CONFLICT BAROMETER 2008

38 Conflict Barometer 2008
three people, and took seven hostages. On February
21, President Mamadou Tandja extended the Agadez
region’s state of alert by another three months. MNJ
released 25 hostages on March 10. Eight days later,
MNJ killed at least one soldier and two guards in an attack
on the town of Bani Bangou. The rebels claimed to
have captured the village of Gougaram on March 29. A
member of parliament was kidnapped by MNJ on May
14 near Tanout and released on May 25. After internal
disputes, the political wing of MNJ broke apart from the
armed fraction on May 26. A new Tuareg rebel group,
the Front of Rallying Forces (FFR), was created on June
1. In Arlit, four French workers of a uranium mine were
taken hostages by the MNJ on June 24 and released the
following day. Heavy fighting between the rebels and soldiers
near Arlit on June 26 killed at least seven rebels.
MNJ claimed to have shot down an army helicopter and
have killed 26 soldiers in the fighting. On October 8,
three soldiers and one MNJ member died in a shootout
in northern Niger. (pg)
Nigeria (Christians - Muslims)
Intensity: 4 Change: Start: 1960
Conflict parties: Christians vs. Muslims
Conflict items: system/ideology
The conflict between Christian and Muslim communities
in northern Nigeria escalated. On 12/11/07, at least six
people were killed in violent clashes between Muslims
and Christians in the northern central Nigerian city of
Bauchi after disputes over the construction of a mosque.
Some 3,000 people were forced to flee their homes. The
government imposed a curfew. On February 2, accusations
of blasphemy against a woman sparked a violent
clash between a Muslim mob and the police in
Bauchi. At least one person died. On February 6, violent
protest erupted over alleged blasphemy by a student
in Sumaila, 50 km east of Kano, leaving two policemen
and one civilian dead. Police forces were put on alert in
the town of Kano. Two days of massive clashes between
gangs of Muslim Hausas and mostly Christian Beroms
erupted on November 28 following a disputed local government
chairmanship election. Demonstrations by the
Hausa ethnic group turned violent when a rumor spread
that their party candidate had lost the race to the ruling
candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), predominantly
supported by Christians. Raiding mobs of
Christians and Muslims burned churches, mosques, and
shops, killing at least 400 people and causing 10,000 to
flee. Nigeria deployed troops and imposed a curfew on
the capital of the central Plateau state. (de)
Nigeria (MEND, Ijaw/Niger Delta)
Intensity: 4 Change: Start: 1997
Conflict parties: Ijaw, NDPVF, MEND vs. government
Conflict items: regional predominance, resources
The conflict in the Niger Delta between various Ijaw
rebel groups and the government concerning the distribution
of oil revenues remained violent. The Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)
launched frequent attacks on oil facilities throughout the
year. Late in December 2007, the militants suspended
peace talks with the government, accusing the latter
of lacking the will to reach an agreement. On April 1,
the federal high court in Abuja charged detained MEND
leader Henry Okah with arms-dealing, oil-bunkering, and
treason. Okah had been arrested in Angola in 2007 and
extradited to Nigeria in February. On May 26, MEND
claimed responsibility for an attack on a major oil pipeline
in Rivers State and killing eleven soldiers. MEND militants
twice attacked oil facilities on June 11, leaving at
least one person dead. On June 20, MEND fighters on
speedboats attacked Shell’s 120-km-offshore platform
Bonga, shutting down ten percent of Nigeria’s oil production
for seven days. Two security guards were killed
in an attack on oil facilities on June 30. MEND fighters
bombed two Shell pipelines on July 29. In a military
operation against MEND on August 6, Nigerian security
forces razed down several houses in the Ijaw dominated
community of Agge, Rivers State. Fighting between
MEND fighters and the army near Port Harcourt killed
twelve militants on August 17. On August 24, MEND accused
army forces of shooting at a commercial transport
boat in Bayelsa State, killing twelve civilians. In reaction,
MEND fighters attacked Nigerian army bases in Bayelsa,
Delta, and River State on August 30, claiming that 29
soldiers and six rebels had been killed. On September
10, President Umar Yar’ Adua created a new Ministry of
Niger-Delta Affairs to foster infrastructural development
in the region. On September 13, the army launched a
massive offensive with aircrafts on MEND rebel hideouts
in the Rivers State, leaving at least 15 rebels dead. On
the second day of the fighting, MEND declared an ”oil
war”. Both army and rebels suffered heavy losses in
the following days. From September 15 to 21, MEND
fighters attacked several oil facilities in the Niger Delta,
blowing up pipelines and destroying flow stations, causing
a high number of casualties. Security forces claimed
to have killed twelve rebels on September 18. MEND
rebels agreed to a ceasefire on September 21. MEND
complied with the agreement until November 22 when
they launched an attack on an army post in the Bayelsa
East District. (de)
Nigeria - Cameroon (Bakassi)
Intensity: 1 Change: Start: 1961
Conflict parties: Nigeria vs. Cameroon
Conflict items: territory
The conflict concerning the Bakassi Peninsula and the
sea border between Nigeria and Cameroon diminished.
In accordance with the 2002 ICJ ruling and the bilateral
Greentree Agreement of 2006, Nigeria agreed to
cede the peninsula, while Cameroon consented to most
of Nigeria’s maritime border claims. Nigeria announced
the whole delineation and demarcation process of the
common border was to be completed in 2009. However,
the Nigerian Senate declared the Greentree Agreement
void on November 17, stating it had been insufficiently
informed about the results of negotiations. The Nigerian
government, rejecting the Senate’s allegation, proceeded
with the implementation of the Greentree Agreement.
In June and July, the security situation on the