US embassy cable - 05ABUJA1132

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001132 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, KCOR, KIRF, ELAB, NI, HUMANRIGHTS 
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP, JUNE 2005 
 
1.   This cable is a roundup of various incidents that 
impacted human rights in Nigeria, organized by section 
of the annual Human Rights Report.  These incidents 
have not been reported in other cables, or are updates 
of previously reported items. 
 
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Section 1 - Respect for the Integrity of the Person 
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2.   On March 28 in Ilorin, Kwara State, a policeman 
attempting to extort a bribe from a truck driver opened 
fire, wounding an 18-year-old girl who was selling 
bread nearby. 
 
3.   In April in eastern Benue State, the site of 
numerous communal clashes in the past, an estimated 10- 
20 people were killed in fighting between ethnic Tivs 
and Fulanis, reportedly sparked by the rape of a Tiv 
girl by a Fulani cattle herder.  Many Fulanis fled into 
neighboring Taraba State.  The state police command 
deployed additional mobile policemen to the area to 
prevent further violence. 
 
4.   On May 1 in Kubwa, an Abuja satellite town, police 
beat bus driver Gabriel Agbane while arresting him. 
When Agbane's family went to the police station the 
next day, they found him unconscious.  Police released 
him to the family, who took him to a hospital, where he 
died four days later.  Police announced to journalists 
that Agbane had been drunk during the arrest, had not 
been healthy, and had fainted on his own. 
 
5.   On May 2 in Yauri town, Kebbi State, police fired 
into a crowd of protesters, killing four people.  The 
protesters had gathered at the local emir's palace to 
register their grievance at involvement of the police 
in armed robberies:  residents had apprehended several 
armed robbers and turned them over to the police, only 
to find out that the robbers were themselves police 
officers.  After the shootings, the crowd set fire to a 
police station and a police car, while police fled to 
neighboring villages. 
 
6.   On May 18 on a Zamfara State highway, taxi driver 
Malam Danjariri was shot dead during a scuffle with 
three police who had demanded a 20 naira (about USD 
0.15) bribe from him.  Riots erupted in the Zamfara 
State capital, Gusau, in which three persons were 
killed.  One policeman was charged with culpable 
homicide and dismissed from the police force, while the 
other two officers were demoted. 
 
7.   On May 26, a Shari'a Appeals Court in Kaduna 
overturned amputation sentences that had been passed in 
2003 against six Zaria men who had been accused of 
stealing a cow and a motorcycle.  The Appeals Court 
ruled that the lower court had erred in convicting the 
men solely on the basis of police testimony, without 
allowing the men to defend themselves.  The men also 
had not had access to legal representation, as required 
by the Kaduna State Shari'a code. 
 
8.   On May 27, 25-year-old Awwalu Ibrahim received 80 
lashes with a horsewhip after confessing to consumption 
of alcoholic beverages and smoking marijuana.  After 
the court passed the sentence, a court physician 
verified that Ibrahim's health was adequate for him to 
receive the punishment, and it was carried out in 
public.  Afterwards, Ibrahim told journalists that he 
thanked God for the punishment, and he promised not to 
commit the offense again. 
 
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Section 2 - Respect for Civil Liberties 
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9.   In early May, seven university students were 
arrested and charged with sedition for distributing 
leaflets critical of Jigawa State Governor Saminu 
Turaki.  The students, members of a group called the 
New Salvation Movement, accused the governor of 
"frivolous" foreign travel and failure to develop the 
state's educational sector.  The students pled not 
guilty and were detained awaiting trial. 
 
10.  On May 14, a rally in Jos, Plateau State, to 
announce the presidential campaign of Zamfara State 
Governor Ahmed Sani was cancelled by police for 
"security reasons."  Note:  It is not uncommon for 
Nigerian police to use "security reasons" as an excuse 
for banning opposition group events.  End Note. 
 
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Section 3 - Respect for Political Rights: Citizens' 
Right to Change Their Government 
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11.  On April 12, an Economic and Financial Crimes 
Commission (EFCC) spokesman announced that the GON had 
seized property worth about USD 700 million from 
financial criminals since its inception.  The spokesman 
did not indicate how the property was disposed. 
12.  On May 31, the Senate approved a Code of Ethics, 
but expunged a rule from the draft code that stated 
"senators and their staff shall not accept money or any 
gift meant for inducement in the course of performance 
of their official duties."  Several senators commented 
that the practice of gift-giving is "enshrined in 
Nigerian culture."  Senator Ahmed Aruwa (ANPP, Kaduna) 
argued that "there is a certain amount of money that 
must change hands in the course of duty as a senator." 
 
13.  On May 31, an Assistant Superintendent of Police 
at Force Headquarters in Abuja, Marius Ameh, was 
arrested and charged with receiving a 10,000 naira 
(about USD 75) bribe to release a detainee on bail. 
Ameh was also charged with pocketing the 5,000 naira 
(about USD 38) bail money. 
 
14.  On the weekend of June 4-5, the Economic and 
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 27 Bauchi 
State government employees for their role in embezzling 
281 million naira (about USD 2.1 million) of state 
government funds.  On June 7, seven more persons were 
arrested. 
 
15.  Also on the weekend of June 4-5, the EFCC arrested 
five Kebbi State government employees, including the 
state Commissioner for Agriculture, for embezzling up 
to 3 billion naira (about USD 22 million) of state 
government funds through schemes involving fake 
vouchers and the private sale of state bonds. 
 
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Section 5 - Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and 
Trafficking in Persons 
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16.  Kano State announced in May that commercial 
motorcycle taxis could no longer take women as 
passengers because, it claimed, the transport of women 
on motorcycles was contrary to Shari'a (Islamic law). 
The state government did not cite any specific Koranic 
references in announcing the ban.  Both Muslim and non- 
Muslim women were affected by the ban. 
 
17.  On May 8, Sunday Ehindero, the acting Inspector- 
General of Police, announced that since September 2003, 
180 Nigerien children had been intercepted and returned 
to authorities in Niger. 
 
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Section 6 - Worker Rights 
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18.  On March 30, President Obasanjo signed the Trade 
Unions (Amendment) Bill of 2005 into law, 
decentralizing Nigeria's labor unions, which had 
previously been loosely joined under the Nigerian Labor 
Congress (NLC).  In April, the Organisation of African 
Trade Union Unity (OATUU) protested that because the 
new law criminalized picketing and strikes, it was in 
violation of ILO Convention 98, which gives workers the 
right to strike. 
 
19.  On April 12, doctors in Borno State went on strike 
seeking a 22 percent pay raise.  The state government 
responded by directing all medical doctors and 
consultants in ministries and parastatals to report for 
duty at the specialist hospital in Maiduguri. 
 
CAMPBELL