Nigerian police 'fanned riots'

By Alistair Leithead
BBC correspondent in Lagos

Nigeria has been criticised by an international human rights group for the way it dealt with riots which killed more than 220 people last November.

The report says Kaduna's problems remain unresolved

The violence flared up in a city divided on religious grounds after protests surrounding the Miss World beauty contest.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report blames security forces and police for contributing to the violence and criticises the government for not charging them.

Some Muslims had objected to a newspaper article on the pageant which they considered blasphemous and protests had led to religious violence.

In its damning 32-page report, HRW accuses the Nigerian police and security forces of "contributing significantly to the violence by killing people in cold blood".

The security forces... contributed significantly to the violence by killing and injuring people who were not posing any threat Peter Takirambudde HRW

The international group criticises the government for not bringing any of its officers to justice, and presents detailed eyewitness accounts of killings.

In some cases, there were reports of police shooting suspects dead on the spot rather than arresting them.

But the report concludes that the violence was more political than religious, again pointing the finger at the government for not addressing issues still unresolved since 2,000 people died in the same area two years earlier.

HRW's Africa director, Peter Takirambudde, added that the Miss World contest, which was moved from Nigeria to London as a result of the rioting, was just a trigger in a tense part of the country.

As far as he was aware, he added, no-one had been charged in connection with the deaths.