[size=14pt]Nigeria police, troops 'abused rioters' in north[/size]
(AFP) – 45 minutes ago

KANO, Nigeria — Rights groups on Friday accused Nigerian troops and police of abuses, including extra-judicial killings, as they sought to quell deadly riots in northern Nigeria after the April 16 presidential poll.

Police and military officials could not be reached for comment, but a spokesman for the governor in the hard-hit state of Kaduna denied the allegations.

New York-based Human Rights Watch and Civil Rights Congress, a local rights group based in the city of Kaduna, have separately accused soldiers and police of extra-judicial killings and other abuses.

The abuses are alleged to have occurred in Kaduna and another northern city, Zaria, both of which were severely affected by the riots that Civil Rights Congress says killed more than 500 people.

"In response to the post-election violence, troops and the police have been implicated in extra-judicial killings of unarmed residents," Eric Guttschuss, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who monitored the elections, told AFP.

"Human Rights Watch has established documented extra-judicial killings in Kaduna and Zaria."

He added that police and soldiers carried out raids and rounded up suspects following the violence, and "there have been credible reports that the police and military have severely beaten arrested persons in their custody."

Shehu Sani, the director of Civil Rights Congress, also alleged extra-judicial killings and other abuses.

Sani said soldiers and police flogged residents of Kaduna and forced them to frog-jump and roll on the ground for defying a curfew imposed by the state government amid the violence.

"These acts are gross violations of the residents? rights and dignity," Sani said. "We have documented such abuses in addition to extra-judicial killings of innocent residents by soldiers and the police."

The rights activists called for probes into the allegations.

A spokesman for the Kaduna state governor dismissed the accusations as baseless and "a deliberate attempt to smear the image of the security personnel who have done an excellent job of restoring and maintaining peace in the state."

"The government has not received any complaints of abuse or extra-judicial killings from any residents, and if such alleged abuses have taken place there was no way they could have escaped the knowledge of the government," Reuben Buhari said.

Violent protests erupted across Nigeria's mainly Muslim north over the election won by incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian. His main rival was ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim from the north.

The riots displaced an estimated 74,000 people.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hd3Xod5d3vxjUgqFvxODmiG_fBPA?docId=CNG.d52d510170bd9583e846ebb448b9e5c7.a01

Crazy as the story sounds, it aptly describes our unfortunate methods of policing and murdering fellow Nigerians. We urgently need to mordenise our military forces and police services. The guarantee of human rights and sanctity of life is a fundamental of any democracy.

We simply cannot continue to put forward jungle methods and primitive solutions. Development starts with the mind.

There is little that can be done differently at this time though, because reform occurs over lengthy periods.

Thunder strike Democracy that will allow some ediots to kill innocent corps members under the guise of protesting an election they never won and still expect mercy from the police. Anybody talking about democracy when this ediots are being lodged in the death valley is a mad man. If i have been a part of the battalion sent there i will have killed 50 almajiris for every single corps member killed. Anuofia Amnesty international. Ediots.

I can't feel pity for them. . .

So Animals sef dey claim human right ?

EzeUche_:

I can't feel pity for them. . .

~Bluetooth:

So Animals sef dey claim human right ?

Then you people aren't any better than the Almajiris in question. The article clearly states that the police and armed forces rounded up innocent residents and subjected them to torture and in some cases, death.
Innocent life is innocent life anywhere, be it a Corps member or an indigenous hausa man.

seanet02:

Thunder strike Democracy that will allow some ediots to kill innocent corps members under the guise of protesting an election they never won and still expect mercy from the police. Anybody talking about democracy when this ediots are being lodged in the death valley is a mad man. If i have been a part of the battalion sent there i will have killed 50 almajiris for every single corps member killed. Anuofia Amnesty international. Ediots.

I know it's difficult but can you people please remember that for every Corps member killed, at least 10 other innocent men, women and children were slaughtered by the mob. Making this all about the Corpers is in very bad taste indeed. We need to mourn and demand for justice for EVERYONE who was a victim of this crisis.

Beaf:

Crazy as the story sounds, it aptly describes our unfortunate methods of policing and murdering fellow Nigerians. We urgently need to mordenise our military forces and police services. The guarantee of human rights and sanctity of life is a fundamental of any democracy.

We simply cannot continue to put forward jungle methods and primitive solutions. Development starts with the mind.

There is little that can be done differently at this time though, because reform occurs over lengthy periods.

You are truly a very unique being. One can never predict you.

texazzpete:

I know it's difficult but can you people please remember that for every Corps member killed, at least 10 other innocent men, women and children were slaughtered by the mob. Making this all about the Corpers is in very bad taste indeed. We need to mourn and demand for justice for EVERYONE who was a victim of this crisis.

Ability to keep your head high above sentiment is a special gift. You are a blessing to your family.

I do agree here with Texas, more innocent lives were lost that went unreported, the reason for this is because of the southern press, they made it seem as if it was only southerners that died in the violence. I will not be surprised if the security forces killed more innocent people than the rioters themselves.

texazzpete:

I know it's difficult but can you people please remember that for every Corps member killed, at least 10 other innocent men, women and children were slaughtered by the mob. Making this all about the Corpers is in very bad taste indeed. We need to mourn and demand for justice for EVERYONE who was a victim of this crisis.

A much welcomed voice of reason. Tribalism and bigotry will not let my people see reason in what you posted.

greateros:

You are truly a very unique being. One can never predict you.

That opens the possibility you've always got me wrong.

seanet02:

Thunder strike Democracy that will allow some ediots to kill innocent corps members under the guise of protesting an election they never won and still expect mercy from the police. Anybody talking about democracy when this ediots are being lodged in the death valley is a mad man. If i have been a part of the battalion sent there i will have killed 50 almajiris for every single corps member killed. Anuofia Amnesty international. Ediots.

It might seem difficult to accept that every individual in a murdering mob has fundamental human rights, but it is moral, logical and correct. In order to move forward, we must not repay wrong with wrong, especially by using law enforcement as a means to revenge; that will only set up a deepening spiral of law breaking and blood spilling.
Nigeria has some of the most uncivilised law enforcement and crime prevention methods the World over, these are the things we need to look at, because the reason our police and army murder the innocent is the same reason they could not stop the crisis. It is also the same reason that lawless mobs turned on their fellow Nigerians and slaughtered them. It is also the same reason that ethnic bigotry and distrust are rampant.

What is this underlying reason for so many Nigerian issues? One word runs through our current methods, sadly that word is primitivity. We really need to rescue and build up minds, whether its police, politician, soldier or almajiri. It is the only way equality and development can truly take off in the country.