US embassy cable - 04ABUJA1786

UNCLAS ABUJA 001786 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, PGOV, PREL, ELAB, NI 
SUBJECT:  KADUNA ON EDGE AS COMMON GRAVE IS EXHUMED: 
WERE ARRESTED STRIKERS MURDERED? 
 
REF:  ABUJA 1761 AND PREVIOUS 
 
1.  (U) On October 18, Kaduna residents tried to exhume 
10 to 19 bodies from a common grave in a Kaduna 
cemetery.  Police had allegedly buried the bodies that 
morning.  Residents of the area believed the bodies 
were of activists who had been arrested during last 
week's fuel strike (reftel).  The Kaduna State Governor 
claimed that they were "armed robbers" killed in a 
shootout.  Area residents have threatened to kill any 
policemen seen in the neighborhood.  Police and 
Nigerian Army units have strengthened security 
measures, but have not imposed any curfew or restricted 
movement. 
 
2.  (SBU) Residents said that they noticed a police 
truck arriving at the Muslim cemetery in the early 
morning hours, and then (after the police left) 
unearthed the grave.  BBC interviewed a man who claimed 
to be the father of one of the victims.  The man said 
he had carried food to his son, arrested during the 
strike, at the police station the day prior to the 
discovery of the grave where his son's body was found. 
 
3.  (SBU) Kaduna State Governor Makarfi appealed for 
calm, announcing that he would set up a panel to 
investigate the incident, together with the killing of 
a 12-year-old boy during the strike.  After initially 
denying any knowledge, the Kaduna State Police 
Commissioner repeated the "armed robbers" story but 
denied any police involvement at all with the grave: 
"Police do not engage in the burial of dead robbers. 
This is the sole responsibility of mortuary/local 
government personnel." 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
4.  (SBU) Police often claim those they kill were 
"armed robbers."  While armed robbery is indeed a 
problem in Nigeria, such claims often do not stand up 
to scrutiny.  Makarfi's prior announcement that the 
bodies were of "armed robbers" may make the panel's 
investigation perfunctory. 
 
CAMPBELL