Post-Election Violence in Northern Nigeria

1
Protesters in the northern Nigerian city of Kano on April 18, 2011 demonstrate against what they alleged to be the rigging of the presidential election. Protests soon turned violent and degenerated into sectarian and ethnic bloodletting across the northern states. © 2011 Seyllou Diallo/AFP/Getty Images 227293
2
A broken suitcase is seen on a road near burned vehicles on April 19, 2011 after post-election violence in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna. Civil society leaders said that Christian travelers were dragged out of their vehicles by mobs of Muslims and killed on the main road leading north of the city. Mobs of Christians also torched vehicles on the expressway leading through the city’s southern neighborhoods, killing Muslim motorists. © 2011 Reuters 227293
3
Bodies at the Saint Gerard’s Hospital mortuary in the northern city of Kaduna, on April 20, 2011, after three days of post-election violence. © 2011 Benedicte Kurzen/VII Network/Pulitzer Center 227293
4
Bodies of victims killed in sectarian violence in the town of Zonkwa in southern Kaduna State. The killings began in the town on the afternoon of April 18, 2011 and continued throughout the night. © 2011 Private 227293
5
A mass grave in the town of Zonkwa in southern Kaduna State. Muslim leaders said that 311 Muslims were buried in the mass grave during three burials on April 21 to 23, 2011. © 2011 Private 227293
6
An Assemblies of God church burned during sectarian violence in the town of Kafanchan in southern Kaduna State. Christian leaders said that more than 350 churches in 10 northern states were burned or destroyed. © 2011 Eric Guttschuss/Human Rights Watch 227293
7
Muslim men on April 26, 2011 pray in a mosque destroyed during sectarian violence in the town of Kafanchan, southern Kaduna State. Muslim leaders said that 26 mosques in Kafanchan were burned or destroyed. © 2011 Benedicte Kurzen/VII Network/Pulitzer Center 227293
8
A man stands in the rubble of the main market in Kafanchan, southern Kaduna State, on April 25, 2011. Hundreds of shops, houses, and vehicles were burned during the violence. © 2011 Benedicte Kurzen/VII Network/Pulitzer Center 227293
9
A man holds a photo of Suliman Adamu [right in photo] who was shot and killed inside his room by a police officer in the Tudun Wada neighborhood of the northern city of Kaduna on April 18, 2011. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that a police officer entered the compound during the post-election riots and fired a shot through a closed door, killing Suliman Adamu inside. © 2011 Eric Guttschuss/Human Rights Watch 227293
10
Detainees arrested during or after the riots wait for their hearing at the Chief Magistrate’s Court in the northern city of Kaduna on April 21, 2011. Detainees with fresh scars on their backs told journalists that they had been beaten by the police and soldiers in custody. © 2011 Benedicte Kurzen/VII Network/Pulitzer Center 227293
11
People queue to vote in the gubernatorial elections at a polling station next to burned houses in Kachia village in the northern state of Kaduna on April 28, 2011. The post-presidential election violence displaced more than 65,000 people. Many were unable to return to vote for the gubernatorial round. © 2011 Reuters 227293
Deadly election-related and communal violence in northern Nigeria following the April 2011 presidential polls left more than 800 people dead. Widespread protests by supporters of the main opposition candidate for president, Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim from northern Nigeria, following the re-election of incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger Delta in the south, degenerated into violent riots or sectarian killings in 12 northern states. Government relief officials estimate that more than 65,000 people have been displaced.
Region / Country