US embassy cable - 01ABUJA2750

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 002750 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR DRL, AF/W AND AF/RA 
AF/W FOR PARKS, EPSTEIN 
DRL FOR TOMLYANOVICH 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2006 
TAGS: PINS, PREF, PGOV, PHUM, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: BENUE UPDATE 
 
 
REF: (A) ABUJA 2708 
 
 
Classified by Charge Timothy Andrews, for reasons 1.5 (b) and 
(d). 
 
 
1. (C)  accounts by press and diplomatic personnel, often 
sourced to credible eyewitnesses, basically corroborate 
reftel account.  The destruction appears to be more 
widespread than was initially reported.  British High 
Commission personnel evacuated DFID staff from Makurdi 
yesterday.  One DFID staff member reported "many" charred 
vehicles and bodies strewn on the highway south of Makurdi. 
Internally displaced persons confirmed the path of the Army 
units involved in this action, adding that most villages 
along the highway between Katsina-Ala and Zaki Biam were 
destroyed.  The medium-sized town of Zaki Biam is reported to 
have been essentially destroyed. 
 
 
2. (C)  Ambassador Jeter spoke to Governor Akume of Benue, 
who claims to have internally displaced persons from the area 
number well over 100,000.  Given the density of the rural 
population in Benue and Taraba this number could be accurate. 
 These are in addition to approximately 60,000 persons who 
fled the conflict in Nasarawa and Taraba.  The director of 
the ICRC in Lagos indicated the Red Cross would conduct a 
field study this weekend of DP settlements in Benue and 
Taraba, and would report the findings to us on October 30. 
 
 
3. (C)  Comment:  While we cannot yet gauge the full 
dimensions of this situation, we wanted to alert the 
Department to the possibly severe humanitarian challenge. 
The violence has subsided for now.  Out of the smoke and ash, 
the weight of the emerging evidence points to army brutality. 
 Media and official sources disagree on which Army units may 
have been involved.  Claims from some quarters that those 
responsible were anti-Tiv militiamen do not appear credible. 
Many here, while unhappy about the dimensions of the Army's 
actions, felt that the FG needed to send a strong signal 
regarding the effects of killing soldiers, who are the final 
guarantors--if also occasionally the violators--of civil 
order in Nigeria.  It is, however, uncertain from what level 
of the military or Federal Government the order to proceed 
was given.  Equally uncertain is what the order said about 
use of lethal force.  End Comment. 
Jeter