons enable local unrest to develop into violence.
How (Incitement, Organization, Planning):
• Organized timed attack with numerous types of weapons
• Attackers arrived and left on foot by trails in darkness
• Attackers wore military uniforms or pseudo-military uniforms of black with covered faces to conceal identities
• No evidence (yet) uncovered) of incitement or coordination by text messaging or other media
• Saleh Bayari, the regional leader of the Fulanis, has been accused of comments inciting the attack. However, the chairman of the local Fulani organization denied that his people were involved in the attack
• There are reports of additional involvement of mercenaries from Chad
Tipping Points and What If’s
Nigeria now stands at a critical tipping point. It is clear that an emergency response requires firm government action to restore authority. The failure of the government to prevent this massacre during what was supposed to be a curfew begs investigation. The role model for such action comes from India, in the State of Gujarat. There, the government of India quickly carried out what it called a flag march and sent in troops and armor to ensure order and quiet in response to the threat of impending violence and a repeat massacre along religious lines between Hindus and Muslims. Since then, the State has been quiet.
What should be done?
There appears to be no choice but to separate the two populations. The responsibility is that of the Federal Government. Should the federal government fail to restore order and protect the populations, there would be a case for sending in international forces, observers and monitors. There is a need to track early warning signs of future repeat episodes, with emphasis on hate language and incitement, not only from the media, but now via text messaging, as occurred in Kenya. Other warning signs would be individual acts of terror carried out by extrajudicial groups. Following models in Kenya and elsewhere, political authorities, religious leaders and elders need to mobilize immediately to restore quiet and ensure personal safety.
The story in Jos also states the case for recognizing the need for intervention triggered by a genocidal massacre—a term not yet formally accepted in international genocide law.
Please click here for pictures of the situation in Jos.
Please click here for Appendix - Selected Witness Accounts.
Please click here for NIGERIA TIMELINE.
Sources:
This report is corroborated by information received from a senior church figure in Jerusalem who is in direct touch with Archbishop Ben Kwashi, and augmented by background information from African professionals now studying in Jerusalem.
Howden, Daniel (March 9, 2010). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigeria-killings-spark-fears-of-wider-conflict-1918359.html
Human Rights Watch, Nigeria: Investigate Massacre, Step Up Patrols. Retrieved from Internet on March 12 2010 from http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/03/08/nigeria-investigate-massacre-step-patrols
Witness statements from Human Rights Watch: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8558246.stm
Harmon, Kendall. Muslims must rise up in Nigeria. http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/C494/
