SUMMARY
The southern region of Nigeria, and especially the delta area, is where the crude oil that constitutes a substantial amount of the Nigerian revenues is located. The fact that the oil and the subsequent incomes that can be extracted from it are concentrated to this area, in which several ethnic groups have their homeland, has led to violent episodes between ethnic groups contesting the ownership of land in and around the oil-rich delta area. Given these conditions a number of groups mobilized and formed interest groups speaking on behalf of the ethnicities. This polarized the already fragile relations in the southern parts of Nigeria, and led to a situation where contested ownership of land, taxation of land or even the number of employees at the oil facilities were all potential conflict issues.
The other dyads that belong to the same Southern land ownership cluster of non-state conflicts are; Adoni – Ogoni, Aguleri – Umuleri, Ijaw – Ilaje, Ogoni – Ndoki, Okrika – Eleme, Ijaw – Itsekiri, Urhobo, Ijaw – Itsekiri and NDPVF – NDV.
The reasons for the non-state conflict between the Ogoni and Okrika (Ijaw) populations of Rivers State, and Port Harcourt in particular, are shrouded in controversy and there is a wealth of conspiring theories on the subject.
The violence in this conflict is actually linked to another non-state conflict in Nigeria; the Adoni – Ogoni conflict, active between July and September 1993. In its aftermath some of the Ogoni refugees found themselves on Okrika (Ijaw) dominated territory. This interaction was peaceful at first, but trouble arose as the Ogoni refugees celebrated the downfall of Governor Ada George, an Okrika (Ijaw), in the wake of the military coup of November 1993. This celebration and public displays of joy were enough to instigate violence, in which approximately 90 people lost their lives. However, this is but one of many explanations for the violence that in the last month of 1993 caused extensive suffering and devastation. Alternative explanations allude to a government-sponsored offensive so as to “deal” with the Ogoni population and their separatist struggle against the Nigerian state. These are merely speculations and allegations, and no hard evidence of government involvement exists. Nevertheless, the Ogoni uprising against the government, ongoing since 1990, did come to an end with this conflict.
The Ogoni - Okrika (Ijaw) conflict must also be viewed in the broader spectrum of the ethnic and religious non-state conflicts that have ravaged Nigeria in the past. The conflicts throughout Nigeria have ethnic, political, economic, and religious components, which have become inextricably linked over time, pitting various groups and alliances of groups against each other along different dividing lines.
The activity in this conflict was limited to the one clash in late December 1993. While the conflict has not reappeared in UCDP data since then there might have been additional flare-ups of violence that did not cross the fatality level for inclusion.
The non-state conflict between Ogoni and Okrika (Ijaw) is first included in UCDP-data in 1993. In December of that year clashes between the two groups resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
