SUMMARY

The Adoni, or Andoni as they are sometimes referred to, live in the oil rich delta area in the southern parts of Nigeria. The Adoni are mainly involved in the oil-production that accounts for a large part of Nigeria’s foreign earnings. They have their homelands in the delta area of Rivers State, an area that is densely populated and is the home of several ethnicities. Given the oil that is present in the area, the issue of land ownership and relations with the government, as well as foreign contractors extracting the oil, have become very important for the ethnic groups of the Delta.

The Adoni people have a hierarchal system of leadership in which the elders of the group form a decision making unit. This leadership was quick to distance itself from the violence that the Adoni were involved in. This fuelled theories of involvement by oil companies in the violence. While none of this can be proven, there are numerous witnesses and testimonials claiming that the violence was in fact orchestrated by an outside actor.

Adoni has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.