Nigeria: Delta Violence a Fight Over Oil Money
(New York, December 17, 2003) — The violence that has engulfed parts of
Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta this year is driven by disputes over
both government resources and control of the theft of crude oil, Human
Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 29-page report, “The Warri Crisis: Fueling Violence,” documents how
violence in Nigeria’s southern Delta State this year, especially during
the state and federal elections in April and May, resulted in hundreds
of deaths, the displacement of thousands of people, and the destruction
of hundreds of homes. Among the dead were probably dozens killed by the
government security forces. At the height of the violence, 40 percent of
Nigeria’s oil production was closed down.
“The people of the Niger Delta have suffered horribly from living amid
the source of Nigeria’s wealth,” said Bronwen Manby, deputy director of
the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch and the author of the report.
“And the perpetrators get away with these crimes without even the
faintest chance of being brought to justice.”
The perpetrators of violence in Delta State are armed ethnic militias
belonging to the three major ethnic groups in the state—the Ijaw,
Itsekiri, and Urhobo—and also the state security forces. During the
first half of 2003, Ijaw militia members were particularly well
organized in attacking Itsekiri communities living in the creeks of the
mangrove forest, where much of the oil is found.
Since the report was finalized, renewed violence has broken out once
again in Delta State, with a score of civilians reportedly killed in
fighting during the first week of December.
In Nigeria, individuals in government office often have virtually
unchecked control over resources. Elections are therefore a focus for
violence and fraud. Delta State produces 40 percent of Nigeria’s two
million barrels a day of crude oil and is supposed to receive 13 percent
of the revenue from production in the state—so control of government
positions is a particularly large prize. In addition, the warring
factions are fighting for control of the theft of crude oil, known as
“illegal oil bunkering.” Illegally bunkered oil accounts for perhaps 10
percent of Nigeria’s oil production, bringing profits that are probably
more than US$1 billion a year.
Both politicians and those who head the illegal bunkering
rackets—sometimes the same people—employ armed militia to ensure their
reelection or defend their operations. On November 24, three journalists
at Lagos-based Insider magazine were arrested by the police, detained
for two days and charged with sedition and defamation of character, in
connection with an article alleging that the vice president of Nigeria
and the national security adviser to the president were involved in
large-scale theft of crude oil.
“Although the violence has both ethnic and political dimensions, it is
essentially a fight over the oil money—both government revenue and the
profits of stolen crude,” Manby said. “Efforts to halt the violence and
end the civilian suffering that has accompanied it must therefore
include steps both to improve government accountability and to end the
theft of oil.”
Human Rights Watch suggested that one measure toward ending the violence
might be an effort to create a system for “certifying” crude oil as
coming from legitimate sources. The report urged that fresh elections be
held in Delta State, as in other Nigerian states where national and
international monitors found the level of fraud and violence surrounding
this year’s elections to be so high that the minimum international
standards for democratic elections were not met. A precondition for
peace, Human Rights Watch said, is that those responsible for crime be
brought to justice.
The Warri Crisis: Fueling Violence is available at:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/nigeria1103/

For further information, please contact:
In London, Bronwen Manby: +44-20-7713-2789
In Brussels, Jean-Paul Marthoz: +32-2-732-2009
In New York, Peter Takirambudde: +1-212-216-1834
In Washington D.C., Arvind Ganesan: +1-202-612-4329