US embassy cable - 02ABUJA1397

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001397 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
OPCENTER FOR AMY FLOHR 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2012 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, ASEC, CASC, NI 
SUBJECT: JOS RETURNS TO CALM FOLLOWING POLITICAL VIOLENCE 
 
REF: ABUJA 1350 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER; REASONS 1.5 (B) AND 
(D) 
 
 
1.(C) Summary: Jos had returned to calm after PDP Ward 
Congress elections turned violent May 2 in the Northern 
region of the city, Gabriel Makan, PA to Governor Dariye, 
told Poloff on May 3.  After the violence erupted, a joint 
task force of Police, Army and Airforce was able to quell the 
disturbance.  However, at least 20 people were reported 
killed; vehicles, houses and other property were damaged and 
burned.   Metropolitan Jos is under a nighttime curfew, but 
people are reported to be going about their daily business 
this morning. Post has received no warden reports regarding 
AMCITS and has no reason to suspect that any are in danger. 
This episode heightens our concern about electoral violence. 
These areas that have previously experienced communal unrest 
will be even more prone to recommence as electoral 
competition further stirs an already volatile mix.   End 
Summary. 
 
 
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Background On the Ward System In Jos 
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2. (C) Northern Jos consists of 14 wards divided partially 
along ethnic/religious lines: five are majority Hausa wards, 
five majority non-Hausa wards, three wards approximately 
evenly split between Hausa and non-Hausa (Laraguta A, 
Laraguta B and Jarawa Jos) and one majority Yoruba ward.  The 
PDP members in the wards met yesterday to choose local party 
officials to represent them at the local level.  These local 
officials would in turn elect the State officials who would 
ultimately choose PDP candidates for all state elections 
including the gubernatorial candidate and candidates for the 
National Assembly.  (Comment: These ward elections were 
originally scheduled for last November.   Governor Dariye 
postponed these elections ostensibly due to security 
concerns.  Dariye claims yesterday's outbreak justifies his 
decision in retrospect. Dariye would assert that such 
violence in November on the heels of the September riots 
would have had a more disheartening effect than the May 2 
eruption. Conversely, Dariye's opponents maintain that he 
nullified the November elections because the candidates of 
his choosing did not win. End Comment.) 
 
 
3. (C) According to Makan, the ward congress elections in the 
majority Hausa wards were conducted by consensus open ballot 
rather than by secret ballot and were therefore completed 
quickly.  Allegedly joined by Hausas from outside Jos, and 
armed with cutlasses and machetes, the group proceeded to 
Laraguta A, Laraguta B and Jarawa Jos with the intent to 
manipulate the election results, through intimidation, he 
commented.  However, the elections in these wards were also 
conducted by consensus, and were already finished in Laraguta 
A and Jarawa Jos before the instigators arrived.   In Jarawa 
Jos the interlopers reportedly held their own consensus 
election in protest, after which their leaders were arrested 
and the rest of the group dispersed without incident. There 
were no incidents reported in Laraguta A. In Laraguta B, the 
largest of the three wards, the residents confronted the 
outsiders.  According to Makan, at least 20 (the 
International Federation of the Red Cross puts the number at 
50) were killed, with victims on both sides.  Houses were 
torched, as were the vehicles of the outside instigators.  He 
added that two churches were also razed.  Newspaper accounts 
give a slightly different version, claiming that a 
misunderstanding developed between election officials and 
voters during the vote and that  "miscreants" capitalized on 
the confusion by throwing stones into the crowd thereby 
causing the disagreement to erupt into violence. In any 
event, Metropolitan Jos is currently under an 8:00 p.m. to 
dawn curfew. 
 
 
4. (U)  Poloffs met Governor Dariye on Tuesday, April 30. 
During the meeting the Governor spoke in very stark terms 
about last September's violence in Jos, describing it as a 
settler versus indigene problem.  The governor is a Christian 
who sees the Hausa/Fulani as  "settlers" even though they 
have been present in the region for over 100 years and 
founded the original Jos settlement.  The governor's attitude 
was militant and he stated that the settlers were trying to 
wrest political control of Jos and sabotage the state. 
Dariye stated that he would oppose this alleged encroachment. 
 Dariye also intimated that he would not advise his 
supporters to turn the other cheek should they be forcibly 
confronted by political opponents. 
 
 
5.  (C) Poloff also spoke to Dr. Musa Musa Minister of 
Commerce for Bauchi State (borders Plateau State) about the 
crisis.  Dr. Musa, who is Hausa/Fulani, believed that the 
conflict was the result of the rivalry between Damishi Sango, 
former Minister of Sports, who was removed by Dariye and is 
now running for Governor against Dariye in 2003.  He received 
no reports of Hausas fleeing Plateau State for Bauchi State, 
an exodus which had occurred during previous incidents of 
ethnic violence. 
 
 
6. (U) Wards in Plateau were to hold their congress elections 
yesterday, however, some wards outside of Jos were unable to 
do so.  This will necessarily postpone the May 4 local party 
Congress, until all ward elections can be completed.  Makan 
did not suggest a new date. 
 
 
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Comment 
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7. (C) Thursday's violence was spawned by inter-party rivalry 
at the lowest possible level.  As Nigeria moves toward local 
elections in August and gubernatorial and national elections 
in April 2003 the tendency for violence will likely escalate 
as the political stakes become higher. Responsible leadership 
on the part of elected officials, candidates and senior party 
members is needed to keep the violence down.  However, such 
leadership may be wanting in Plateau, at least from the 
Governor's Mansion, because Dariye, in some ways appears to 
be eager for a fight, and given the ethnic dynamics in the 
state, he may get one. 
JETER