The Niger Delta region is inhabited by a number of long settled communities and kingdoms. It is the hub of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, and covers six states of Nigeria which are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa. Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers State. See the map of Nigeria below showing the Niger Delta region. There are different perspectives and accounts of militancy in the Niger Delta region.
According General Muhammadu Buhari:
“All Nigerians that are following events will know the reality. Some governors wanted to win their elections. They employed these boys and armed them to fight their opponents. After their forceful victory, they could not retrieve the weapons and they stopped paying the boys. The irate youths then started kidnapping and it became the order of the day. A boy of 18 to 20 was getting 500 dollars a week as ransom in 7 day’s. What will stop him doing it? And why will he go to school and spend 20 years and then come back to work for peanuts (www.saharareporters.comlnigerdelta)
The opinion expressed by Buhari simply corresponds to commonplace knowledge of the origin of militancy in the Niger Delta region. A deeper analysis is necessary to unveil the historical backgromd of political domination aiid economic marginalization, environmental degradation
and sub-human living conditions of many oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region, which combined to engender resistance and protests against the State and multinational oil companies. The resistance turned violent in direct response to State terrorism .as a preferred approach adopted by the Nigerian State to maintain lav7nd order. For example, on January 4, 1999, about one hundred soldiers from the military base at Chevrons Escravos facility attacked two Ijaw communities of Opia and lkiyan in Delta State to flush out “militants”. Chief Bright Pablogba, the traditional ruler of Ikiyan, who came to the river side to negotiate with the soldiers, was shot dead, along with a 7- year-old girl, and dozens of others. The soldiers set the villages ablaze, destroyed canoes and fishing equipment, killed livestock, burnt churches and traditional shrines. The inhabitants of the two villages became refugees in neighbouring communities (Human Rights Watch, 1999).
Let us skip the background reasons for militancy in the Niger Delta region and proceed to identify the major militant groups that were active in the region.
- The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) —This is the umbrella organization of the groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In November 2005, following series of meetings between representatives of different militant groups. which included the Federation of Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF). Klansmen Konfraternity (KK). Greenlanders, among others. led to the emergence of a new group called MEND. An agreement was made to start using militant force to attack oil installations. The aim was to destroy the capacity of the Nigerian go eminent to export oil. Additionally, MEND called upon President Obasanjo to release Asari Dokubo and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha from detention. it was not until 2007 that Obasanjos successor, President Umaru Musa Yar Adua,
authorized the release of the duo.
- Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) —operating under the MEND umbrella, and sometimes referred to as Western MEND, the FND1C was founded in Delta State where militants organized along more rigid ethnic lines than in Rivers and Bayelsa States. The group called for Ijaw self-determination in the Warn area and openly opposed both the oil industry and the Nigerian government. Led politically by Oboko Bello and militarily by former oil industry employee, Tom Polo, the FNDIC built a heavily fortified complex in the creeks (Asuni. 2009: lkelegbe 2005)
- General Boyloaf Organization —operating under the MEND umbrella in Bayelsa State, Boyloaf’s organization is sometimes refelted to as Central MEND. The pseudonym of the group’s leader, Victor Ben, “Boyloaf” was believed to have had the closest ties with Henry Okah, who often issued Statements to the press on behalf of Central MEND.
- Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) — This group was founded by Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, a fonner president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC). In 2004, the group threatened an all-out war against the oil industry which caused a spike in global i1 prices. Asari Dokubo’s arrest in 2005 by the Nigerian government on treason charges played a role in the formation of MEND. He was released in 2007. The NDPVF maintained close relations with another group known as the Martyrs Brigade.
- Niger Delta Vigilantes (NDV) —formed in 2003 by Ateke Tom, the NDV operated mainly in Rivers State. Like other militant groups, the NV accepted Amnesty in 2009 and agreed to surrender arms (Amaize. 2009: Vanguard, February 14,2010).
- Other Groups — other prominent militant groups in the Niger Delta region include: (a) The Niger Delta Strike Force (NDSF), led by Farah Dagogo: (b) The Outlaws formed by Soboma George, (c) the People’s Liberation Force (PLF), led by Egberipapa —also known as Soboma Jacknich. (Los Angeles Times, October 26,2009)
