Multiple Killings in Nigeria’s Kaduna State
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/31/multiple-killings-nigerias-kaduna-state# A recent wave of deadly attacks in the southern part of Nigeria’s restive Kaduna State has brought the seemingly never-ending cycle of communal violence and impunity in the state back into focus. The media reported that gunmen killed at least 43 people between July 21 to 24 and that 178 people were killed in the past 7 months across southern Kaduna communities. The police haven’t commented on the identity of the perpetrators or the motivations behind the attacks. The state governor claimed the recent attacks were carried out by armed bandits terrorizing Nigeria’s northwest states , but media reports included witnesses attributing blame to a militia targeting southern Kaduna communities on ethnic grounds. Kaduna State straddles the country’s ethnic and religious divide. Northern Kaduna’s population is largely Muslim and Hausa-Fulani, while southern Kaduna is predominantly Christian and home