Abused Rioters in the North By Police and Soldiers

New York-based Human Rights Watch and Civil Rights Congress, a local rights group based in Kaduna, have separately accused soldiers and police of extra-judicial killings and other abuses as they sought to quell deadly riots in northern Nigeria after the April 16 presidential poll.

Police and military officials could not be reached for comment, but a spokesman for the governor in the hard-hit state of Kaduna denied the allegations.

The abuses were alleged to have occurred in Kaduna and another northern city, Zaria, both of which were severely affected by the riots that Civil Rights Congress said killed more than 500 people.

"In response to the post-election violence, troops and the police have been implicated in extra-judicial killings of unarmed residents," Eric Guttschuss, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who monitored the elections, told AFP.
"Human Rights Watch has established documented extra-judicial killings in Kaduna and Zaria."

He added that police and soldiers carried out raids and rounded up suspects following the violence, and "there have been credible reports that the police and military have severely beaten arrested persons in their custody."
Shehu Sani, the director of Civil Rights Congress, also alleged extra-judicial killings and other abuses.