Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10ABUJA103
2010-01-27 08:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:  

JOS RECOVERING, LOOKING TO PROSECUTIONS

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR SOCI KCRM NI 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8999
OO RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #0103/01 0270822
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 270805Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0072
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS IMMEDIATE 0066
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA IMMEDIATE 0027
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000103 

SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL, INR/AA
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/21
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SOCI KCRM NI
SUBJECT: JOS RECOVERING, LOOKING TO PROSECUTIONS

REF: 10 ABUJA 91 AND PREVIOUS

CLASSIFIED BY: James P. McAnulty, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy
Abuja, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

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SUMMARY

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000103

SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL, INR/AA
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/21
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SOCI KCRM NI
SUBJECT: JOS RECOVERING, LOOKING TO PROSECUTIONS

REF: 10 ABUJA 91 AND PREVIOUS

CLASSIFIED BY: James P. McAnulty, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy
Abuja, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

--------------

SUMMARY

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1. (C) The city of Jos has started to return to some normalcy, but
residents remain concerned that violence could erupt anew.
Authorities have relaxed the curfew, with schools, government
offices, and businesses starting to resume operations. Displaced
people, who may number as many as 30,000 persons, remain fearful
and plan to stay in temporary camps longer than authorities had
initially expected. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan sent a
message to the Ambassador January 26 that he was in Jos with
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mahmud Yayale
Ahmed and that the devastation was great. Plateau State officials
remain adamant that all suspects of instigating the violence face
justice in the state and not in the national capital Abuja, where
federal officials may release them. Embassy heard claims that the
confining of the military to the barracks in Jos was to ensure that
soldiers did not get mixed into the violence, as some of the
perpetrators had worn military fatigues. END SUMMARY.



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CURFEW SHORTENED TO 12 HOURS

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2. (SBU) On January 26, state officials shortened the curfew again,
this time from 17 hours to 12 hours, prohibiting residents from
appearing on the streets between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Authorities loosened restrictions to allow travel and commerce to
assume some normalcy. Businesses have started to re-open, while
government offices and schools have resumed operations. Major
North-to-South and East-to-West roads transit central Jos.
Therefore, drivers and vehicles must wait at roadblocks during
darkness, producing temporary encampments on edges of the city at
night.



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SHELTERS REMAIN FULL

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3. (C) Shelters remained at high occupancy, as many inhabitants
feared returning to their unprotected homes. Others have no
livable homes to which to return. Plateau State Religious Affairs
Special Advisor, the Reverend G. E. Choji, estimated to PolOff that
30,000 displaced persons reside at 41 camps supported by the state.
He noted that his government has struggled to provide sufficient
food, water, and blankets for this large a population, expressing
concern that they will need to do so for large numbers during an
extended period. He has asked civil society groups to contribute
food and supplies to aid the effort. (COMMENT: Choji's figures
exceed those we have heard elsewhere, and his plea for help
contrasts with the announcement by federal emergency management
officials that they need no assistance. Embassy suspects that
Choji's figures are more accurate than piecemeal figures supplied
by others, particularly since the state wields primary
responsibility for caring for displaced persons. FEMA denial of
the need for help reflects the traditional Nigerian government
tendency to shun outside assistance. END COMMENT.)



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ABUJA 00000103 002 OF 002


VICE PRESIDENT VISITS TODAY

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4. (C) SGF Ahmed told the Ambassador January 26 that he and Vice
President Jonathan went to Jos and that the devastation was great.
They planned to return January 27 to Abuja to make a presentation
to the Federal Executive Council on next steps.



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POLICE AND MILITARY PRESENCE

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5. (C) Contacts in Jos told Embassy INL Officer January 25 that
police and military units continued to patrol Jos but appeared to
work independently, with no structured command and control.
Currently, as a result of deployments ordered by Vice President
Jonathan on January 19, military personnel outnumber police
counterparts. INL Specialist also heard that SGF Ahmed had asked
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ogbonna Onovo to remove the Jos
Commissioner of Police, allegedly because he publicly claimed
during the crisis that Muslims had instigated the violence.



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ALLEGED MASSACRE IN VILLAGE NEAR JOS

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6. (C) According to the Nigerian press, authorities have recovered
at least 150 bodies in the village of Kuru Karama near Jos,
including some bodies dumped in wells. Police contacts confirmed
to INL Specialist January 25 the mass killings at this village.



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TRANSFER OF SUSPECTS ELICITS STATE OFFICIALS' IRE

-------------- --------------




7. (C) Plateau State officials criticized the transfer by police to
Abuja of 139 of the 313 persons arrested during the conflict. Jos
officials demanded their return to allow the State court system to
prosecute them. Chalya Miri-Ghali, a former personal assistant to
the Education Minister and a Plateau State native involved in
distributing relief materials to displaced persons, claimed to INL
Specialist that the police would likely release these individuals,
who generally had influential people behind them who could
negotiate on their behalf. According to Miri-Ghali, due to the
sectarian nature of events, "Muslims are helping their people and
Christians are helping their people" to escape punishment.




8. (SBU) Acting Police Commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba in Jos told the
press, however, that IGP Onovo ordered the transfers because of
congestion he observed at the state's Criminal Investigation
Department. Aduba insisted that the police would return suspects
to Jos for prosecution after they completed their investigation.
He criticized the violence, which he estimated had killed 326, and
which he described as "an affray hijacked in the name of religion
by demons with human faces."
SANDERS