Violence in Nigeria

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180 rivation (WHO 2002: 5). Also, according to the first World Report on Violence and Health from the WHO (ibid. 3): Violence has probably always been part of the human experience. Its impact can be seen, in various forms, in all parts of the world. Each year, more than a million people lose their lives, and many more suffer non-fatal injuries, as a result of self-inflicted, interpersonal or collective violence. Overall, violence is among the leading causes of death worldwide for people aged 1-44 years. The human cost in grief and pain, of course, cannot be calculated. In fact, much of it is almost invisible. While satellite technology has made certain types of violence-terrorism, wars, riots and civil unrest-visible to television audiences on a daily basis, much more violence occurs out of sight in homes, workplaces and even in the medical and social institutions set up to care for people. Many of the victims are too young, weak or ill to protect themselves. Others are forced by social conventions or pressures to keep silent about their experiences. As with its impacts, some causes of violence are easy to see. Others are deeply rooted in the social, cultural, economic fabric of human life. Recent research suggests that while biological and other individual factors explain some of the predisposition to aggression, more often these factors interact with family, community, cultural and other external factors to create a situation where violence is likely to occur. The WHO also categorizes violence into three different categories, based on the persons committing the acts of violence: self-directed violence, interpersonal violence, and collective violence (ibid. 6). Violence or violent activities have always been part of life in Nigeria; and, until recently, road accidents and political clashes were responsible for the highest number of violent deaths in the country. However, the pattern and trend of violent activities and their resultant deaths in Nigeria was greatly altered by the Boko Haram insurgency, which has thus far accounted for the deaths of over 10,000 Nigerians, according to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki (Alli 2014). According to Nigeria Watch’s Fourth Report on Violence in Nigeria (2006-2014) (2014: 7): Cumulative figures for the years 2006-2014 show that the main causes of violent deaths are, in order of importance, accidents, crime, political clashes, ethno-religious fighting, and economic issues. In 2014, however, this pattern changed because of the Boko Haram crisis in the North-East. On a national level, political clashes, religious fighting, and crime became the main causes of violent deaths after emergency rule was put in place in May 2013. Thus, the spate of violent deaths has increased dramatically in Nigeria’s northern half since the re-emergence in 2010 of the dreaded Salafist sect, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JASLWJ) (lit. ‘People Committed to the Prophet's Teachings for Propagation and Jihad’, and better known as Boko Haram). Over time, the insurgency is proving seemingly as insoluble as it is intricately difficult to understand. Yet, many other factors account for a significant number of victims of violence across the country. In fact, there are hundreds of cases of violent deaths across Nigeria which have nothing to do with Boko Haram and which result from accidents, natural disasters, and ethno-religious con-
flicts. While most of these fatal incidents are reported by the media, some never make news headlines. Katsina State is one of the northern regions affected by the wave of violence occasioned by the Boko Haram crisis. However, it is not one of the areas worst affected by the insurgency, compared with Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Kano. No Boko Haram attacks were recorded in the five LGAs under review in Katsina State. In fact, few fatal incidents were reported by the national press in the region between 2006 and 2014. This study attempted to discover why. Was it because there were no such cases in Baure, Ingawa, Mani, Kurfi, and Matazu LGAs? Or was it a result of shortcomings in the system of data-gathering on lethal violence? As expected, the research revealed scores of fatalities in all the five ‘invisible’ LGAs, proving the ineffectiveness of news coverage by the national press. Statement of the problem Violent deaths resulting from accidents (motor accidents, fire outbreaks, building collapses, drownings), ethno-religious crises, political violence, and various crimes (from assassinations to terrorism) are almost daily occurrences in Nigeria. Katsina State is no exception. In Baure, Mani, Matazu, Kurfi, and Ingawa LGAs, this research revealed many fatal incidents that were not reported by the media, showing a huge gap in the capacity of the national press to effectively cover rural areas. Although most of these LGAs were not necessarily inaccessible and not particularly distant from the state capital, news reporters did not go there owing to serious logistical challenges that confined them to cities-or, to be more precise, to the corridors of power: Government House, government ministries, government departments, and public agencies. Research questions This study responds to two main questions: 1. What are the categories of violent incidents that led to death in the five LGAs under review? 2. Why are the five ‘invisible’ LGAs neglected by the national press? Methodology and limitation of study After reviewing the existing literature, undocumented violent deaths were identified through interviews with inhabitants of the five LGAs under review. For easier access to respondents, who may not ordinarily be willing to discuss such a sensitive topic, the researcher relied on the leaders of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) to select ten inhabitants per LGA and administer a total of 50 structured questionnaires. The investigation also examined why 181
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Violence in Nigeria A qualitative a
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African Studies Centre (ASC) Instit
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Contents LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST O
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List of figures 1.1 FRSC and Nigeri
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List of tables 1.1 Severity index o
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NDV Niger Delta Vigilante NHRC Nati
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Foreword The challenge of managing
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Introduction: Arguments for a quali
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customed to poor numbers shaping ho
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arrested and disappeared. As for Bo
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ual killings. As for the link betwe
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in 104 deaths between 2006 and 2014
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Trends and patterns of fatal road a
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all accidents on Nigerian roads inv
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sarawa State were killed in a multi
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safety measures. Christie argued th
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fatal road accidents because it rec
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Map 1.1 Fatalities caused by road a
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Figure 1.3 Vehicle types and road a
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Monthly analysis of fatal road acci
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driving, a situation that frequentl
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Table 1.3 Yearly breakdown of road
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However, the administration of Gove
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has been a large increase in the nu
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pecially along the Lagos-Sagamu-Iba
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39 Conclusion This study has examin
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Patterns and trend analysis of viol
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of Nigeria on the country’s dilap
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a need to bring indigenous investor
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and the population (Oputa Panel Rep
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ating consistent numerical data tha
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due to oil distribution. Again, of
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53 Map 2.2 Fatality rates resulting
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Figure 2.5 Number of deaths resulti
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Map 2.4 Fatality rates resulting fr
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Conclusion 59 It is important to st
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Trends and patterns of cattle grazi
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the location of the occurrence of i
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of the lands being equipped with bo
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Jigawa), July (Jigawa and Benue), S
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cattle to graze in violation of the
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Map 8. Fatality rates caused by cat
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Cattle grazing and lethal violence
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BLENCH, R. (2010), Conflict Between
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Trends and patterns of fatalities r
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Political context of witchcraft and
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anyone successful in business or ed
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83 Figure 4.1 Number of violent dea
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Okechuku had told the Police that t
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The situation in these areas is act
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Conclusion 89 Although the media ha
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Muslims, Christians and religious V
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From this point, the third part of
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several incidences of violence inst
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violent deaths (Figure 5.2) with th
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against the security forces and civ
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Figure 5.3 Violent deaths involving
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which have a lethal connection betw
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nored. Based on the data, they repr
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Table 5.3 Violent deaths of Islamic
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ment’s JTF to engage members of t
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ping demonstrates that religious ca
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the intervention of the security fo
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Although some of the victims are cr
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‘Court Martial’, respectively,
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chosen because the database started
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an annual average of 59% between Ju
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123 Figure 6.2 Number of violent de
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than other of its relations, it wou
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tervene more in violent incidents i
Page 145 and 146: tion of the security forces, notabl
Page 147 and 148: Farah Dagogo, a factional leader of
Page 149 and 150: ty outfit in the state, the Special
Page 151 and 152: however, that both the attackers an
Page 153 and 154: to leverage their ethnic and religi
Page 155 and 156: CRIMINAL CODE ACT (1990), Laws of t
Page 157 and 158: Part II Fieldwork and surveys: A qu
Page 159 and 160: A survey of violence-related deaths
Page 161 and 162: Figure 7.1 Percentage of violent de
Page 163 and 164: one. The LGA is included in Enugu E
Page 165 and 166: Table 7.2 Violent events recorded i
Page 171 and 172: Table 7.3 Demographic characteristi
Page 175 and 176: Figure 7.4 Percentage of causes of
Page 177 and 178: A Survey of violence-related deaths
Page 179 and 180: Politically, the LGA is divided int
Page 181 and 182: This has been a source of problems
Page 183 and 184: eferred to as ‘gatekeeping’, an
Page 185 and 186: 169 Data analysis and presentation
Page 187 and 188: Summary of findings As noted earlie
Page 189 and 190: Table 8.2 Violence types and fatali
Page 191 and 192: News judgment Reporters, who are th
Page 193 and 194: cated in Ido-Osun, which were still
Page 195: A study of violence-related deaths
Page 199 and 200: tion, as well as poultry farming, c
Page 201 and 202: Table 9.2 Violent deaths in Kurfi L
Page 203 and 204: Matazu LGA: Socio-economic, politic
Page 205 and 206: Table 9.5 Violent deaths in Ingawa
Page 207 and 208: Ineffective news media coverage as
Page 209 and 210: State. Until they founded their res
Page 211 and 212: A study of violence-related deaths
Page 213 and 214: Gudu, Gwadabawa, Illela and Sakaba:
Page 215 and 216: market their harvests outside Sakab
Page 217 and 218: Table 10.2 Violent incidents in Gud
Page 219 and 220: Table 10.2 Violent incidents in Gud
Page 221 and 222: Table 10.3 Violent incidents in Gwa
Page 223 and 224: Table 10.3 Violent incidents in Gwa
Page 225 and 226: Compared with Gudu, Gwadabawa LGA e
Page 227 and 228: Table 10.4 Violent incidents in Ill
Page 229 and 230: frequency of incidents, the princip
Page 231 and 232: er, certain parts of Sakaba are kno
Page 233: Postscript: The next challenge: Sta
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