SUMMARY
Non-state clashes have on several occasions broken out in connection to the political struggle in Nigeria, between supporters, or members, of political parties, resulting in deaths. Such clashes have usually taken place in connection to elections, with the aim of securing electoral victory. The non-state violence between the groups has also included targeted killings of party officials. At times, the clashes between the political parties and their supporters have overlapped with local conflicts over land, resources, or other issues. The perpetrators have usually gotten away with impunity, as a consequence of the corrupt, and highly politicized, judiciary system in Nigeria.
The other dyads that belong to the same Political conflicts cluster of non-state conflicts are; Supporters of AD – Supporters of PDP and Supporters of ANPP – Supporters of PDP.
The conflict between PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and UNPP (United Nigeria People’s Party) flared up in connection to the elections of 2003. The concept of electoral violence was not novel to the young Nigerian democracy, and the general sentiment in Nigeria at the time of the clashes was one of uncertainty and violence. The electoral violence that was a part of the system had developed side by side with the Nigerian democracy. By 2003 the violence had become institutionalized, candidates could be heard openly referring to violence as a campaign method. Another example of violence mongering amongst politicians was the distribution of weapons by political candidates. In combination with the abundance of weapons and a harsh political climate many disadvantaged groups saw the elections and the turmoil that followed as an opportunity to voice their frustrations. These factors combined to stress the point that the elections in Nigeria were a hotbed for violence and the prospects for free and fair elections were slim.
The violence that allowed for the inclusion of this conflict in UCDP data was one clash that took place in April 2003. The clash took place in Bassambiri town in Baylesa state in the southernmost parts of the country. Bassimbiri was the hometown of George Fente governorship candidate for the UNPP. The situation was confused, and each side accused the other of the violence, it was however clear that over thirty people had been killed as a result of electoral violence between the two groups. Prior to the violence, Supporters of PDP and Supporters of UNPP had clashed prompting PDP members to flee. These exiled political supporters were to be allowed back to the town, a pledge that was signed by both the political parties. When the PDP supporters returned they were met by hostile UNPP supporters who chanted hateful slogans and paraded through the town breaking bottles and destroying PDP campaign material. This escalated into clashes that did not succumb until the military intervened after two nights of fighting.
Typically the violence was carried out by youths that were in one way or another affiliated with the political parties. These groups of youths, commonly referred to as political thugs, would fight each other for physical control of different locations. Other practices that were commonplace during the infected elections were threatening voters, stealing ballots, and creating chaos, all in order to disturb the process and ensure the victory of a specific party.
The Supporters of PDP - Supporters of UNPP 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 Supporters of PDP and Supporters of UNPP is first included in UCDP data in 2003. In April of that year a clash between the two supporter groups resulted in over 30 battle-related deaths.
