SUMMARY

The Junkun ethnic group of Nigeria is one of roughly 250 ethnicities residing within the country. The group is sometimes referred to as Jukun. The Junkuns are mainly Christian and rely on farming for their income. They are geographically concentrated to the Taraba state of eastern Nigeria, on the border with Cameroon, and even though there are a significant number of Junkun in the area they are often a minority in comparison to the Tiv ethnic group. Despite being a minority Junkun have had political control over portions of the Taraba state, through the Local Government Areas (LGA). The centre of the Junkun community is the towns of Wukari and Bantaji.

With regards to labour the Junkun are divided; one branch are fishermen, fishing in the river Benue, the others, are farmers, growing predominantly maize. The farmers of the Junkun group were more prone to be involved in conflicts, since the issue of land ownership is extremely volatile in Nigeria. Junkun had been involved in this kind of conflict for some time, conflicts concerning land use date back to the 1950’s.

The spiral of violence and more precisely, the pattern of violence have been closely linked to elections, since the power balance is precarious. The threat of being politically dominated by other ethnicities, especially the Tiv, has been present ever since the 1950s.

Concerning the leadership of Junkun it is hard to discern. The entire ethnicity is perhaps ruled by the traditional king. In the case of the violence that has been a part of the Junkun history it is harder to pin point any leader.

Junkun have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP-organised violence.