SUMMARY
NDPVF (Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force) was an ethnic Ijaw rebel group active in the Rivers State of Nigeria. It has both fought its rival, NDV (Niger Delta Vigilantes), and the Nigerian government in 2004.
NDPVF was formed by Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the former president of IYC (Ijaw Youths Council), a militant umbrella organisation of Ijaw advocacy associations, in late 2003. Asari named NDPVF after the Ijaw revolutionary Isaac Boros Niger Delta Volunteer Force active in the 1960s. Asari claimed that NDPVF was part of a new revolutionary movement by the Ijaw people for the control of their resources and, ultimately independence. Although Asari reportedly admired Islamist fundamentalism, researchers maintain that the struggle of the NDPVF was more linked to traditional beliefs than to Islamist radicalism, specifically to the war god Egbesu.
Before the group initiated the intrastate conflict with the government in 2004, it was alleged that the state supplied Asari with weapons. In exchange Asari reportedly assisted the government by to limit the influence of the IYC. He became president of the council with the financial help of the government and allegedly used his position to exploit the differences between different Ijaw communities. However, Asari denied nevertheless to have received any support from the government.
Like its rival NDV, NDPVF was loosely organised and mainly composed of unemployed young Ijaw men from Port Harcourt and nearby villages. According to the state government, many of the over 100 smaller armed groups in the Niger Delta, dubbed “cults” in popular discourse, were either allied with NDPVF or NDV. For example, the Greenlanders, Bush Boys, Elegant Face and Deegbam cult groups cooperated under Asari’s leadership.
NDPVF was led by its founder, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari. After negotiations with NDV mediated by the Nigerian federal government, Asari agreed to the “disbandment of all militias and militant groups”. However, although some weapons were surrendered to the government forces, NDPVF continued to exist. Asari himself was arrested in 2005 on charges of treason, but regained his freedom in 2007.
NDPVF has been involved in the intrastate and non-state categories of UCDP organised violence.
