Both Nigeria’s federal and state elections in 2003 and local government elections in 2004 were marred by serious incidents of violence. The scale of the violence and intimidation, much of which went unreported, called into question the credibility of these elections. This report documents cases of electoral violence in 2003. It also refers to incidents of violence reported around the 2004 local government elections, although most of Human Rights Watch’s detailed research was undertaken before those elections took place. Human Rights Watch is publishing this report to highlight the cost of ignoring political violence and to urge all those concerned to take measures to prevent violence in the next general elections in Nigeria scheduled for 2007.