Violence in Nigeria

8
records of lethal violence in some of the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of
the Nigerian Federation, either because these LGAs are very peaceful or, more
probably, because they are not covered by the media. 19
Hence, the second part of this book investigates ‘invisible’ violence through
four case studies, two each for the South and the North. In the relevant LGAs, all
rural, surveys were conducted to document violence-related deaths during the
same time frame as the period covered by the previous chapters based on the statistics
of the Nigeria Watch dataset from 1 June 2006 to 31 May 2014. Their
findings complement the quantitative studies of the first part of this book.
In Chapter 7, Joachin Uche Okanume Survey begins with a survey of violence-related
deaths in Aninri and Isi-Uzo LGAs of Enugu State. These areas are
predominantly inhabited by farmers and traders; however, their pattern of violence
is not very different from the other regions of Nigeria if we make an exception
for the North-East and the Boko Haram crisis. In Aninri, for instance, the
majority of fatal incidents result from motor accidents, while crime is the second
leading cause of fatalities. In the case of Isi-Uzo, crime is the leading cause of
fatalities. Lack of development partly explains these differences locally, as Isi-
Uzo has almost no roads. This lack of development also provides a clue to the
reluctance of the national press to report news in rural LGAs that have no economic
value, lack urban centres, and are difficult to access, such as Isi-Uzo.
In Chapter 8, Hammed Abodunrin studies Egbedore and Ifedayo LGAs of
Osun State. Residents, he finds, do not consider these areas to be violent; however,
some fatal incidents were reported over land disputes, police clashes, and personal
attacks. Like most regions of Nigeria, motor accidents accounted for the
majority of violent deaths in Egbedore and Ifedayo, mainly because of bad roads,
according to respondents. Interviews conducted with journalists in Osun also revealed
a number of reasons for the media not adequately covering such rural areas.
There were claims of bad roads, poor transportation services, and irregular
salaries, which hindered the ability of journalists to visit remote parts of the state.
In addition, journalists pointed to the lack of community newspapers and the different
media house styles, which saw some stories as not weighty enough to
make national news. Finally, they stressed the uncooperative attitude of security
operatives in regard to releasing information.
In Chapter 9, Adam Alqali takes us to the north of Nigeria to investigate lethal
violence in Baure, Ingawa, Kurfi, Mani, and Matazu LGAs of Katsina State. His
research reveals 37 fatal incidents in unreported cases of violence, which resulted
19
By 1 November 2014, these were the following: Udung Uko and Urue-Offong/Oruko (Akwa Ibom);
Kwaya Kusar (Borno); Nafada (Gombe); Auyo, Gagarawa, Kaugama, and Yankwashi (Jigawa);
Ingawa and Matazu (Katsina); Sakaba (Kebbi); Bassa, Igalamela-Odolu, and Mopa-Muro (Kogi); Toto
(Nassarawa); Ifedayo (Osun); Gudu and Gwadabaw (Sokoto); Ussa (Taraba); and Karasuwa,
Machina, Nguru, and Yunusari (Yobe).