NO NEW REPORTS OF SECTARIAN VIOLENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 000298 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W STATE FOR INR/AA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV NI SUBJECT: NO NEW REPORTS OF SECTARIAN VIOLENCE REF: LAGOS 291 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Classified by Acting Pol/Econ Chief Shannon Ross for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Violence in Onitsha, Nwei and other cities in Anambra has subsided. However, police in Anambra remain on high alert and a curfew remains in place. The Nigerian Red Cross reported 8,600 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) remain in an army barracks in Onitsha, the most populous city in Anambra State, with approximately two million inhabitants. ¶2. (C) Red Cross Disaster Management Officer Adeyemo Andronicus told us that some IDPs in Onitsha have returned to their homes, but most remain under military or police protection. His volunteers reported 3,150 IDPs in two separate army barracks in Enugu, the capital of Enugu State, and 77 IDPs in Asaba, Delta State. According to Andronicus, the majority of IDPs in the southeastern states are Muslim. ¶3. (C) Proctor and Gamble (P and G) Nigeria reported one of their Hausa truck drivers was attacked and severely injured in Onitsha last week. P and G has issued an internal company warning prohibiting expatriate travel to southeastern Nigeria, and their local sales managers are remaining at home as well. ¶4. (C) Anambra State Governor Ngige's Special Media Assistant Fred Chukwuemobe said the Federal Government and state governments have agreed to prohibit the return of bodies of those killed in sectarian violence in the southeast to the north of the country. Chukwuemobe said Anambra State government agreed on February 25 to prohibit the return of bodies to their home cities. (Note: The arrival of the bodies of Igbo traders killed in violence in the north was the initial spark for the Onitsha unrest. End note.) HOWE