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

Case Study D: Gombe State
“We are ruled by gangsters. The major source of criminal activity in
Gombe is the politicians and their militias. Two out of three places the
governor goes, people are injured afterwards.”
—Member of Gombe Elder’s Forum [name withheld], Gombe, April 20, 2007 321
Ahead of Nigeria’s 2003 polls, the PDP and to a lesser extent other parties in
Nigeria’s north-eastern Gombe State “mobilized” large numbers of young men,
ostensibly to “protect their votes” from attempts at rigging by rival parties. 322
According to community leaders, civil society activists and other residents of the
state interviewed by Human Rights Watch, those youths were used to help rig the
PDP to victory that year by stealing and stuffing ballot boxes, chasing away voters
and intimidating INEC officials. This was the origin of a continuing wave of violence
that had, by the time of Nigeria’s 2007 polls, gotten entirely out of control. These
organized gangs are now a constant feature of Gombe’s political scene. Beyond
politics, they have been implicated in numerous acts of criminal activity and violence
against ordinary Gombe residents.
Gombe’s “Kalare” Gangs
Gombe State, like the rest of Nigeria, is home to large numbers of unemployed young
men who have little opportunity for legitimate employment or socio-economic
advancement. As is also true across many other parts of Nigeria, in Gombe some of
these youth have formed loosely organized criminal gangs and turned to violent
crime to make a living. Residents of Gombe generally refer to the members of these
gangs collectively as Kalare or “Kalare Boys.” 323
321 Human Rights Watch interview, Gombe, April 20, 2007.
322 Human Rights Watch interviews with opposition party members, journalists, NGO activists, doctors, and lawyers in Gombe,
April 2007.
323 While boys as young as fourteen are involved in Kalare, most are over 18 years of age. However common practice in Nigeria
is to refer to young men, particularly those unemployed, as boys.
91
Human Rights Watch October 2007