NEW YEAR OFFERS NO REPRIEVE FROM DELTA VIOLENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 000192

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2014
TAGS: PINR EPET MOPS PGOV PINS NI
SUBJECT: NEW YEAR OFFERS NO REPRIEVE FROM DELTA VIOLENCE

REF: 2003 LAGOS 2193

Classified By: R. HINSON-JONES FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The New Year has so far offered Nigeria's
Delta region little reprieve from the violence that marked

2003. Recent incidents reflect heightened tensions in the
Warri area, and ethnic clashes remain a constant possibility.
While it was hoped that attempts at dialogue between the
warring groups would sow seeds of promise, the Ijaws and the
Itsekiris are each becoming factionalized internally and
leaders are finding it difficult to reign in the disaffected.
The Urhobo may also become more violent. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) On January 8, a group of Itsekiri attacked boats
carrying Ijaw traveling to a local market. Newspapers
reported 18 deaths, and private security consultants in the
Warri area told us it was likely that at least 10 Ijaw were
killed. As usual, details remain largely uncorroborated, as
reports from the area are sketchy, contradictory, and prone
to exaggeration. For example, an Itsekiri activist group
issued a press release soon after the incident describing a
nearly reverse-image of what now appears to be the truth; the
group claimed that Ijaw militants in speed boats attacked and
killed 18 Itsekiri returning home from a celebration. All
other sources indicate an Itsekiri militant youth group named
the Gallant Boys killed Ijaw villagers. The Gallant Boys,
ostensibly operating independently, had not been known for
violent attacks prior to this incident. Ijaw leaders have
appealed for calm and claim they will refrain from a
retaliatory attack, unless further provoked. In a separate
incident, Ijaw activists held a press conference on January
13 stating that a group of Itsekiri attacked an Ijaw boat and
kidnapped an Ijaw traditional chief.


3. (U) Over the weekend of January 17, ethnic Itsekiri from
the village of Obonti reportedly clashed with ethnic Urhobo
from the neighboring village of Ugbokurusu located outside
Sapele. No deaths have been reported. The two communities
have been fighting since 1999 over a nearby oil well. In
2001 the Urhobo attacked Obonti, so this recent attack by the
Itsekiri may have been in retaliation. An Itsekiri youth
leader disappointed with the violence told us he believes
that the dispute had already been settled, and questioned
whether Itsekiri elders failed in not resolving the issue
through dialogue earlier. The youth reported that leaders
have condemned the attack and called for calm, highlighting
the Itsekiri's gratefulness to the Urhobo who help shelter
thousands of displaced Itsekiris around Sapele.


4. (C) Dennis Amachree, security manager for Halliburton,
reported that tension has increased, with a risk that further
clashes between these groups could spread along the main
highway between Warri and Benin City. Thousands of Itsekiri
displaced by violence from their villages in the riverine
area of the Delta have been living for the past year in and
around Sapele, which is largely an Urhobo community. This
situation differs from that of the past several months in
that an outbreak of violence in Sapele, a modestly developed
town connected to the outside world by roads, power and
telecommunications, could spread far more quickly than
clashes occurring in villages isolated deep in the swamps.


5. (U) On January 15, soldiers assigned to Joint Task Force
Operation Restore Hope reportedly engaged militant Ijaw youth
in a gun battle while conducting a "cordon and search"
operation in the village of Bomadi. One of the tasks of
security forces in the Delta is to disarm the warring ethnic
factions, which the Task Force tries to do by means of
occasional village-level sweeps and house-to-house searches.
Newspaper accounts quoted Bomadi residents as saying 10
militants were killed during the January 15 incident, while a
military spokesman was quoted as saying one militant and one
soldier were killed.


6. (SBU) COMMENT: These latest incidents may indicate a new
boldness on the part of the Itsekiri, who told Mission staff
several months ago that they were growing increasingly
resentful of being displaced from their homes and would
return to what they consider their traditional lands by
whatever means necessary (reftel). The Gallant Boys may be
driving this new wave of violence; if so, it may signify the
emergence of greater factionalization amongst the Itsekiri.
Should the Itsekiri around Sapele clash more frequently with
their neighbors, we are likely to see more militancy among
the Urhobo, who, of the three ethnic groups vying for power
and representation in the Delta, have thus far been the least
involved in violence. END COMMENT.
HINSON-JONES