/ 7 October 2005

Violence brewing in Nigeria

The arrest of Moujahid Dokubo-Asari, the militant self-proclaimed leader of the Ijaw tribe, has threatened to turn the underlying tensions in the oil-producing Niger delta into a maelstrom of violence. Coming only a week after the arrest of Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha on money-laundering charges, many feared that the move would inflame tensions between the Ijaws, Nigeria’s fourth-largest ethnic group, and their smaller neighbours, the Itsekiri. The two tribes have a history of conflict that has already claimed thousands of lives.

Alamieyeseigha is the only Ijaw governor in the oil-rich region and has been leading a push for a greater share of oil revenues to be transferred from the federal government to the delta region. It is a demand echoed by Asari, a former leader of the Ijaw Youth Council, who last year sent oil prices to then record highs when he threatened to launch an ”all-out war” on Western oil installations with his Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, a ragtag band of rifle-toting young men. Many analysts say it was the men’s combined public demands for a greater share of oil revenues that finally sparked their arrest.

”Some will interpret this as an attack on the Ijaws,” warned Anyakwee Nsirimovu, the director of the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. ”We need more information on why Asari was arrested.”

Police have said that the former militia leader will be charged with treason after making inflammatory comments following Alamieyeseigha’s arrest. Asari has frequently called for the dissolution of Nigeria, pointing out that while politicians in the country’s capital, Abuja, squander billions of dollars, the vast majority of people in Africa’s largest oil producer live in abject poverty on less than a dollar a day.

A truce last year allowed Asari to trade in his weapons and live un-molested in a mansion in the city centre after months spent hiding with an army in the swamps. Analysts say that President Olusegun Obasanjo also found Asari a useful tool to keep the presidential ambitions of State Governor Peter Odili in check. Asari and Odili had previously been allies, but Asari’s fervent championing of the Ijaw cause created a rift between the two men after the last election.

However, Asari has always called for the dissolution of the state and freely admitted funding his private army through the theft of crude oil, known as ”bunkering”. The national vice-chairperson of the All Nigeria People’s Party, Douglas Naingba, recently issued a statement in support of Alamieyeseigha, whom he has frequently criticised in the past. ”It is not in doubt that the presidency is interested in the matter. I can tell you that Obasanjo is persecuting Alamieyeseigha for political reasons and to weaken the resource control struggle.”

The governor was detained in London and charged with money laundering after $3,2-million had been found in cash and in bank accounts. He is officially paid less than $1 000 a month.

”All the state governors steal money,” said a diplomatic source, who asked not to be named. ”They take it from taxes and in the delta; they are all involved in illegal bunkering as well. The question is, why arrest these two men at this time? Asari has always said he wants Nigeria dissolved and Alamieyeseigha has always stolen money. It is not wise, politically. Asari’s arrest will heighten the Ijaws’ sense of grievance and thus their capacity for violence.”

Nigeria, which pumps 2,4-million barrels of oil a day, is ranked the third most corrupt country in the world by independent watchdog Transparency International. Poverty-stricken villagers with no access to schools or clean water live under the shadows of multimillion-dollar oil and gas installations and government mansions. At least 2 000 people died last year in clashes between groups of armed people fighting over scarce resources in the delta’s swamps.

While Asari’s arrest caused riots in the capital, many are overjoyed at the arrest of the governor. Patterson Ogun, the founding director of the Ijaw Council for Human Rights, said that ”while the arrest of Asari was rather ill-timed, Alamieyeseigha’s ‘interception’ in London is simply one wonderful development that probably came a little late”.

For now, Asari has warned off his men and is playing by the book. Two oil installations that had been closed following his arrest are open again. But his supporters leave no doubt what their reaction will be if he should be imprisoned. The president of the Ijaw Youth Council, Jonjon Oyinfie, made a statement last week that Ijaw militants would seek to destroy installations rather than merely hijack them as they had in the past. ”If we go there, the platforms will be completely destroyed,” he said.

Attacks on six Chevron installations cost the oil company more than $750-million two years ago.

Asari was expected to be formally charged with treason on Thursday in an Abuja court.