NIGERIA: ETHNIC CONFLICT IN NASARAWA PEACEFUL NOW,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001531

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2011
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ETHNIC CONFLICT IN NASARAWA PEACEFUL NOW,
BUT VERY TENSE


REF: ABUJA 1461


Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter, reason 1.5 (B/D).



1. (U) Summary. Ethnic clashes in the Middle-Belt State of
Nasarawa appear to have halted for the moment, although
tension throughout the state is running high. The federal
government has sent additional security forces into troubled
areas. Approximately 40,000 displaced persons, mainly Tivs,
have fled to neighboring Benue State. Most have moved in
with friends and family, with about 4,000 accomodated in two
camps north of the capital city of Makurdi. Displaced
persons, mainly Hausa-speakers, have fled to Lafia, capital
of Nasarawa, with 3,000 now at a converted primary school.
Both Nasarawa and Benue State governments have responded
quickly to the evolving situation, earning praise from
International Red Cross (IRC) officials. The IRC will
mobilize from its depot in Lagos, providing non-food items
(blankets, cooking sets, soap, etc.). Governor Adamu of
Nasarawa and Governor Akume of Benue will jointly convene a
meeting of elected and traditional leaders June 29 to
continue efforts at reconcilation, and encourage displaced
persons to return home. End summary.



2. (C) Conflicting reports continue of clashes between rival
ethnic groups in the southeast corner of Nasarawa State, a
Middle-Belt State located immediately to the east of the
Federal Capital Territory. Nasarawa Deputy Governor Onje
Gye-Wado told Poloff June 29 that the situation throughout
the state was "extremely tense." According to the Deputy
Governor, no confirmed clashes had occured in the last 48
hours, although he noted it was very difficult to secure
accurate information from remote villages in the south-east
corner of the state. A number of villages in the three Local
Government Areas now the scene of the conflict (Awe, Obi, and
Keana) had been entirely abandoned by their residents, he
said. Additional security forces had been requested from the
Federal Government, said Gye-Wado, and they now maintained a
"very uneasy" peace. Reached by telephone June 28, the
Deputy Police Commissioner for Federal Operations confirmed
the dispatch of a fourth mobile police unit from the Federal
Capital Territory to Nasarawa, as well as the reassignment of
mobile police units from Jigawa, Anambra and Enugu States.
The police official said the mobile units were "in charge" of
the situation, following clashes earlier in the week which
left three police officers dead.



3. (C) Poloff also reached Governor George Akume of Benue
State June 28. Governor Akume spoke at some length on the
plight of ethnic Tivs fleeing from Nasarawa (Akume is himself
a Tiv, as are the majority of Benue State citizens). He
emphasized several times the importance of establishing a
firm peace and coaxing displaced persons to return to their
homes. "This is planting season, and the Tivs who have left
are mainly farmers. They need to care for their lands."
Akume confirmed continung efforts by the Nasarawa and Benue
governments to mediate between the rival ethnic groups (Tivs,
Jukuns, Hausa-speakers, and Kwala). A meeting had been set
for June 29 of elected and traditional leadership of both
States in Lafia to discuss the situation, he said. He said
that the IRC and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) had been on
the scene and assisting State officials with arriving
villagers, and he expected help from the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA).



4. (C) Head of the International Red Cross in Nigeria
Jean-Jacques Gacond told Poloff June 29 that approximately
40,000 displaced persons, mainly Tivs, had fled Nasarawa
State into Benue State to the south. About 4,000 of them
were now residing at two camps north of Makurdi, at Dauda and
Uikpam. The rest of the arriving villagers, registered at an
initial transit point, had found refuge with family and
friends in the area. Gacond said that State government
officials had done "fairly well" under the circumstances in
quickly accomodating the displaced villagers. He noted that
adequate food and water was on hand for the arrivals, but
there were shortages of certain items such as blankets,
cooking sets, and soap. Sanitation could also be "improved,"
he said. The IRC would mobilize from its Lagos depot he
added, sending items that were lacking. Gacond also said
that about 3,000 displaced villagers, mainly Hausa-speakers,
had arrived in Lafia in Nasarawa, and were now residing at a
converted primary school. The Nasarawa State government, he
said, had also reacted quickly and was adequately caring for
the arrivals. He estimated that, as in Makurdi, a number of
arriving villagers had moved in with family and friends, but
he had no hard figures. The main State hospital in Lafia had
also been coping well with villagers injured in the latest
round of reprisal attacks over the previous week-end
(particularly disturbing, said Gacond, were the several dozen
women and children injured in the assaults, many bearing
knife and machete wounds). Overall, he said, the two
governments had done a much better job in dealing with the
sudden influx of displaced persons than Kaduna State in
February of last year (when tens of thousands of people fled
Kaduna during religious riots).



5. (C) Comment. Bitter conflict over land and community
status in Nasarawa, as noted reftel, has led to nearly 50,000
villagers fleeing the areas of actual fighting, most of them
ethnic Tivs. Most have found friends and family to assist
them, and the rest have been accomodated by State Governments
reacting quickly to the crisis. (We note, in passing, the
equally generous reception the federal government gave to the
Ulnar at Apapa Port in Lagos earlier this week. Never shy to
report in our cables on Nigeria's various failings, we see
two positive examples this week of Nigerian government in
action). Efforts by the two State Governments to calm the
various communities, and coax frightened villagers to return
to their communities, will be difficult. End comment.
Jeter