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, Ijaw – Itsekiri, Okrika – Eleme, Okrika – Ogoni”, Urhobo, Ijaw – Itsekiri and NDPVF – NDV.
The conflict between the Ndoki and Ogoni groups in Nigeria has its roots in the extraction and subsequent profits from oil. Revenues from the oil and how these are distributed amongst the people of Nigeria are at the heart of most conflicts in the delta. In this particular case the tensions surrounding the economic revenues, in combination with the secessionist aspirations of the Ogoni caused violence to erupt between the Ogoni and the Ndoki. The details of the fighting are sketchy the little information that is available describes a short-lived clash over land that resulted in the deaths of approximately 30 people. No large scale violence has been reported between the groups after 1994.
The Ndoki - Ogoni 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 non-state conflict between the Ndoki and Ogoni groups is first included in UCDP data in 1994. In April of that year Ogoni youths attacked the neighboring village of Ndoki which resulted in around 30 battle-related deaths.
