Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria

months of 2007 alone. 291 In early 2007 the kidnapping epidemic took an even more
disturbing new turn with the seizure of several young children for ransom by armed
attackers. 292
Turf Wars, Extortion and Impunity
Aside from overtly political violence in the months surrounding elections, insecurity
for the residents of Rivers State has been worst when armed groups have turned
against one another. This infighting is linked to claims on political patronage,
competition over territory, oil bunkering networks, or other sources of revenue and
influence.
Beginning in late 2003, a drawn-out armed conflict between the PDP’s erstwhile
agents—Asari’s NDPVF and Ateke’s NDV—plunged parts of Port Harcourt and
surrounding communities into a state of terror. Dozens of local people were killed
along with hundreds of fighters, tens of thousands fled their homes and riverine
communities along the creeks were devastated. Human Rights Watch documented
the human rights impact of that conflict in detail in a 2004 report. 293 That violence is
generally acknowledged to have been sparked by a power play on the part of the
state government. Having fallen out with former ally Asari Dukobo after Asari helped
rig the 2003 elections, the Odili administration sponsored Ateke Tom in a failed and
bloody attempt to crush Asari’s group. 294
The spiral of violence that followed the 2003 elections repeated itself after the 2007
polls. In May 2007 gang members linked to another prominent militant, Soboma
George, murdered armed group leader Price Igodo and as many as a dozen others.
Numerous sources indicated told Human Rights Watch that Soboma was paid to
carry out the attack by supporters of current Governor Celestine Omehia partly in
291 See “Foreign Hostages Freed in Nigeria,” BBC News Online, June 23, 2007,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6234008.stm (accessed July 16, 2007).
292 As of July 16, 2007, three young children had been taken hostage and subsequently released by armed groups in the Delta.
These included two children of wealthy Nigerians and the three-year old daughter of an expatriate resident of Port Harcourt.
See “Nigeria kidnappers free UK girl,” BBC News Online, July 9, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6282846.stm
(accessed July 16, 2007).
293 Human Rights Watch, Rivers and Blood.
294 Human Rights Watch interviews with civil society activists and gang members, Port Harcourt, August 2006 and April 2007.
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Human Rights Watch October 2007