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

[Jedburgh]

ICG appears to be the only source that continues to monitor this situation in-depth:

Nigeria's Faltering Federal Experiment, dated 25 Oct 06

...Escalating violence, especially in the oil rich Niger Delta, threatens the integrity of the Nigerian state and raises the spectre of attempted coups by those who feel their privileges are being endangered. In the 46 years since Nigeria gained independence from Britain, successive governments have attempted, with varying degrees of sincerity and commitment, to fashion federal institutions that can accommodate the country’s ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic diversity and nurture a sense of national unity. However, the leaders of these governments, at all levels, have failed to live up to their obligations to offer good governance based on equitable political
arrangements, transparent administrative practices and accountable public conduct. Communities throughout the country increasingly feel marginalised by and alienated from the Nigerian state...

...The government must address these core causes of the failing federal experiment or risk that Delta militias decapitate the oil industry, intercommunal violence spirals out of control, and ethnic militias, sectarian vigilantes and separatist groups continue to plague communities. Since such a destabilised Nigeria would be highly detrimental to the entire fragile West
African region, still struggling to recover from the wars in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau, the international community has many reasons to encourage far-reaching reforms.

[SteveMetz]

ICG appears to be the only source that continues to monitor this situation in-depth

I'm participating in a wargame next week that deals with it.

[Jedburgh]

The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Focus, 6 Jul 07:

Nigeria's Cults and their Role in the Niger Delta Insurgency

In Nigeria's delta region, various militant groups continue to attack multinational energy interests by blowing up infrastructure, siphoning oil and gas from pipelines and kidnapping expatriate energy staff. Additionally, these groups often attack Nigerian security services. The origin of the militant groups in the delta today can partially be explained by the evolution of Nigeria's cult groups, more generally known as confraternities. Nigerian confraternities were largely the precursor to many of the militant groups in the delta. While confraternities began in the country's universities, these gangs eventually spread to the streets and creeks of the energy-rich delta region....

[Jedburgh]

The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor, 2 Aug 07:

Mujahid Dokubo-Asari: The Niger Delta's Ijaw Leader

Among the restive Ijaw population in Nigeria's troubled, energy-rich delta region, one man stands alone as the most recognizable face of resistance: Mujahid Dokubo-Asari. Asari has been a central figure in the Ijaw cause, forming in late 2003 one of the delta's most notorious Ijaw militant groups, the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF). Through this militant youth organization, Asari fought rival gangs, siphoned oil and gas from pipelines, destroyed energy infrastructure and declared an "all-out war" on the Nigerian state. Despite his arrest in September 2005, Asari continued to communicate with his followers, and he became an important symbolic figure for various Ijaw armed groups in the delta. These groups listed Asari's detention as one of their core grievances against the Nigerian state. On June 14, 2007, partially in an effort to pacify Ijaw demands, the newly-installed government of President Umaru Yar'Adua released Asari from prison. Since regaining his freedom, Asari has continued to play a role in the Ijaw struggle....

[sgmgrumpy]

Nigerian Shia base knocked down

Nigeria's security forces have demolished the headquarters of a Shia sect, whose members were accused of killing a rival Muslim cleric.
The security forces destroyed a school, a clinic and the living quarters of the sect in the north-western Sokoto state.

Although no official explanation was given for the demolition, it is being suggested that it is part of a plan to expel the group from the city.

Shia leader Kasimu Rimin Tawaye and some 100 followers remain in detention.

Mr Tawaye and his supporters were arrested after street fighting between them and followers of a prominent Sunni cleric, who was shot dead three weeks ago.

The cleric, Umaru Danmaishiyya, well-known in Sokoto for his sermons against Shias, was shot in a mosque on 18 July and died the following day.

A man was lynched shortly after the shooting and Sunni mobs tried to attack a Shia residential compound.

Sokoto, a deeply religious city, sits on the fringes of the Sahara desert and is the seat of the Sultan of Sokoto, spiritual leader of Nigeria's estimated 70 million Muslims.

In the past Sokoto has avoided the unrest that has affected many other northern Nigerian cities.

The Sokoto state government is expected to issue a statement shortly on the decision to demolish the Shia headquarters.

[Jedburgh]

HRW, 9 Oct 07: Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria

Nigeria is mired in a crisis of governance. Eight years since the end of military rule, the country’s longest-ever stretch of uninterrupted civilian government, the conduct of many public officials and government institutions is so pervasively marked by violence and corruption as to more resemble criminal activity than democratic governance.

This report documents what Human Rights Watch considers to be the most important human rights dimensions of this crisis: first, systemic violence openly fomented by politicians and other political elites that undermines the rights of Nigerians to freely choose their leaders and enjoy basic security; second, the corruption that both fuels and rewards Nigeria’s violent brand of politics at the expense of the general populace; and third, the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these abuses that both denies justice to its victims and obstructs reform....

[Jedburgh]

ICG, 5 Nov 07: Nigeria: Ending Unrest in the Niger Delta

Immediately after the April elections, government officials sounded optimistic about significant early improvement in the Niger Delta. Instead, the intervening months have seen increasingly incendiary threats from MEND and continued volatility in the creeks. On 1 December, at the closing ceremony of the army’s largest combat training program, “Exercise Eagle Ring 5”, Defence Minister Yayale Ahmed expressed concern that despite government efforts toward ending unrest in the Niger Delta, the situation remains a threat to national security, “as militants are still busy carrying out their operations”.

The Yar’Adua administration has taken the first tentative steps toward confronting the region’s problems but these have to be deepened and sustained. Improving security and building peace in the Delta requires not more rhetoric but determined efforts by government, oil companies, international development agencies and the people of the region alike. The government must go beyond seemingly interminable consultations and quickly come to grips with the core issues that have defined the conflicts in the region for over two decades. If it wastes the present opportunity, worse violence and lawlessness is highly likely.

Complete 29 page paper at the link.

[AdamG]

LAGOS (AFP) - - Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell cut output in southern Nigeria Monday after militants sabotaged at least one of its pipelines supplying crude, officials said.

Shell declined to say by how much production was being reduced, stressing that the amount should not be exaggerated because of the possible effect on oil prices.


*

"In keeping with our pledge to resume pipeline attacks within the next 30 days, detonation engineers backed by heavily armed fighters from MEND today, Monday, July 28, 2008 at about 0115 hours sabotaged two major pipelines in Rivers state of Nigeria," the MEND said in an email.

"The first pipeline is located in Kula which has been previously sabotaged by us and the second in Rumuekpe, both belonging, we believe, to the Shell Petroleum Development Company."


http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/2008072...l-4bdc673.html

[Jedburgh]

The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor, 25 Jul 08:

The Global Repercussions of Nigeria’s Niger Delta Insurgency

The “oilfield” wars in Nigeria’s Delta region have been in the international spotlight from the emergence of the Ken Saro-Wiwa-led Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) in 1990 to the current insurgency led by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). This latter group is known for its tactic of hostage-taking and its frequent clashes with the Nigerian military. The activities of MEND have greatly influenced peak global oil prices with consequences for production capacities and consumption.....

[Jedburgh]

ICG, 18 Sep 08: Nigeria: Ogoni Land after Shell

.....The exit of Shell/SPDC from Ogoni land, an event much anticipated by the people, will draw the curtain on one of the most contentious relationships between an oil company and a local community in the Niger Delta. It also provides an opportunity for the government to show greater goodwill and sensitivity to the ethnic minority groups of the region. If handled carefully, this transition could persuade some of the Delta’s armed groups that non-violence can produce progress on their demands. If handled poorly, it will not only intensify the Delta insurgency but also set the stage for a new crisis between the Ogoni and SPDC’s successor company......

[Jedburgh]

CFR, 14 Sep 09: Understanding the Armed Groups of the Niger Delta

This paper, Understanding the Armed Groups of the Niger Delta, provides an in-depth analysis of the rise of militancy in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Most important, the paper provides insight into the origins and personalities of the various militant groups and their leaders. It explains the ways by which groups move from protest to violent activity, from acting against grievances to heavy involvement in criminal activity. The line between protest and criminality indeed often shifts, or overlaps. The importance of ethnic identities and rivalries are made clear, but equally the shifting of alliances and loyalties that sometimes cross ethnic lines, on the other hand sometimes lead to fissions within ethnic groups. Hints of political collusion with militants run through the narrative.

[Jedburgh]

MICROCON, 27 Oct 09: How Do Ethnic Militias Perpetuate in Nigeria? A Micro-level Perspective on the Oodua People’s Congress

Recent seminal contributions in the literature on civil conflicts have explored the micro-foundations of collective political violence. A great deal of attention is now paid to the non-state collective actors that organize violence and the specific constraints and challenges they face: gathering funds, recruiting combatants, enforcing rank and files’ commitment. The strategies implemented to solve these challenges have been shown to influence crucial outcomes such as the intensity of violence or the sustainability of violent groups over time.

The paper discusses the recently promoted view that organized insurgent violence should either be conducted by activists bonded together by social capital ties or self interested quasi-mercenaries, depending on the type of financial resources available to the group. We contrast this perspective with the study of an ethnic Nigerian militia, the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC).

Section II discusses the existing conceptual frameworks related to violent organizations and states our analytical puzzle. Section III details and interprets our empirical findings on the organizational dynamics of the OPC. Section IV presents and comments the results concerning OPC militants’ profiles and subjective motives for violent engagement. Section V concludes.