The Warri Crisis: Fueling Violence
By HRW | Published November 2003
In Nigeria, control of government often represents virtually unaudited control over resources. Delta State, which produces 40 percent of Nigeria’s oil and receives 13 percent of the revenue from production in the state, has a particularly controversial division of political and government positions and structures, over which representatives of different ethnic groups are struggling. The wholly fraudulent nature of the 2003 state and federal elections in Delta State, as in 1999, means that there is little hope of changing political structures by democratic means, and elections become a focus for violence. In addition, the warring factions are fighting for control of the theft of crude oil, siphoned from pipes owned by the joint ventures that operate Nigeria’s oil industry, known as “illegal oil bunkering.”
Testing Democracy: Political Violence in Nigeria
By HRW | Published April 2003
Nigerian politicians, police and public commentators have regularly denounced political violence, repeated their resolve that those responsible for the crimes will be brought to justice, but little concrete action is taken against those who use violence to further their political ambitions. The perpetrators of violence and their sponsors often enjoy complete impunity for their actions both from the official law enforcement bodies and from their own political parties. There were several reports of extrajudicial killings by the police; it is not clear on what basis the police targeted particular individuals or neighborhoods. A witness reported that a friend was shot in the leg by police. “When people started running, the police started shooting. There was no fighting there, so everyone was surprised by that. I recognized the police officer as the divisional police officer for that area. In the afternoon, my friend’s father Muktar was shot trying to go into his house. He was shot at directly. He was about fifty or sixty years old.”
Renewed crackdown on freedom of expression
By HRW | Published December 2003
This report documents a number of cases of violations of the right to freedom of expression in Nigeria since the second half of 2002, in which real or perceived critics and opponents of the government have been arrested, detained, ill-treated, and subjected to other forms of harassment and intimidation. Brutal measures have been used to repress peaceful expression. In extreme cases, the government’s reaction to dissent or protest has resulted in extrajudicial killings. Most of these violations have been carried out by members of the Nigerian police force, in some cases on the direct instructions of senior officials; in other cases, the perpetrators have been members of the intelligence services known as the State Security Service (SSS). The victims have included journalists, human
rights activists, supporters of opposition political parties, other political activists, peaceful demonstrators, and innocent passers-by who were the victims of indiscriminate police operations. The vast majority of cases, affecting ordinary men and women across Nigeria, are not even reported and may never reach human rights organizations or the media.
OPC: Fighting Violence with Violence
By HRW | Published February 2003
Nigeria has witnessed an increase in the activities of ethnic and regional militia, vigilantes, and other armed groups in the last few years. One of the better-known of these groups is the O’odua People’s Congress (OPC), an organization active in the southwest of Nigeria which campaigns to protect the interests of the Yoruba ethnic group and seeks autonomy for the Yoruba people. The OPC is a complex organization, which has taken on several different roles as it has adapted to the changing political and security environment in Nigeria. One of several Yoruba self-determination groups, it was established in 1994 with the aim of overcoming what it alleged was the political marginalization of the Yoruba. It has since evolved in several different directions. Its activities have ranged from political agitation for Yoruba autonomy and promotion of Yoruba culture to violent confrontation with members of other ethnic groups, and, more recently, vigilantism and crime-fighting. The most widespread killings by the OPC took place in the context of clashes between Yoruba and other ethnic groups, which reached a peak during 2000; however, violence and human rights abuses continued in 2001 and 2002.
The Miss World Riots: Continued Impunity for Killings
By HRW | Published July 2003
A brief background on the events of 2000 is essential to understand some of the factors which gave rise to the violence in Kaduna in November 2002. In February and May 2000, in some of the most serious intercommunal violence that Nigeria has seen in recent years, at least 2,000 people, and possibly many more, were killed in fighting between Christians and Muslims in Kaduna. Some commentators have described the 2000 Kaduna riots as the single worst outbreak of violence in Nigeria since the 1967-70 civil war. The fighting began following debate around the proposed introduction of Sharia in Kaduna State. Sharia has existed in northern Nigeria for many years, but until 1999, it had only been applied to personal and domestic law. From 1999 onwards, in a move which was popular among many Muslims but highly controversial in the broader Nigerian federation, a number of northern state governors began extending its application to criminal law and other areas that had not been previously regulated.
- What Ails the American Economy?
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By Kevin Phillips, Barry Gewen
28 Feb 2009
Even if his pessimism doesn’t seem wholly warranted, a sense of foreboding surely is, which is why his warnings have to be taken seriously. Mr. Phillips writes that the inventors and marketers of the new financial instruments didn’t entirely understand them. An executive of Fidelity International says a panicky feeling has set in on Wall Street because no one knows where the risks really are. The finance minister of France observes that investments may have reached such a level of complexity that no one can assess them. And Charles R. Morris, in his own gloomy book, “The Trillion Dollar Meltdown,” reports that even Citigroup’s chief financial officer “did not know how to value his holdings.
- What Ails the American Economy?
-
By Kevin Phillips, Barry Gewen
28 Feb 2009
Even if his pessimism doesn’t seem wholly warranted, a sense of foreboding surely is, which is why his warnings have to be taken seriously. Mr. Phillips writes that the inventors and marketers of the new financial instruments didn’t entirely understand them. An executive of Fidelity International says a panicky feeling has set in on Wall Street because no one knows where the risks really are. The finance minister of France observes that investments may have reached such a level of complexity that no one can assess them. And Charles R. Morris, in his own gloomy book, “The Trillion Dollar Meltdown,” reports that even Citigroup’s chief financial officer “did not know how to value his holdings.