US embassy cable - 03ABUJA205

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000205 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2013 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, MOPS, PINS, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: UPDATE ON BENUE COMMISSION 
 
REF: 02 ABUJA 1193 
 
 
 CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER; REASONS 1.5 (B) 
AND (D). 
 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Judicial Commission 
investigating the Zaki-Biam killings January 16 told 
PolCouns that while the Commission had completed the fact- 
finding part of its mission, its final report would not be 
ready until March.  Sufi confirmed that the Commission's 
report would include indictments of those found responsible 
for the October 2001 violence in Benue State.  He thought 
the retirements and transfers mentioned in President 
Obasanjo's letter to Senator Feingold were routine 
administrative actions.  Sufi's version, however, was 
contradicted by Minister of State for Defense (Army) Lawal 
Batagarawa, who told the Ambassador on January 29 that the 
retirements/transfers were in response to the killings in 
Benue.  Batagarawa said he would provide additional 
information next week, but would not divulge the names of 
those involved until the Judicial Commission's report is 
released.  Batagarawa maintained that the 
retirement/transfers resulted from the Army's own internal 
review.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
2.  (C) During a January 16 conversation with POLCOUNS, 
Secretary of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Inter- 
 
SIPDIS 
communal Conflicts in Plateau, Benue, Taraba and Nassarawa 
States Dr. Sani Sufi related the current status of the 
Commission's report.  According to Sufi, the Commission has 
interviewed over 1,000 people who were witness to or 
involved in inter-communal violence.  Sufi offered to allow 
Polcouns to view some of the videotaped testimony - 
including that of former Army Chief of Staff General Victor 
Malu. 
 
 
3.  (C) With the fact-finding part of its mission now 
behind it, Sufi said, the Commission would now focus on 
analyzing all of the evidence and reaching a consensus on 
the report it will submit to the GON.  Sufi thought the 
report would be completed in March. 
 
 
4.  (C) Sufi said he was very pleased with the work the 
Commission had done so far.  He believed that, at a 
minimum, the 1,000-plus interviews the Commission had 
conducted in the course of its investigation had given 
people a chance to talk about their experiences and to vent 
some of their anger and frustration.  He hoped such open 
dialogue would help relieve tension and lead to more frank 
discussions of the problems and of the solutions to inter- 
communal violence in Nigeria. 
 
 
5.  (C) After discussing the status of the Commission, 
PolCouns related the contents of President Obasanjo's 
letter to Senator Feingold.  The letter stated "all 
officers involved in the Zaki-Biam incident have been 
reassigned and are no longer in command, pending the Report 
of the Judicial (Commission)."  (COMMENT: While the letter 
does not explicitly say the transfers were a result of the 
officers involvement in the violence in Benue State, that 
is the implication.  END COMMENT.) 
 
 
6.  (C) Sufi said he had not heard of the letter until he 
was asked about it by Minister of State for Defense (Army) 
Lawal Batagarawa's office after Ambassador had raised the 
issue during a January 9 meeting with the Minister.  During 
that meeting, Batagarawa said he had no knowledge of the 
letter, nor could he verify that the officers involved were 
reassigned or relieved of command.  However, Batagarawa 
noted, "If Mr. President says this happened, then it is the 
truth."  Sufi did not try as hard to support the 
President's story.  He postulated that since the Commission 
had not yet completed its report, the GON could not know 
which officers to hold responsible.  Sufi believed any 
transfers or retirements were not punitive in nature, but 
rather routine administrative actions.  (COMMENT: In a 
January 25 meeting with the Ambassador, President Obasanjo 
said that he was not certain who had drafted his letter to 
Senator Feingold, but he thought it might have been 
Ministers of State for Defense (Army) Batagarawa. 
Presidential Special Assistant for International Affairs 
Ad'Obe Obe, who also was not sure who authored the letter, 
vaguely remembered that the letter may have been "handed" 
to him by Nigeria's Ambassador to Washington, Professor 
Jibril Aminu.  END COMMENT.) 
 
 
7.  (C) Sufi's version of events was later contradicted by 
Minister of State for Defense (Army) Lawal Batagarawa, who 
told the Ambassador on January 29 that the 
retirements/transfers were in response to the killings in 
Benue.  Batagarawa said he would provide additional 
information next week, but would not divulge the names of 
those involved until the Judicial Commission's report is 
released.  Batagarawa maintained that the 
retirements/transfers resulted from the Army's own internal 
review.  Noting Batagarawa's newly found knowledge of the 
retirements/transfers, Ambassador said he hoped the 
Feingold letter was not a ruse on the part of the GON to 
placate the Senator. 
 
 
8.  (C) DAO Abuja sources report no Army personnel have 
been punished for their involvement in the killings in 
Benue.  Outside of routine personnel rotation, no officers 
have been moved.  DAO sources also corroborate Sufi's 
assertion that decisions regarding reprimands for officers 
involved in Benue will not be made until the Commission's 
full report is presented to the GON. 
 
 
9.  (C) COMMENT: While the slow, but steady progress of the 
Commission is heartening, post cannot help but be concerned 
over the Obasanjo-Feingold letter.  While the letter does 
not explicitly claim that the transfers were effected to 
punish offenders, mention of them in this letter strongly 
suggests a GON desire for us to interpret that assertion 
this way.  The intent of the letter is clear, therefore, 
even if the wisdom in sending it was more dubious.  It is 
possible that in an attempt to placate Senator Feingold, 
the GON overreached in saying what it thought the Senator 
wanted to hear.  END COMMENT. 
JETER