SUMMARY
The forces of the Government of Nigeria committed one-sided violence in a broad range of contexts. There have been incidents of one-sided killings related to ostensible crime-fighting, the protection of the activities of international energy companies active in the oil-rich Niger Delta, but also during routine duties such as traffic control. Moreover, one-sided attacks have taken place while security forces attempted to quell non-state conflicts, riots, and demonstrations.
According to analysts, one-sided killings of civilians refusing to by bribes to the police have been widespread. There have also been incidents of revenge-killings for the deaths of comrades including the collective punishment of civilians living in the same village as the alleged perpetrators. It has often been difficult to ascertain the exact reasons why members of the security forces killed particular individuals or groups of individuals.
In 2005, the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, in office from 1999 to 2007, admitted that serious abuses by government forces, such as torture and extrajudicial killings, had occurred. He added that; “Nigeria is a signatory to the international charter on human rights and since these rights are entrenched in our constitution, we are honor-bound to make sure that no acts that might have negative implications for civil liberties in the country are condoned.” However, according to human rights groups, this statement was not followed by any significant efforts to hold suspected perpetrators among the security forces accountable for past or ongoing crimes.
Many victims of one-sided killings were shot to death, but there have also been reports of civilians dying from being burned alive.
The Government of Nigeria first became active as a one-sided actor in the UCDP datasets in 1990, when the one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 31 October that year when Mobile Police units opened fire on a peaceful demonstration in Umuechem in the Rivers State, killing 80 civilians.
