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

The night before the April 14 elections, Ateke’s men attacked two police stations in
Port Harcourt, murdering several officers and burning the police stations to the
ground. 310 The attackers reportedly locked one policeman inside a Hilux pickup and
then tossed in a stick of locally-made “dynamite” that killed him and set the truck
ablaze. 311 In one press interview after the attack, Ateke said that he had no regrets for
ordering the attack. “If you are fighting, people will die,” he said. 312
Some reports indicate that the purpose of the attack was to free some NDV fighters
who had supposedly been arrested; other sources believed the goal was simply to
demonstrate Ateke’s capacity for mayhem in order to strengthen his bargaining
position and extort some payment in return for refraining from causing any further
disruption on Election Day. 313 Later the same day Ateke reportedly reached a
settlement with the local government chairman in his home town of Okrika to refrain
from disrupting the elections there in exchange for an unspecified payment. 314 The
results in Okrika were then massively rigged in favor of the PDP. 315
Since the August fighting between Rivers’ gangs and the military, Soboma George
and Ateke Tom are, once again, being described as wanted men. A military
spokesperson told Human Rights Watch that he “suspected” Soboma George was
killed in the August fighting but these claims were widely dismissed by civil society
activists. The same spokesperson affirmed that “God willing, we will catch Ateke.” 316
As of this writing Ateke remained at large.
310 See “Nigeria: Polls Marred by Violence, Fraud,” Human Rights Watch news release, April 17, 2007,
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/04/16/nigeri15708.htm.
311 Human Rights Watch interview with activist, Port Harcourt, April 14, 2007.
312 Robyn Dixon, “Niger Delta’s politicians ease way into office by using thugs,” Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2007.
313 Human Rights Watch interviews, Port Harcourt, April 2007; civil society activist reports on file with Human Rights Watch.
314 Human Rights Watch interviews with cult members and civil society groups, Port Harcourt and Abuja, April 2007.
315 See “Nigeria: Polls Marred by Violence, Fraud,” Human Rights Watch news release, April 17, 2007,
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/04/16/nigeri15708.htm.
316 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with military spokesperson Major Sagir Musa, Port Harcourt, August 21, 2007.
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