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III. POLITICS AS A CAUSE OF INTER-RELIGIOUS AND INTER-ETHNIC VIOLENCE

Ethnic, religious and regional tension is widespread in Nigeria. But episodes of violence that are ethnic or religious on the surface are often caused by competition for political and economic influence, in a country where politics is seen as one of the few avenues to wealth and comfort. When party lines and other political divisions coincide with ethnic or religious differences, the strong sentiments associated with people's ethnic or religious identity come into play in the political arena. Politicians are often able to capitalize on this sentiment in order to mobilize support, in many cases exacerbating inter-group resentment and hostility. The majority of those killed in the resulting violence are ordinary people not directly involved in politics themselves.

Tension between Muslims and Christians in many northern states has been on the rise since the extension of Shari'a (Islamic law) into these states' criminal codes. While politicians and others supporting the new laws argue that Shari'a will be more effective at fighting crime, many observers see fervent backing for Shari'a by northern politicians as an effort to retain support among their predominantly Muslim populations despite the leaders' inability to deliver on other promises to their constituents. Riots caused by the proposed extension of Shari'a occurred across several northern states in 2000, particularly in Kaduna, where at least two thousand people were killed; since then, inter-religious tension in those states has continued to simmer. The November 2002 riots in Kaduna State, triggered by protests related to the Miss World contest that was due to take place in Nigeria, highlighted the dangerous nexus between politics and religion.139 Around 250 people died in three days of rioting, sparked by an article that was perceived as blasphemous by some Muslims. But virtually everyone with whom Human Rights Watch researchers spoke in Kaduna believed that the violence resulted from political tensions between the governor, who is Muslim, and some of his erstwhile supporters who believed he was selling them out to southern and Christian interests.

Inter-ethnic violence in several "middle belt" states across central Nigeria has also taken on political dimensions in some cases. Over the last couple years, serious fighting has occurred in states like Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa and Taraba between groups that view themselves as "indigenes" and those viewed as "settlers," or non-natives to the area, resulting in hundreds of deaths. While these fights have not always been overtly political, competition in the approaching elections has provided a new excuse for violence.

In Nigeria's southern Niger delta region, the oil-related resources at stake coupled with grinding poverty have meant that competition for political power is particularly violent. At the community level, groups that control the relationship with locally-operating oil companies may derive at least some benefits in terms of employment of unskilled labor and small-scale development of their communities. Although this inter-communal competition does not necessarily fall along ethnic lines, when it does the violence may become even fiercer. Serious fighting in Warri, Delta State, during a senatorial primary election in February 2003 and further clashes in March 2003 provide a case in point.

Jos, Plateau State: "Indigene" versus "settler" violence at ruling party's local primaries
On May 2, 2002, fighting broke out at the PDP local primaries in a ward of Jos North local government area, in the capital of Plateau State. Local primaries had already been held in other areas of Plateau, but had apparently been cancelled in Jos North because of fears of violence. The conflict on May 2 was between ethnic groups who saw themselves as "indigenes" or natives of Jos, and those they view as "settlers," who in Jos are predominantly Hausa/Fulanis. With little advance notice, the venue for the ward primary had been moved to Eto-Baba, a predominantly "indigene" area of Jos North, shortly before the planned election. "Indigenes" accused the "settlers" of invading the venue in a threatening manner, and of bringing in large numbers of people from outside the ward in order to inflate their numbers. The Hausa/Fulanis, on the other hand, claimed they were attacked by "indigenes" once they had gathered at the venue, and some believed that the venue had been changed at the last moment in order to give their attackers an advantage. Information available to Human Rights Watch from local sources indicates that scores of people were probably killed. One local non-governmental organization said at least one hundred people were killed that day - a credible estimate since Igbo and Yoruba ethnic leaders each reportedly claimed to have lost forty members of their groups alone, while the Hausa/Fulanis and "indigenes" who were at the center of the conflict did not report the numbers killed. 140 A source in Jos told us that seventy-eight people had been killed, and many more injured. The state government had immediately started evacuating corpses in order to douse the motivation for revenge killings, and in some cases, the names of deceased victims were not released even to their families.141

The concept of "indigene" in Nigeria refers to persons or ethnic groups that are purportedly native to a certain area; "indigene certificates" issued by a person's supposed "home" state must sometimes be presented in order to receive certain jobs or benefits through the state. The "indigene/settler" distinction has caused a great deal of hostility in Jos and other areas of Nigeria.142 Particularly for many Hausa/Fulanis who have been in Plateau State for generations, it is the only home they know and they resent being viewed as outsiders. At the same time, "indigenes" in Jos accuse the Hausa/Fulanis of attempting to take over areas of the city for themselves and to exclude the "indigenes" from economic or political activity. Disputes between "indigenes" and "settlers" had set off days of rioting in Jos in September 2001 that engulfed the city and killed up to a thousand people.143

A factor linked to the violence at the PDP primary was the last minute change of the locale (for reasons which remain unclear). Eto-Baba was not the usual voting location for many of the participants that day, as it was in the corner of a large ward that normally would have multiple voting units. As a result, a very large number of people from rival ethnic groups were brought into a single venue about the size of "two football fields."144 According to a local non-governmental organization, there were only about ten police officers at the venue at the beginning of the incident, despite the presence of thousands of voters. People started arriving at the venue around 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. According to most accounts, Hausa/Fulanis started to arrive in very large numbers, in some cases in buses and motor convoys. Apparently their arrival was seen as a threat by the local "indigene" population, who claimed they were bringing people in from neighboring states in order to take control of the ward.

Outbreak of violence at Eto-baba

    Fighting broke out at about 10 a.m., before the voting had actually started. Accounts varied about whether the Hausa/Fulanis initiated violence on May 2 by invading the venue, or whether the "indigenes" first launched an attack there. At some point after the groups had begun to assemble with the candidates whom they supported, "indigenes" started using bows and arrows and stones to attack Hausa/Fulanis from a vantage point on a nearby hill. Many people were injured or killed at the venue, and virtually all of the vehicles there were destroyed. Fighting spread to other neighborhoods, and there were accounts of killings by the police even in neighborhoods where there was no fighting. The military was eventually brought in to quell the violence, and a curfew was imposed. A member of the PDP, a Hausa/Fulani, reported to Human Rights Watch his experiences on May 2.

Officially the members were not informed about the new location, but the officials were. We mobilized our people to go anyway, wherever the primaries were held. Eto-Baba is far away for some of us. We appealed to our richer members to lend their vehicles to help transport people. They lent their cars, buses and open vans.

I left home at about 8 a.m. I walked. On the way, at the junction leading to Eto-Baba, there were no signs of violence. Everything was OK. Some residents of houses were outside, just looking. There were thousands of us, like a procession. It was one of the largest turn-outs in Plateau. When we reached the venue, at about 9 or 9:30 a.m., I was with a friend. We were discussing elections and security. There were mobile police and soldiers there but not many compared to the crowd. People continued coming, including women and babies....

Then we heard insulting language by "indigenes" towards the Hausa/Fulani. I heard it. They said, "You came into our place; how can you challenge us?" At about 10 a.m., they started throwing stones. Some were hiding behind the hills and throwing stones from there. They were not in the midst of us. Our opponents were hiding behind the rocks. We couldn't see well but the arrows were coming from there. The police couldn't control the situation. I didn't notice any police as we ran away. In the commotion, people starting running. Our leaders said we should organize and take the women and old people outside. We held hands and encircled the vulnerable people and led them out. We saw arrows coming from various directions, hitting people.

Some people were killed in the stampede. The whole place was in total chaos. People were running. Some were hit by arrows. Some were pushed to the ground. Then we heard the sound of bullets. We thought it was the security forces. We were all running. I couldn't see my friend. I managed to reach the junction. I went to Bauchi road....

I don't know how many people were killed at Eto-Baba. Some from Angwan Rogo are still missing. Some were burnt. I saw a man with an arrow in his stomach lying on the ground. He was already dead. A friend, Kabiru, a tailor aged about 40, died at the venue. He is missing. We've never seen him since. We looked everywhere, in the hospitals, morgues and prisons, even in Bauchi State as some of the injured were taken there.... An old man, Alhaji Mohammed Musa, the uncle of a friend, died. We found his body the same day, on the street, just after the school, towards Bauchi Road. He had a deep cut on his head....

The violence spread into town, especially Bauchi Road and parts of Nasarawa. When I came into town, at about 1:30 p.m., on Bauchi Road I saw two corpses covered with leaves. Some cars were set ablaze....

The violence in Eto-Baba stopped at about 1 p.m. When we left, on the way, the whole place looked like a ghost town. By the afternoon, it was finished.

We [the Hausa/Fulanis] were accused of intending to fight. If we had been going to fight, would we have allowed our women and babies and old people to go there? We thought it must be organized by our opponents to prevent the elections, as we were in larger numbers.145

There were several reports of extrajudicial killings by the police; it is not clear on what basis the police targeted particular individuals or neighborhoods. A witness reported that a friend was shot in the leg by police. "When people started running, the police started shooting. There was no fighting there, so everyone was surprised by that. I recognized the police officer as the divisional police officer for that area. In the afternoon, my friend's father Muktar was shot trying to go into his house. He was shot at directly. He was about fifty or sixty years old. In the evening, along the route to my house, I saw two dead boys. Their bodies were covered by mango leaves on the side of the road."146

At Al-Iman Private School, a secondary school in the Dutse Uku area of Jos, two students were shot and one killed by mobile policemen shooting into the locked school.147 "I also saw five bodies on the street in Dutse Uku, all five were men who had been shot. I saw police come with a van to evacuate the corpses as I passed by," a witness reported. 148 A source confirmed the killing of Abubakar Auwal, a student at Al-Iman Private School, by a team of mobile police who opened fire on students while they were in their classrooms.

A twenty-three year old young man, Aminu Abdullahi, was killed by a police officer in the Nasarawa neighborhood, near the police station. A Nasarawa community leader who was pushing for prosecution of the case on behalf of Abdullahi's family gave an account of what had happened:

The boy was just walking along with his friend, Kamalu, discussing with him, when they saw smoke at Eto-Baba. The boy said, "Look, they're burning Hausa/Fulani houses; but later, the police will come and arrest Hausa/Fulanis.".... The police officer called him and said, "What did you say?" He said, "I said nothing." The police officer then pulled out a gun and shot him in the face. Then he lifted his gun in the air and said "if anyone shoots me I'll kill them." Then he started shaking and ran into the nearby police station. People in the nearby houses saw the incident, and recognized him as a police officer from that area. They told the divisional police officer his name, Sgt. Venley Nandang.... Kamalu went and told Abdullahi's mother what had happened. She came to the site with many people following her, including youths saying that they would not agree, that they would burn the police station. Many Hausa/Fulani elders pleaded with the youths not to take the law into their hands; they agreed, partly because some thirty people who had already been arrested were inside the police station. The mobile police had been making random arrests.149

Although several witnesses had identified the murderer immediately, community leaders had to make persistent efforts to ensure that he was brought to justice. Sgt. Nandang was reportedly arrested and charged with culpable murder, but was then released, reportedly at the direction of Plateau's then-Acting Commissioner of Police. Later, community members noticed that Nandang was apparently still coming to work at the police station, so they again initiated a petition for his prosecution. The case also received some media attention. "When the petition reached the Inspector General of Police and the new Commissioner of Police, Vendang was rearrested.... We don't know the outcome of the trial. We're waiting to hear; he was tried at Laronto two months ago."150

Human Rights Watch received reports of arrests being made in the days after May 2. "On the 3rd through the 6th of May, police started arresting people in Hausa/Fulani houses; more than 250 people were arrested. Police would even break down the doors; all were brought to the Magistrate's Court under charges of violence or breach of the peace.... All were remanded into prison custody, and thirteen still remain there."151 Human Rights Watch does not know whether there was sufficient evidence against all these individuals to justify their arrest and detention. In similar situations in the past, following outbreaks of violence, the police have often arbitrarily rounded up many people arbitrarily, without any clear information that those arrested had been involved in criminal acts.

Warri, Delta state: Inter-ethnic violence between January and March 2003
Some of the most recent large-scale violence in Nigeria broke out in and around Warri, Delta State, on January 31, 2003, and again in March 2003. On January 31, the PDP attempted, for the second time, to hold party primaries for Delta South Senatorial District. There is a history of conflict between the Itsekiri, Urhobo, and other ethnic groups in the area, but the immediate tension between the Itsekiri and Urhobo was motivated by a dispute over the number of electoral wards allocated to each community and the drawing of boundaries between wards. The military also played a major role in what happened; according to reports, one of the first casualties was a soldier, and many of the initial deaths were a result of military reprisal. The exact number of people killed over several days of fighting is unclear, but it seems likely that at least dozens died.152 According to news reports in the first day or two of fighting, individual eyewitnesses had reported seeing twelve, eighteen, and twenty bodies;153 a local organization estimated that at least two hundred people were killed. The Nigerian Red Cross reported that the fighting had left more than six thousand people displaced from their homes.154

The Itsekiri and Urhobo ethnic groups are two of the main groups in Warri South local government area, with Ijaw and other groups also represented. The January 2003 conflict was not the first time that ethnic groups in the area had clashed. In 1997, a dispute between the Ijaw and Itsekiris over the location of the local government headquarters led to a crisis that left scores of people dead.155 Again in 1999, fighting between the Itsekiri and Urhobo led to many deaths.156 Both clashes occasioned the intervention of the military, which was still patrolling the area when the crisis broke out in January 2003. Because Warri is a major base for multinational oil operations, tension between the communities has been intensified by the competition for benefits from the oil companies.

The delineation of wards in the local government in the lead-up to the repeat senatorial primary left Urhobos feeling disenfranchised. The specific issue was whether the number of wards controlled by the Urhobo would increase from two to four. According to news reports, officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had recognized only two Urhobo wards in accrediting delegates for the primaries, despite claims from some Urhobo groups that INEC had earlier approved two additional wards.157

On the afternoon of January 31, Urhobo youths from Okere, disgruntled by their inability to participate in the primary, proceeded to an Itsekiri area of Okere and began to loot and burn property. Soldiers who had been stationed there since the earlier crises intervened, and one soldier was shot and killed during the attempt to stop the rioting; it was unclear whether he was killed accidentally by other security forces or by the rioters. Meanwhile, a group of Itsekiris voting at the township stadium heard of what had happened and began to rush to Okere; on their way, they encountered an army detachment. According to one version of events, the soldiers opened fire on the Itsekiris in reprisal for the earlier killing of a soldier, apparently either not realizing that the earlier burning and looting that led to a soldier's death had been committed by Urhobos, or not knowing the people they had encountered were Itsekiris. The random shooting by soldiers reportedly led to several deaths among the Itsekiris as well as passersby. Over the next two days, as the Itsekiris attempted to avenge their losses, killing, looting, and burning of homes and other buildings spread to various surrounding neighborhoods. Although the military intervened early on, they were unable to halt the violence completely, and the fighting renewed in intensity on February 2. On February 3, the state government imposed a dusk to dawn curfew. As military reinforcements were sent to the area, most activity in the city ground to a halt, although a local organization reported that this still did not stop some attacks and counter-attacks. Fighting finally appeared to peter out on February 5 and 6.

From March 13, 2003, serious fighting broke out again, primarily in Warri Southwest LGA. In clashes between the Ijaws and the Itsekiris, and between the Ijaw and the military, scores of people were killed and dozens of villages destroyed over a period of around two weeks, according to reports from local non-governmental organizations, journalists and other sources. One of the reasons for the fighting between Ijaws and Itsekiris was a dispute over the distribution of electoral wards, which the Ijaws believed favored the Itsekiris. The majority of the victims in the fighting between the two groups were reported to be Itsekiris. After four military personnel were killed on March 13, a large contingent of Nigerian army, navy and police was deployed to the area, clashing primarily with Ijaw youths. There were reports of indiscriminate reprisal attacks by the security forces on Ijaw communities, particularly in the village of Okerenkoko; dozens of Ijaws were reported to have been killed.

At the time of this writing, it was uncertain whether INEC would attempt to hold general elections in Warri South and Warri Southwest LGAs. The INEC resident electoral commissioner for Delta State said on March 30 they would not take place unless INEC was given positive authorization from security agencies.158

139 See forthcoming Human Rights Watch report on the Kaduna clashes of November 2002.

140 Human Rights Watch interview, Jos, December 13, 2002.

141 Human Rights Watch interview, Jos, December 16, 2002.

142 In Jos, the "indigene" groups include the Birom, Anaguta and Afizere ethnic groups, among others; the "indigenes" are predominantly though not exclusively Christian. Hausa/Fulanis, who are predominantly Muslim, are the largest group among those viewed as "settlers" in Jos, although several other ethnic groups are also represented among the "settlers."

143 See Human Rights Watch, "Jos: A City Torn Apart," A Human Rights Watch Report, vol. 13, no. 9 (A), December 2001. Since September 2001, and throughout 2002, periodic outbreaks of violence in Jos and other parts of Plateau State have caused scores of deaths.

144 Human Rights Watch interview, Abuja, December 15, 2002.

145 Human Rights Watch interview, Jos, December 15, 2002.

146 Human Rights Watch interview, Jos, December 13, 2002.

147 Ibid.

148 Ibid.

149 Human Rights Watch interview, Jos, December 15, 2002.

150 Ibid.

151 Ibid.

152 This account is based on an informal report from Niger Delta Professionals for Development, a southern-based non-governmental organization, and on several international and national media reports.

153 "Violence mars Nigerian party elections," BBC News, February 3, 2003; "Nigeria: Ethnic clashes erupt in southern oil town," IRINnews.org, February 3, 2003; "Nigeria: Curfew imposed on oil town following clashes," IRINnews.org, February 4, 2003.

154 "Over 100,000 people displaced in Nigerian unrest: Red Cross" Agence France-Presse, March 7, 2003.

155 See The Price of Oil: Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigeria's Oil-Producing Communities, A Human Rights Watch Report, January 1999.

156 "Four feared killed in Fresh Warri Crisis," This Day, February 1, 2003.

157 "Unending Tears as Oil City Bleds," Vanguard, February 8, 2003; Peter Okhiria, "Okumagba Wants Army Authorities to Sanction Soldiers Over Warri Crisis," News, February 25, 2003.

158 Jaiyeola Andrews, "Election May Not Hold in 2 Warri LGs," News, March 31, 2003.

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