Buhari Justified The Killings After 2011 Elections

A presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), ‘justified’ the 2011 post-election violence, saying that the elections were rigged. After Buhari lost to Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, scores were killed during violent riots in the North-West.

According to the Aljazeera, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari has slammed the elections saying they were “rigged” despite observers declaring the vote “free and fair”. (Scroll down for photos)

Kaduna, which is majority Muslim but has a large Christian community in the south, suffered the worst violence after the 2011 polls and tensions may escalate there again, the country’s human rights commission (NHRC) said.

The NHRC reports that 943 persons were officially verified as having been killed in the 2011 post-election violence in Nigeria, and 827 (or over 80 percent) were from southern Kaduna. Moreover, 350 churches were burnt down and about 65,000 people have been displaced by the violence that followed the poll on April 16 in Niger, Bauchi and Kaduna states.

In December 2011, Buhari in a statement regarding the verdict of the Supreme Court on Jonathan’s election said that those who rigged the elections are responsible for spontaneous reaction by the people.

“To nobody’s surprise therefore, that spontaneous violence broke out in parts of the country after the announcement of the “result”. The Lemu Panel has come up with detailed causes of the riots and given lie to those who wanted to label the riots as my handiwork. The facts are that people were deeply angered and deeply provoked at the wanton conduct of the elections: the snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes, violence unleashed on opposition supporters, use of the police and elements of the army to intimidate injure and kill opposition supporters and flagrant change of results after collation such as in Niger, Bauchi and Kaduna states,” Buhari said.

In an interview with the Aljazeera, a reverend for Kaduna, Andrew Dodo, said the victims of the 2011 post-election violence didn’t even know what they were fighting for.

“What really happened was not religious, what really happened was purely political,” said an eyewitness.

The NHRC made ‘prediction’ that three states — Lagos (southwest), Rivers (south) and Kaduna (north) – could face the greatest risk of “significant violence during the 2015 elections”. This finding was based on information given to field researchers as well as factors specific to each state.