Criminal Politics: Violence, âGodfathersâ and Corruption in Nigeria

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implicating him in all three. Former Senator Lekan Balogun, who was attacked along with his security detail by Adedibu’s thugs at the State House of Assembly in January 2007, said of his attackers: I knew them very well—I even gave them money sometimes [at Adedibu’s home], they are NURTW boys, Adedibu’s agents. I gave 11 or 12 names to the police and…not a single arrest has been made…The commissioner said he has been unable to locate them. I said I could tell him where one or two of them were found. How can you say we have laws in this country? 209 Governor Ladoja, along with several journalists and civil society activists, alleged to Human Rights Watch that then-State Commissioner of Police Jonathan Johnson was “compromised” and an active supporter of Adedibu. 210 Ladoja also argued that Johnson’s partiality justified his own reliance on NURTW thugs led by Tawa to augment his security, as he doubted the police would intervene effectively to protect him from Adedibu’s own thugs. 211 Human Rights Watch interviewed two policemen in Ibadan who complained that they were restrained by the police leadership from doing their job correctly. One of them stated that, “We have been put in a position to protect life and property. It’s not that we don’t know what to do, but if you try to do your job, you are playing with your life. When PDP people are arrested [during the election campaigns] we are told to let them go.” 212 He also claimed that he had been ordered by his direct superiors not to intervene to stop violence on Election Day. Another police source confirmed the same. 213 During Nigeria’s chaotic voter registration period, Adedibu was discovered to have induced INEC staff to divert six voter registration machines to his home for the 209 Human Rights Watch interview with Lekan Balogun, Ibadan, February 9, 2007. 210 Human Rights Watch interview with Rashidi Ladoja, Ibadan, February 8, 2007; Human Rights Watch interviews with civil society activists, opposition politicians and journalists, Ibadan, February and April 2007. See also Ola Ajayi, “Security—Pro- Ladoja Speaker Accuses Police of Partiality,” The Vanguard, December 21, 2006. 211 Ibid. 212 Human Rights Watch interview with police officer, Ibadan, April 8, 2007. 213 Human Rights Watch interview with police sergeant, Ibadan, April 6, 2007. 63 Human Rights Watch October 2007
apparent purpose of creating lists of nonexistent voters. 214 Nigeria’s electoral law provides for a sentence of up to one year of imprisonment for such malfeasance, but Adedibu was not held to account in any way. 215 INEC officials publicly confirmed the incident and blamed the police for failing to investigate the crime. 216 Jonathan Johnson, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo state at the time, responded to those complaints by asking rhetorically, “If you hear a rumor and then you call the man and he says he doesn’t know anything about it, what more can you do about it?” 217 A Lack of Political Will Echoing the complaints of many other activists and citizens of Oyo State, one dissident politician told Human Rights Watch that, “Adedibu is there not because the PDP does not know that he is a criminal but because they need him to win elections.” 218 President Obasanjo himself dismissed the idea that Adedibu should be held to account or even made to change his behavior. “Baba has become a dried fish, he cannot be bent anymore,” Obasanjo said on one occasion. “So let us continue to manage him.” 219 Then-PDP chairman Ahmadu Ali went further, calling Adedibu the “commander” of the PDP’s “garrison” in Oyo state in early 2006 and suggesting that Ladoja should not have accepted the job of Governor if he was not willing to take orders from Adedibu. 220 The result of this complacent attitude on the part of the federal government is that Adedibu has enjoyed more than just impunity; the Obasanjo government treated him as though his capacity to mobilize violence and corruption made him a legitimate part of the political process in Oyo. Not only has he not been investigated by the police, but he is assigned a permanent security detail of Mobile Police (MOPOL) 214 Human Rights Watch interview with Alh. I.K. Maigoro, Oyo State INEC office, Ibadan, February 8, 2007. This incident was widely reported in the Nigerian press. 215 Electoral Act, no. 2 of 2006, sec. 124 (h) and (i). 216 Human Rights Watch interview with Alh. I.K. Maigoro, Oyo State INEC office, Ibadan, February 8, 2007. 217 Human Rights Watch interview with Johnson Johnson, Ibadan, April 26, 2007. Johnson was redeployed away from Oyo State in July 2007. 218 Human Rights Watch interview, Awka, February 12, 2007. 219 Sola Adeyemo, "Ibadan: Rescue mission for battered city," The Nation, April 9, 2007. 220 See, e.g., “Ali’s New Democracy,” The Vanguard, January 5, 2006. Criminal Politics 64
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Nigeria Criminal Politics Violence,
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The Nigerian Police and Impunity fo
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In 1999, Nigeria’s military relin
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to account for their open mobilizat
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Recommendations To the government o
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To the Nigerian Police Force • Pr
Page 13 and 14:
Historical Background and Context N
Page 15 and 16: Many Nigerians initially welcomed t
Page 17 and 18: elections should it choose to do so
Page 19 and 20: Foreign observers and Nigerian civi
Page 21 and 22: undertaken by Human Rights Watch an
Page 23 and 24: killed during the weeks surrounding
Page 25 and 26: and I fell down. After I fell down
Page 27 and 28: dating back to their days at univer
Page 29 and 30: Nnamdi Azikwe campus in Awka had be
Page 31 and 32: Human Rights Watch days later, his
Page 33 and 34: There is no question we can’t rel
Page 35 and 36: over the eight years of the Obasanj
Page 37 and 38: Money flows up and down…these hon
Page 39 and 40: along with at least two to three bu
Page 41 and 42: The best thing you can get is a mul
Page 43 and 44: During the 2007 elections, oppositi
Page 45 and 46: followed up by any meaningful actio
Page 47 and 48: police force and address serious po
Page 49 and 50: police’s shortcomings as an insti
Page 51 and 52: One should expect by now that issue
Page 53 and 54: 2007 elections but then taken off i
Page 55 and 56: Case Study A: Oyo State This is whe
Page 57 and 58: Adedibu’s War Against Ladoja Rash
Page 59 and 60: The attempt to impeach Ladoja ended
Page 61 and 62: saw four or five people and they ju
Page 63 and 64: Ibadan. 197 Especially in Ibadan, A
Page 65: Box 4: A Future Governor Discusses
Page 69 and 70: servants of attacking the NURTW men
Page 71 and 72: Among the politicians Chris Uba “
Page 73 and 74: Ngige—like much of the Nigerian p
Page 75 and 76: that purported “impeachment” pr
Page 77 and 78: Peter Obi was reinstated in Februar
Page 79 and 80: Fighting Over the Spoils According
Page 81 and 82: in Anambra reached the same conclus
Page 83 and 84: Case Study C: Rivers State They buy
Page 85 and 86: There are widespread complaints amo
Page 87 and 88: esponse to concerns that Igodo was
Page 89 and 90: In 1999 and 2003, [Governor] Odili
Page 91 and 92: The night before the April 14 elect
Page 93 and 94: Tom, or their former political spon
Page 95 and 96: In parallel with other situations d
Page 97 and 98: Kalare Violence and the 2007 Electi
Page 99 and 100: International observers told Human
Page 101 and 102: eportedly urged his disgruntled opp
Page 103 and 104: and encourages a greater scale of l
Page 105 and 106: A few minutes earlier, internationa
Page 107 and 108: problems that have crippled the cap
Page 109 and 110: Yar’Adua has also promised to str
Page 111 and 112: The International Response to Niger
Page 113 and 114: after the rigged elections made no
Page 115 and 116: firmly fixed at the opposite extrem
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Criminal Politics 114
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H UMAN R I GHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Ave
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Criminal Politics: Violence, âGodfathersâ and Corruption in Nigeria