SUMMARY
FNDIC (Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities) was an armed group that was active in Nigeria’s Delta State and operated mainly around the Warri South West Local Government area. The group was first known as the Niger Delta Volunteer Force but changed its name after another group with a similar name, the NDPVF (Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force), appeared. The FNDIC was comprised of youth militants and had its support base among the Ijaw ethnic group.
The FNDIC emerged in 1997 as a result of the outbreak of a series of violent clashes, known as the Warri crisis, between the Ijaw and its rival ethnic group the Itsekiri in Warri, one of the major oil towns in the Niger Delta. The Ijaw community had long believed that the Nigerian government and oil companies in the region favored the Itsekiri for employment, contracts and other social benefits and it was around these perceived injustices that the FNDIC was formed. The group openly opposed both the oil industry and the government, calling for greater autonomy and rights for the Ijaw community as well as resource control. During 2003, the FNDIC clashed with government forces, seized oil facilities and launched several attacks on Itsekiri villages, killing more than 50 civilians.
Several people are said to have founded the FNDIC, including its leader and political spokesman Oboko Bello and its mobilization officer Government Ekpemupolo. Ekpemupolo, better known as Tom Polo, was a former oil industry employee that got involved in illegal oil trading and used his wealth to help fund the FNDIC activities. After the first Warri crisis in 1997, Tom Polo went on to become one of the most prominent militia leaders in the Niger Delta and he was also an important driving force when it came to recruiting local youths from the creeks in the region. Other important FNDIC officials were Dan Ekpebide (group advisor), Kingsley Otuaro (secretary) and George Timinimi (spokesman). In 2003, it was reported that the FNDIC had around 3000 members.
Something that distinguished the FNDIC from other militia groups in the region was that it in addition violent tactics also adopted media mobilization strategies, utilizing the internet and newspapers to advocate its cause and announce its activities.
In late 2005, Tom Polo convened a meeting between leaders of various militia groups in the Niger Delta, including the (NDPVF)](/#actor/560) and Greenlanders, in order to create a unified force. As a result, MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) was created and Tom Polo became one of its leaders. The creation of MEND did not entail the termination of the FNDIC as the different groups kept their own rank and file, while MEND was mainly thought to serve as a collective voice through which statements could be issued. In 2018, the FNDIC still existed, with Oboko Bello severing as its president. However, reports suggest that the group have shifted to non-violent tactics as Oboko Bello supposedly denounced violent struggle in 2008.
