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 in this area has led to several violent episodes between ethnic groups contesting the ownership of land in and around the oil-rich delta area. The issue was further complicated since the inception of the civilian government in 1999. This led to several new actors and possibilities of organizing in order to enhance their political power. The fragile political system with weak institutions and a high level of corruption created a situation where political power became the easiest means of capital accumulation. Given these conditions, several groups mobilized and formed interest groups speaking on behalf of the ethnic group. 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 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, Okrika – Ogoni, Ijaw – Itsekiri and NDPVF – NDV.
The context in which the non-state conflict between the Urhobo, Ijaw and Iteskiri ethnic groups was played out was one of chaos and uncertainty. Prior to the Urhobo joined the conflict the Ijaws and Iteskiri had been involved in the fighting. The non-state conflict between the Ijaws and Iteskiri became active in 1997 and was during 1999 played out parallel to the conflict between Ijaw, Urhobo – Iteskiri (For more information, see theIjaw – Itsekiri conflict). The violence between the three groups was carried out during a turbulent time in Nigerian contemporary history, returning to democracy. During this time period, 1999, several communal/ethnic conflicts arose.
The Ijaw, an ethnic community with millions of members, and the significantly smaller Iteskiri group have been competing for resources and power in the Warri region for decades. Both groups, as well as a third ethnic group, the Urhobo, have claimed to be the original inhabitants and rightful rulers of Warri. The dominance of Iteskiri in local government institutions has been resented by the Ijaws, and led to clashes over how electoral ward boundaries should be drawn. Meanwhile, Warri is the second most important oil town in Nigeria, and much of the conflict has concerned access to oil revenues, through both legitimate (through political power) and illegitimate (control of oil theft rackets) means.
The fighting coincided with the installation of Olesgun Obasanjo as president of Nigeria in 1999, bringing 15 years of military dictatorship to an end. In the transition of power from the military dictatorship to civilian rule, many ethnicities voiced their disappointment with the existing subdivisions of power, the Local Government Areas (LGA). It was during a protest concerning the location of one such LGA and its new political leadership that the clashes between Ijaws, who were soon to be joined by the Urhobo, and Iteskiri were instigated. The political turmoil that followed in the wake of installing Obasanjo as president, in combination with the feelings of deprivation of revenues from the lucrative oil exports that account for 90% of Nigeria’s foreign earnings, created a volatile situation in which the different ethnicities sought to ensure, and advance their interests.
The fighting in this conflict was mostly carried out by youth groups from different ethnicities. The groups fought using automatic weapons as well as more primitive armaments such as cutlasses, bows, and arrows. The general chaos that defined the area at the time was further enhanced by the mobs of youths that roamed the streets, looting, burning, and murdering people.
The fighting and general chaos did not abate until armed forces were deployed and a dusk to dawn curfew was put in place. The unrest, which was primarily located in the oil town of Warri, became an inconvenience to the foreign oil companies operating in the Nigerian delta areas. As a result several large oil companies moved their operations to the other large oil town of Port Harcourt. Following the intervention of the armed forces and several visits by newly installed president Obasanjo, the situation returned to normal.
The Ijaw, Urhobo - Iteskiri conflict must also be viewed in the broader spectrum of the ethnic and religious non-state conflicts that have ravaged Nigeria in the past and intensified with the end of military rule, from 1999 and onwards. 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 Ijaw, Urhobo on the one side and Iteskiri on the other is first included in UCDP data in 1999. In June of that year the threshold value of 25 battle-related deaths was reached.
