'Nigeria: the context for violence' (2006-2013)

[sgmgrumpy]

We The Ijaws, the predominant indigenous people in the Niger Delta, moved to the Delta over 7,000 years. We have a distinctive language.

The Niger River Delta, one of the largest and beautiful deltas in the world, is the largest delta in Africa, and it covers approximately 14,000 square miles (36,260 square kilometers). Its origination is in the highlands of the Fouta Djallon Plateau in western Guinea 150 miles (240 kilometers) from the Atlantic Ocean.

From Lokoja in Nigeria, the Niger travels south 250 miles or 400 kilometers, becoming a great fan shaped delta before emptying into the Ijaw Gulf. It is this delta that we the Ijaws have called home for over 7,000 years.

Ijaw Website
http://www.unitedijawstates.com/


Another good read:

Militancy and Security in the Niger Delta

The Bottom Line
The ongoing security situation for foreign oil companies and ex-patriots in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria remains highly
adverse. Increased militant activity targeting oil production assets, oil workers and government forces will continue, and
further disruption to oil production in the Delta is expected. The threat of kidnap remains high and hostage taking of oil
workers has been occurring in the states of Bayelsa, Delta, River as well as at sea and from offshore oil rigs – on 2 June
eight foreign oil workers employed by Dolphin Drilling Ltd were abducted from Fred Olsen Energy ASA-owned Buford Dolphin
oil rig 60 km of the coast near Warri in an early morning raid . There have also been troubling tactical developments with
urban terrorism emerging in Port Harcourt, including a car bombing at an army barracks on 20 April, the shooting of a US oil
services company executive on 11 May and the murder of six policemen on 15 May. There is a high degree of instability and
civil unrest in the states of Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ondo and River, with ethnic and religious rivalries
frequently erupting in violence. Recent attacks have also targeted government security forces, which provide security for
foreign oil companies. On 21 May, a communiqué was issued by Ijaw militants announcing a new alliance of the most prolific
militant groups in the region and their intention to launch a new offensive over the coming weeks.

Militancy and Security in the Niger Delta
June 2006
http://www.riskadvisory.net/uploads/..._-_Nigeria.pdf

[Eddie Beaver]

Tension has ebbed and flowed in the US security relationship with Nigeria, most notably portrayed in Dana Priest's excellent "The Mission", where the Nigerians were all about "give us the guns" while the US was intent on human rights training before anything else.

The Beijing Consensus certainly doesn't work like that. As the Chinese increasingly edge out the US in providing security training, weapons and cash to the Nigerian obligarchy (a process that could be sped up depending on who wins power in the upcoming Nigerian elections), the government's tactics against peaceful protests and violent rebellion alike will edge toward systematic scorched earth tactics which will only worsen the insurgency.

Given the propensity for ethnic cleansing and mass murder on behalf of the government in Nigeria's history, this will not end well and could be the big fissure that helps dismember Nigeria along religious, ethnic and even tribal lines. The chances of US intervention of some sort (whether US soldiers, special ops or private contractors like Blackwater) in Southern Nigeria (just like in Southern Sudan) will rise dramatically once it becomes a resource war shrouded in holy and ethnic terms.

[Jedburgh]

ICG, 28 Mar 07: Nigeria's Elections: Avoiding a Political Crisis

...An election that produces widely disputed results could itself lead to post-election violence, which could degenerate into wider and more intense forms of conflict, threatening the nation’s stability. Electoral malpractice and violence were the military’s justification for seizing power in 1966 and 1983. Violence associated with elections, therefore, poses a serious threat not only to the April 2007 elections but also to Nigeria’s continued path towards stable, democratic development. This in turn could have far-reaching consequences for Africa. The elections urgently need to be salvaged.

[Jedburgh]

The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor, 12 Apr 07:

Guide to the Armed Groups Operating in the Niger Delta – Part 1

During the course of the last year in Nigeria's oil-rich but turbulent Niger Delta region, armed men kidnapped more than 150 foreigners, killed unknown numbers of Nigerian armed forces personnel, crippled the oil production of Africa's largest oil exporter by nearly a quarter and detonated five car bombs. There is a bewildering variety of armed groups operating in the delta, ranging from community vigilantes to armed political movements to criminal gangs. The groups, whose aims and members often overlap, are involved in activities that include kidnapping, theft of crude oil, attacking oil infrastructure, extortion, bombings, murders and rigging elections. Without adequate equipment or political will, the military cannot tackle the problem effectively. Unrest in the Niger Delta can be traced back to the beginning of oil exploration, when impoverished communities were exploited and polluted, while billions of dollars were extracted from underneath their feet. In many cases, however, criminal elements and corrupt politicians have exploited the expression of legitimate grievances and armed many of these groups for their own ends. The emergence of modern militant groups is closely related to politics, corruption and bad governance in the delta. Both the 2003 polls and this month's coming elections have strengthened pre-existing armed groups.

For the purposes of clarity, this two-part analysis focuses on militias and gangs—with part two focusing exclusively on the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)—and discusses the existence of community groups within that framework. It also explains their leadership structures and links to politicians. In reality, the distinctions are somewhat arbitrary. The gunmen and the government are as tangled together as the mangrove roots of the swamps in the Niger Delta....

[tequila]

Prominent Muslim cleric killed in mosque. Right before elections.

Cleric killed in Nigeria mosque

A prominent Islamic cleric has been shot dead inside a mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. Ustaz Ja'afar Adam and two followers were killed during dawn prayers.

He was once a key member of the Kano State government but has fallen out with the governor. The killing could be political, or a dispute between sects.

The death comes as President Olusegun Obasanjo warned that the government will "deal firmly" with acts of fraud and violence in forthcoming elections.

In a national radio and TV broadcast, Mr Obasanjo said "highly placed individuals" were encouraging violence.

...

Haruna Idris, one of Mr Adam's disciples, told the AFP news agency that gunmen had shot the cleric twice.

"The two assailants rushed out of the mosque and jumped into a car with a driver at the wheel and sped off," he said.

The biggest issue in the elections is the future of my children, the future of Nigeria's children

Thousands of people had gathered at the mosque, AFP reports.

Police spokesman Haz Iwendi told the BBC News website that the killing "would not endanger tomorrow's elections in Kano."

[tequila]

How to Steal an Election - Economist.

... The presidential election in particular, scheduled to take place later this week, was supposed to herald a new chapter in Nigeria’s democratic advance. Olusegun Obasanjo is supposed to hand power over to his elected successor, the first such transition since independence in 1960. That may still happen, but at a dreadful price. The lengths to which Mr Obasanjo’s ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has gone to cling to power has discredited so many of Nigeria’s institutions and office-holders that the country now seems more a prisoner of its bleak past than a beacon for the future.

So blatant was vote-rigging and fraud in the 36 state elections last weekend that, on Tuesday April 17th, all the opposition parties demanded that those elections be voided and the presidential poll be postponed. On Wednesday the government rejected the call.
...

Things were particularly bad in the oil-rich Delta region, where patently false 95% turn-outs were being recorded in some areas. Voters were routinely intimidated by gunmen who also stole ballot-boxes in front of journalists. An observer from Human Rights Watch, a pressure-group, described the vote-rigging as “shameless”. Privately, EU observers said that in half-a-dozen states there was no real election. Some 50 people are said to have died in violence and protesters burned down several election commission offices ...

[Jedburgh]

ISN, 14 May 07: Nigeria: Oil Insurgency Enters New Phase

....After a lull following Nigeria's controversial general elections, rebels have launched a new surge in attacks on the country's oil industry. At least 29 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped and major pipelines transporting oil to export terminals have been sabotaged in a rash of attacks since the beginning of May.

These attacks represent the worst violence targeting oil operations in the world's eighth-biggest exporter in more than a year, signifying a worsening of the insurgency with government troops yet to find a way to counter the insurgents' guerrilla tactics. As in the past, most of the hostages were freed unharmed but at least 13 are still being held.

Worst hit in the latest attacks has been the Nigerian subsidiary of Italian energy company ENI Spa, forced to shelve exports of 98,000 barrels of oil daily, and US firm Chevron, which has evacuated hundreds of workers and cut back its Nigerian production by 57,000 barrels a day.....