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VII. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE OPC, THE GOVERNMENT, AND THE POLICE
Relations between the OPC and the Federal Government Relations between the federal government and the OPC have ranged from distant to overtly hostile. However, there are indications that privately, relations may be more cordial than they appear. An activist close to the OPC summed up the situation to Human Rights Watch as follows: "Obasanjo wants to crush them but also engages with them."126 This contradictory attitude may be motivated by two opposing but equally strong motives, both linked to the government's insecurity: the fear that the OPC may directly or indirectly pose a real threat to the federal government's hold on power, and the desire to woo the OPC to its side and secure its support in the event of any serious opposition or threat to the government from other quarters. President Obasanjo was quick to ban the OPC after coming into power. However, the "ban", which was announced in public statements and broadcast by the media, was never formalized into law by publication in the government Official Gazette, nor was it passed as an act of the National Assembly. Many have questioned whether it has any status at all, and whether the president has the power to ban an organization in this manner. In any case, the ban has been systematically ignored by the OPC; it was even seized upon by some OPC members, including their leaders, as a form of provocation. Combined with the brutal crackdown by the police, it appeared, paradoxically, to encourage the more violent and daring elements within the OPC. An activist described the ban as an advantage for the OPC, in that it helped weed out members who were not sufficiently committed. He described the ban as a paper-tiger statement, which Obasanjo had felt obliged to impose as he was under pressure from the international community and business interests to be seen to be dealing with the threat of ethnic militia.127 When Human Rights Watch asked the police in Lagos whether the ban was still in force in 2002, a police representative told us: "We presume it is, but you have to ask Abuja" (meaning the federal government). Since 1999, federal government officials have periodically reiterated their opposition to the OPC and other ethnic militia. For example, in November 2000, following the release of Frederick Fasehun, Doyin Okupe, spokesman for President Obasanjo, stated: "The government has said it has banned the OPC and as far as the government is concerned the OPC remains banned."128 In June 2000, Minister for Information Jerry Gana described the use of ethnic militia as dangerous and said everything possible should be done to discourage their use; his comments provoked a backlash from state government officials who were broadly supportive of the OPC, in particular the Lagos State governor (see below). The OPC as an organization has always outwardly shunned direct dialogue with federal government authorities. However, it is often alleged, including by prominent OPC members themselves, that OPC leaders have been in discreet but regular contact with federal government officials believed to be sympathetic to the Yoruba cause, including some of those close to President Obasanjo. Several senior federal government officials, including two ministers (former attorney general and minister of justice Bola Ige and former minister of internal affairs Sunday Afolabi), attended a meeting called in Ife in December 2000 to reconcile the two factions of the OPC, at a time when violence had broken out between the factions. According to a former leading figure within the OPC, the federal government took a direct interest in the internal matters of the OPC "because they knew it would be easier to talk to us if we were united."129 In January 2000, the Senate (the higher of the two chambers of the National Assembly) set up an ad-hoc committee to inquire into the problem of OPC violence, chaired by Senator Nuhu Aliyu, a former deputy inspector general of police. The committee was mandated to identify the causes of OPC violence and make recommendations to prevent further violence. It held public hearings in Lagos and Abuja from late January to early February 2000 and received submissions from members of the public. Its report condemned both the police and the OPC. It claimed that among the cases investigated by the committee, the OPC had been involved in fifty-six incidents in the Lagos area, in which 163 civilians, seven OPC members and nine policemen had been killed. The committee criticized the police not only for failing to take prompt action on security incidents, but also for the arbitrary arrest and detention of many alleged OPC members.130 The committee was dismissed as biased from the outset by the OPC, who called on "all citizens of the South West to disregard whatever reports this committee may come up with."131 In April 2002, President Obasanjo submitted to the National Assembly a bill outlawing ethnic militia. Entitled the Prohibition of Certain Associations Act 2002, the bill uses vague language and fails to define precisely the organizations it is seeking to prohibit. If passed into law without fundamental changes, it would grant sweeping powers to the president to outlaw a broad range of organizations-powers which could easily be abused to repress any group perceived to be opposed to the government, whether or not they had used or advocated violence. The bill states: "The President may, by an order published in the Gazette, dissolve and proscribe any group of persons, association of individuals or quasi military groups [...] which in his opinion, is formed for the purposes of furthering the political, religious, ethnic, tribal, cultural or social interest of a group of persons or individuals contrary to the peace, order and good governance of the Federation and the provisions of this Act." It gives powers to the police to enter "any house, building, or any place whatsoever in which the designated officer [the Inspector-General of police] has reason to believe that a meeting of a proscribed association or of persons who were or are members of the association is been held", to "arrest any person found in the house, building or place whom he has reasonable cause to believe is or was connected with the association or meeting; search the said house, building or place; and seize all insignia, banners, books, papers, documents and other chattel of the association, which he may have reasonable cause to believe belonged to the association or to be in any way connected with the purposes of the association or meeting."132 The bill does not specifically name the OPC or any other organization. However, it has been widely assumed that the OPC would be among the organizations to be outlawed if and when the bill becomes law. Frederick Fasehun challenged the government over the bill before a federal high court in Lagos in May 2002, on several grounds including that the bill violated the right to freedom of association and freedom of assembly; he also sought an order of injunction preventing the bill from being passed into law.133 By the end of 2002, the bill had been through a reading by the Senate but had not yet been passed into law. During 2002, the OPC's attitude towards the federal government seemed to soften. When the National Assembly launched impeachment proceedings against President Obasanjo in September 2002, the OPC suddenly rallied to his defense and called for the impeachment proceedings to be dropped. For the OPC, the fact that it was a Yoruba president who was under attack seemed to have overshadowed the organization's earlier, vehement criticisms of the president and federal government institutions. The OPC opposed the impeachment of the president on the grounds that the move was part of the continued marginalization of the Yoruba. For example, at a rally in Lagos on October 1, 2002, Frederick Fasehun warned: "We seize this occasion to warn our co-tenants that this roaring and threats must stop. We have held our peace for over 40 years without reacting to such threats, we have endured all sorts of sufferings and deprivations [...] We do not want to kill because we are not murderers. But we want the whole world to know that OPC is an itching powder, whoever rubs it the wrong way will have himself to blame. [...] Obasanjo today rules, no one can expect him to repair in three years the damage of 30 years. It is impossible. The threats against him must stop. Enough is enough. If we see any Yoruba persons championing the cause of impeachment they shall not be allowed to return to the Yoruba nation anymore [...]"134 Gani Adams also publicly opposed the impeachment moves, including in a press conference in Mushin, Lagos, on October 22, 2002.135 Relations between the OPC and State Governments in the Southwest The OPC has enjoyed a close relationship with state governors and other state government officials in the southwestern states, in which the Yoruba are the majority ethnic group. It has been a relationship of mutual benefit, with state governments and the OPC engaging with each other to further their own aims. Officially the state governments deny having any relationship with the OPC. For example, both the attorney general and commissioner for justice of Lagos State and the special adviser on security to the Lagos State governor told Human Rights Watch that there was no relationship whatsoever between the state government and the OPC.136 When Human Rights Watch met the Secretary to the Ondo State government, he also told us: "I am not aware of OPC activities here as the organization is banned. The state government has no direct relations with OPC. [...] The OPC doesn't have a presence in Ondo State. We don't know where they are. We have no connection with them and they have no connection with us. If the police knows where they are, they should arrest them. We read about the OPC just like everyone else. We can't say they're here or not here as we don't deal with them."137 In practice, however, the ease with which the OPC is able to operate in their states demonstrates at the very least state governments' tacit support and tolerance of their presence. Most of the OPC leaders also deny these links, but in practice, they have privileged and direct access to some state governors and other key state government officials. A former leading member of the OPC told Human Rights Watch: "Relations with state governments are OK. They don't cause problems for the OPC. If we have a problem, for example a wrongful arrest of one of our members, we report it to them. We contact the office of the director of state security." However, he went on to explain that the state governors could not support their cause "because they have become part of the Nigerian government."138 A lower-ranking former OPC member summed up the ambiguous relationship between the Lagos State governor and the OPC as follows: "The relation is semi-cordial. The governor wants to get close to us but we can't get pally with any politician. The state tried to embrace the OPC. They are friendly, but not fully."139 Another activist, when asked by Human Rights Watch about the OPC's sources of funding, said that despite their close relations, state governments as such were not funding the organization, but its funding came from wealthy individuals, "including some in government."140 The high-level contacts have worked in both directions, sometimes with a positive intent. According to a leading member of the OPC, "at the height of the violence, the [Lagos State] governor played a vital role in bringing the sides together. Whenever there is a crisis, he contacts the OPC leaders [...]"141 Dr Remi Anifowose, of the Department of Political Science of the University of Lagos, has commented: "There have also been conciliatory and reformatory approaches to redress the discontent of the OPC, especially by the Lagos State Government. It is noteworthy that it took the intervention of the governor of Lagos State to bring the two warring factions of the OPC to a temporary truce. Again, after each ethnic clash, Governor Tinubu [of Lagos State] has usually held reconciliatory meetings with the leaders of the affected ethnic communities and the OPC [...]"142 On December 1, 2000, the Lagos State governor set up the Tribunal of Inquiry into Civil Disturbances in Lagos State between October 1999 and October 2000, chaired by Justice Victor Famakinwa. Unlike the Senate committee, this tribunal had very broad terms of reference, which went well beyond the specific phenomenon of OPC violence. They included inquiring into the causes of the civil disturbances; ascertaining the circumstances surrounding the incidents; determining the number and identity of casualties and the individuals or groups responsible; inquiring into "other matters incidental to the above which may assist the State Government in coming to a fair and just conclusion on the subject matter of the inquiry"; and making recommendations to prevent further violence.143 The tribunal held public hearings and received hundreds of memoranda from members of the public. The report produced by the tribunal and submitted to the Lagos State governor describes a number of incidents of violence in Lagos, several but not all of which involved the OPC, including the violence in Ketu/Mile 12 and Ajegunle. Of the incidents they studied, they counted a total of 261 deaths (which included 167 Hausa and seventy-nine Yoruba) and forty-two injuries (which included twenty-seven Hausa and fifteen Yoruba); however, the report states that these numbers are not exhaustive and that exact figures were difficult to obtain because many dead bodies had been removed from the scene (again, these figures refer to all the incidents they studied, not only those involving the OPC). The report lists the OPC among several groups responsible for the violence in Ajegunle in 1999 and 2000, and in Ketu and Akala in 1999. With regard to the 2000 clashes in Ajegunle, the report confirms that "OPC members and persons claiming to be OPC members were involved in the crises, although there is no conclusive evidence that their involvement was based on an organisational decision." The 1999 violence in Akala is described as "a result of the attempt by the OPC to rid the Akala Area in Mushin of hoodlums"; the operation is later referred to as OPC members embarking "on a forceful clean up of the notorious Akala Area of Mushin, which they believed to be a den of criminals."144 The tribunal's report highlights some of the fundamental problems with the capacity of the police to respond to outbreaks of violence, stating that when the police did eventually intervene, they often used excessive force and "police/military personnel shot innocent members of the public indiscriminately." A section of the report describes the organization of "ethnic-based youths groupings," including Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Ijaw, all of whom it concludes have been responsible for violence. Speaking about the Yoruba groups, the report sates: "There was unassailable evidence before the Tribunal that OPC members who are mainly youths of Yoruba origin were actively involved in violent attacks of non-Yorubas and even some Yorubas." The report contains twenty-one recommendations for the prevention of further violence, which include investigating the allegations of killings by the OPC, Hausa groups and the police in Ajegunle and initiating prosecution if there is sufficient evidence.145 While the Lagos State governor may have privately appealed to the OPC leadership on several occasions to refrain from using violence, and, according to at least one OPC leader, been "embarrassed" by some of the OPC's actions, in public neither he nor other state government authorities in the southwest have strongly condemned the organization's use of violence. Their relative silence on this point can be attributed in part to the strong solidarity which exists among Yoruba, and the fact that the OPC, to a large extent, is defined by its ethnic identity. According to many Yoruba observers, this solidarity is one of the main reasons why none of the state governors in the southwest-all of whom are Yoruba-feel able to denounce the OPC, even if they privately disapprove of its methods. The OPC has become a symbol of the Yoruba cause, which no Yoruba governor will explicitly oppose. The solidarity extends well beyond state governors, and explains why even ordinary Yoruba people who have been victims of OPC violence rarely speak out against them. Fear also remains a significant factor which discourages ordinary Yoruba men and women from openly criticizing the OPC. Some governors have gone further and have attempted to use the OPC for their own purposes, either to score political points against the federal government, as in Lagos (see below), or to fight local battles, as in Ondo. It is likely that the use of the OPC for political violence could increase in the period leading up to elections in 2003, and there are credible fears that some politicians or political parties may be planning to deploy them to this end. An activist close to the OPC said some of the governors see the OPC as "bargaining power. They send them out to bark when the north threatens. Some governors used to be passive or active members of OPC before they became governors. They keep the OPC in reserve as they know they will use them one day."146 Human Rights Watch researchers visiting Ondo state in September 2002 happened to meet a large convoy of people on their way to a rally of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the state capital Akure; in the convoy were several vehicles bearing OPC banners.147 Some state governors have spoken out publicly in favor of using the OPC to enforce law and order, pointing to the ineffectiveness of the federal police. This has led some of them into direct conflict with federal government authorities, particularly in Lagos where the state governor clashed with President Obasanjo after the president threatened to declare a state of emergency in Lagos State in January 2000. Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu publicly stated on several occasions that he agreed with using the OPC to curb crime in the absence of any police force able to do so. For example, he said: "The return of the OPC is one of the options ... Any means necessary to step down the crime wave in the state and control it will be adopted."148 Following a tough statement by Minister for Information Jerry Gana reiterating the federal government's opposition to the use of the OPC and other ethnic militia, Bola Tinubu responded as follows: "OPC can flush out criminals in Lagos, they have done so, wonderfully, well before, and I have the capability as the chief security officer of the state to control the excesses of the group, should any of the members misbehave [...] They were doing well before they became hired thugs and it was only a few of them; they are part of our citizens anyway and we should just encourage them, they might be OPC or any other group but they are Nigerians."149 His position was broadly supported by the AD political party and by the Lagos State House of Assembly. The governor of Oyo State, Lam Adesina, has also supported the use of the OPC to curb crime, blaming the federal government and the police for a failure to ensure security. He stated: "We have a militant group in Yoruba land called the OPC, they may have outlawed it. But if the president do nothing about all these [crimes], we will have to establish it. We are going to establish it so that our people can feel that they are actually secure."150 The special adviser on security to the Lagos State governor told Human Rights Watch: "The police are overwhelmed by the enormity of the crime situation in Lagos. It is therefore absolutely necessary to involve the citizens in maintaining security. Every group, be it OPC, Egbesu, or Bakassi are welcome as long as they help to maintain security in Lagos. Who will not go to the devil for protection if you can't get protection from elsewhere?"151 He denied any knowledge of killings by the OPC, saying: "I am not aware that the OPC carry arms or are engaged in extrajudicial killing. Go and ask the federal government. It is their responsibility to provide security. They give licence to carry arms. So if any organization carry arms it is the federal government that should worry about that, not us." State governments have taken advantage of the controversy surrounding the OPC to reiterate their demands for a state police force. For several years now, a number of state governments have claimed that the centralized, federal nature of the Nigerian police force means that it is unable to police local conflicts effectively; they have also pointed out that the fact that the police is accountable to the federal government rather than the state governments creates a conflict of interest and undermines the governor's role as chief security officer for his state. Some of them have pointed to the existence of the OPC as evidence that the current police structure does not work. For example, the attorney general and commissioner for justice of the Lagos State government told Human Rights Watch: "I believe that the whole of problem of OPC arose because of the inefficiency of the federal police force. The crime rate in Lagos is alarmingly high. People resort to jungle justice. They had more faith in the OPC than the police. You can't blame them. [...] As long as people's lives and property cannot be guaranteed by the federal police, people will continue to depend on organizations like OPC. People have expressed fear that politicians will hijack the state police. I do not think it is possible, but even then, it is a small price to pay considering its benefit." He also blamed the federal police for the failure to prosecute OPC members responsible for violence, claiming: "We have never got any advice from the police to prosecute OPC members [...] There was never any police report on OPC sent to my office."152
Human Rights Watch does not take a position on whether the police in Nigeria should be organized along federal or state lines. However, there is a clear need for a range of fundamental reforms, both legal and practical, to ensure that the police are held accountable for their actions; as well as adequate resources and training to ensure that they perform their duties effectively, without violating human rights. Whether Nigeria eventually adopts state police or maintains the current federal structure, there must be mechanisms for ensuring strict accountability and safeguards to protect against abuse and corruption by the police. Such measures would not only ensure that groups such as the OPC would have no excuse for turning to vigilante work, as the police would be performing their law and order duties more effectively, but would also go a long way towards curbing other violent acts by the OPC and other ethnic militia. Relations between the OPC and the Police As illustrated in this report, the relationship between the OPC and the police has been characterized by conflict, competition, violence, and abuse of human rights, on both sides. Under previous governments and during the earlier period of the Obasanjo government, there were frequent and fierce clashes between the police and the OPC, likened by some to an "all-out war." The violence was caused in part by the defiance of the OPC and in part by the brutal tactics used by the police against them. The OPC did not succumb to police intimidation, despite losing many members. According to one Lagos-based activist, the slogan of the rank-and-file is: "I am a member of the OPC full-heartedly" and they tell the police: "do your worst." 153 Another activist said: "The more they [the police] kill people, the more members join. The authorities see us as an obstacle. They are making us stronger."154 As mentioned above, the OPC have repeatedly attacked police stations, causing extensive damage, and have killed and injured policemen; the police in turn have carried out many extrajudicial executions of real or suspected OPC members, including in situations where they were not posing any threat to security. When the OPC started turning into a vigilante group, this further complicated its relations with the police. In addition to the open hostility which already existed between the two, it created a kind of competition, with the OPC effectively substituting for the police. Some incidents in which OPC members claimed to be intending to hand over criminal suspects to the police have turned into ugly confrontations. However, in other situations, the police have virtually conceded to the OPC and stepped back, seemingly helplessly, while the OPC took over their functions. In a few, rare cases, the OPC have collaborated with the police and handed over suspected criminals to them. The police, and, to an extent, the government, have faced a dilemma in deciding how to deal with the OPC. The OPC's changing faces, its ideological agenda as distinct from its violent activities, and its internal divisions have posed significant challenges and have meant that automatic repression of the OPC in all its manifestations simply on the grounds that it is a violent organization could not easily be justified. Police officials have sometimes been forthright in their explanation of the problem: several of them complained to Human Rights Watch that the government's ban on the OPC was not legally or practically enforceable, yet the government has at times expected them to enforce it. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police said: "The OPC is an unconstitutional organization, therefore one shouldn't really deal with them. No law established it. There is a federal government ban, therefore we can't contradict it, but there is no law."155 The police said that they had had to release many OPC members they had arrested, because it was not a criminal offense to be a member of the OPC; some went out of their way to stress that this demonstrated that the police were respecting freedom of association. The Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Lagos State told Human Rights Watch: "No OPC member has been arrested for being an OPC member, except Gani Adams. Even then, he was not arrested as OPC leader. He was accused of murder and conspiracy to murder. Being an OPC member is not an offense."156 In many cases, it appeared that the police also lacked sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against specific individuals. This is typical of the broader failures of police investigations, common to all criminal cases, which is attributable in part to a serious lack of capacity and in part to a lack of concerted, effective action to curb violent crime through the appropriate legal channels. In addition, there have been situations where the police have been physically overpowered by the OPC and have been unable to carry out arrests or even confront the OPC, for fear of the consequences for their own members.157 Hostility between the OPC and the police continued until early 2002. Since then, there have been fewer clashes, but there remain deep mutual suspicions beneath the apparent calm. OPC leaders have gradually adopted a more conciliatory tone towards the police; they have made a concerted effort to state publicly that they want to work in cooperation with them to fight crime. For example, in December 2002, OPC leaders announced that they would arrest and hand over to the police any thugs used by politicians to carry out political violence in the run-up to the 2003 elections.158 These statements may simply be aimed at improving the OPC's public image. A Lagos-based journalist described the current state of the relationship as "a kind of cold war. There is still suspicion, but the era of confrontation seems to be over."159 Many observers believe that the release of Gani Adams just a few weeks after his arrest in August 2001 was instrumental in dousing tensions between the OPC and the police, and may have been motivated by a desire to avoid increasing the potential for violence, or denying the OPC any pretexts for claiming they had been provoked into violence by the arrest of their leader.160 The police have denied any such motive and claimed that Gani Adams was released because of a lack of specific evidence implicating him personally in crimes committed by members of his organization. However, in December 2002, after several months of relative calm, the police carried out scores of arrests of OPC members of the Gani Adams faction in Ondo State, following a fresh clash in Owo; those arrested faced various charges including attempted murder, unlawful possession of weapons, and belonging to an unlawful society.161 126 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, May 26, 2002. 127 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, May 26, 2002. 128 See "Nigeria: Vigilante leader freed," BBC News online, November 17, 2000. 129 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, September 2, 2002. 130 See summary of the Senate committee's report in The News (Lagos), March 6, 2000. 131 OPC press statement, February 4, 2002. 132 Bill "for an act to provide for the prohibition etc of any group of persons, association or individuals or quasi military group and for matters related therewith." 133 See for example "Court grants Fasehun leave to challenge planned bill on militant groups," Vanguard (Lagos), May 14, 2002. 134 "OPC protest against planned impeachment of Obasanjo," Vanguard (Lagos), October 2, 2002. See also "OPC mounts pro-Obasanjo procession in Lagos," This Day (Lagos), October 2, 2002. 135 See "Press release: being the text of speech delivered by Mr Gani Adams, President, Oodua People's Congress at the press conference held at Olusoga Street, Mushin, Lagos, on Tuesday 22nd October 2002." 136 Human Rights Watch interview with Prof. Yomi Osibanjo, attorney general and commissioner for justice, Lagos, June 3, 2002, and with Alexander Babatunde Panox, special adviser on security to the Lagos State governor, Lagos, September 26, 2002. A commissioner is the equivalent of a minister at the level of state governments. 137 Human Rights Watch interview with Chief Wunmi Adegbonmire, Secretary to the Ondo State government, Akure, Ondo State, September 5, 2002. 138 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, September 2, 2002. 139 Human Rights Watch interview, September 14, 2002. 140 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, May 26, 2002. 141 Human Rights Watch telephone interview, July 12, 2002. 142 See "Urban violence in Nigeria: the case of the O'odua People's Congress (OPC) militia" by Dr. Remi Anifowose, Department of Political Science, University of Lagos, a paper presented at the Faculty of Social Sciences conference on "Industrialisation, Urbanisation and Development in Nigeria, 1950-1999 and beyond," 15-16 November 2000, University of Lagos. 143 See "Lagos State Government Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into Civil Disturbances in Lagos State between October 1999 and October 2000 submitted to Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Executive Governor of Lagos State", Volume I. 146 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, September 8, 2002. 147 The Alliance for Democracy is the dominant political party in most of the southwestern states and draws most of its support from the Yoruba. 148 "Lagos considers vigilantes to fight crime wave," Reuters, quoting The Vanguard, June 14, 2001. 149 "FG can't stop me from using OPC, says Tinubu," This Day (Lagos), June 22, 2001. 150 "Adesina to engage OPC over crimes," This Day (Lagos), January 22, 2002. 151 Human Rights Watch interview with Alexander Babatunde Panox, special adviser on security to the Lagos State governor, Lagos, September 26, 2002.
152 Human Rights Watch interview with Prof.Yomi Osibanjo, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos, June 3, 2002. 153 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, May 22, 2002. 154 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, September 14, 2002. 155 Human Rights Watch interview with Young Arebamen, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Lagos, September 3, 2002. 156 Human Rights Watch interview with Victor Chilaka, Police PRO, Lagos, May 27, 2002. 157 Human Rights Watch interviews with a range of police officials, May and September 2002. 158 See "OPC to arrest political thugs during 2003 polls, says Fasehun," in Vanguard (Lagos), December 13, 2002, and "2003-OPC cautions against use of thugs," in ThisDay (Lagos), December 12, 2002. 159 Human Rights Watch interview, Lagos, May 18, 2002. 160 Human Rights Watch interviews with human rights activists, journalists and others, Lagos, May 2002. 161 See "60 OPC members nabbed for attempted murder," in Daily Trust (Abuja), December 12, 2002, and "Police arraign 43 OPC members in Ondo," in Vanguard (Lagos), December 20, 2002.
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