III. Police, Military, and State Government Response to the Violence

On the morning of November 28, as the mob violence intensified, witnesses complained of the absence of police in many of the worst-affected areas. A prominent Muslim businessman whose three used car lots on Zaria Road were set alight by mobs of Christians on that morning told Human Rights Watch that he had repeatedly called the police and pleaded with them to protect his businesses.[17] A Christian member of the mob interviewed by Human Rights Watch confirmed that while they were burning cars and buildings on Zaria Road a police truck passed them twice but did not stop.[18] Similarly, at the Katako market, which was razed to the ground by a Christian mob on the morning of November 28, witnesses told Human Rights Watch that although the police were present at the scene they did nothing to stop the mob.[19] The Katako market is located adjacent to the divisional police headquarters.

A witness described how a police truck passed by twice, but did not stop, on November 28 as mobs of Christians burned Hausa-owned businesses and car lots on Zaria Road. © 2008 Human Rights Watch

By noon on November 28, the Nigerian army was called in to restore order, and army units from neighboring states began to be deployed on the streets of Jos. Despite the allegations of arbitrary killings by military personnel, witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch generally credited the military with having quelled the violence and restored peace, and in some cases with intervening to save the lives of both Muslims and Christians.[20]

Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang issued a public statement on November 28 announcing a dusk-to-dawn curfew and warning citizens that security forces were under orders to return "fire-for-fire."[21] The following day, November 29, the governor imposed a 24-hour curfew in the worst-affected neighborhoods and issued a "shoot-on-sight" order to security personnel.[22] James Mannok, the director of press and public affairs at Plateau State's Government House, confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the governor's shoot-on-sight order applied to anyone breaking the curfew.[23]

While most of the inter-communal violence documented by Human Rights Watch took place on November 28, the vast majority of the alleged killings by the police and military were carried out on November 29, the same day the governor issued the shoot-on-sight order. Human Rights Watch documented 118 cases of alleged arbitrary killings by security personnel that took place on that day alone.

The extent to which the police and military followed the governor's shoot-on-sight order, or indeed the impact the shoot-on-sight order had on the conduct of the security personnel responding to the inter-communal violence, remains unclear. Senior police and military authorities interviewed by Human Rights Watch denied having received or carried out an order to shoot on sight. The Nigerian army spokesperson, Brigadier General Emeka Onwuamaegbu, told Human Rights Watch: "It is one thing for a political leader to issue an order, another for those of us implementing it. Our soldiers went out with very strict instructions to use minimum force and follow the rules of engagement."[24] The assistant commissioner of police in charge of operations in Plateau State, Oga Ero, told Human Rights Watch: "There was no order by my officers to shoot on sight as far as I was aware of."[25] Although Governor Jang is the chief security officer in Plateau State, the police and military are federal security forces under the control of the federal government.

Many of the witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch believed that those responsible for these killings may have been persons impersonating police officers and soldiers.[26] However, in many of the incidents documented by Human Rights Watch, other evidence contradicted that notion. This evidence includes the following examples:

1. Witnesses observed official police or army vehicles present at the scene of alleged arbitrary killings by security personnel in Angwan Rogo (Bauchi Road), Dutse Uku, Rikkos, and Russo.[27]
2. In Angwan Keke, Dutse Uku, Rikkos, and Russo, the same "fake" soldiers or MOPOL officers who summarily executed young men also arrested others and officially transported them to the police detention facilities in Jos.[28]
3. Immediately prior to MOPOL officers' killing of 26 Hausa-Fulani men in a compound in Angwan Rogo (Bauchi Road), soldiers told the people to return to their homes and warned them that the MOPOL would arrive shortly and start shooting.[29]

Senior police and military officials interviewed by Human Rights Watch in December denied having received any reports of their forces being involved in arbitrary killings during the violence. When asked to comment on the allegations of killings documented by Human Rights Watch, Assistant Commissioner of Police Oga Ero said, "We have received no reports at police high command that the police were killing people."[30] Brigadier General Emeka Onwuamaegbu likewise informed Human Rights Watch that "I have no evidence or information that Nigerian soldiers were involved in any arbitrary killings."[31]