Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

understanding with host communities. The
fact that oil companies are allowed to
maintain supernumerary police means that
even the mildest protests may be met with
blunt force.
The security forces are supposed to act as
peacekeepers or observers of conflicts, but
once they become engaged, their use of
force results in clashes with communities
or ethnic groups. These secondary conflicts
tend to run their own course, and are
sometimes more ferocious than the original
dispute, as was the case when the police
levelled the town of Oleh. Military
interventions are also devastating. When
the youths of Odi abducted five policemen,
soldiers invaded and destroyed the town.
Ijaw towns have been bombarded
indiscriminately whenever youths have
A Typical example of armed millitant youths in the Niger Delta.
NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
taken hostages. These knee-jerk reactions
aggravate rather than deter the youths,
because those responsible usually escape
reprisals, while innocent citizens suffer
unnecessarily.
The failure of governance also incites
violent conflict. When people feel betrayed
by the government through its neglect of
their well-being and security, they may
resort to violence to seek redress. Declining
economic performance leading to rising
unemployment or underemployment; a
lack of access to basic necessities of life
like water, shelter, health facilities, food and
clothing; discriminatory policies that deny
access to positions of authority and
influence so people can participate in
shaping the rules by which they are
governed—all these factors indicate a
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