09.2006 - Source: Freedom House

Niger Delta: Clashes between Ijaws and Itsekiris claimed hundreds of lives ("Freedom in the World 2006") [ID 18269]

"Militants loyal to Niger Delta ethnic militia leader Moujahid Dokubo-Asari claim to be fighting for political autonomy and a bigger slice of oil revenues for the Ijaw ethnic group, the largest in the Delta region. Clashes between the Ijaws and their rivals, the Itsekiris, have claimed hundreds of lives in the Delta. Threats by Dokubo-Asari's group to kill foreign oil workers in 2004 sent oil prices soaring. That same year, Dokubo-Asari agreed to disarm in exchange for cash and amnesty. The militants briefly took over a few oil facilities after Dokubo-Asari was arrested in 2005."

Document(s): Open document

26.01.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Niger Delta: at least 5 people killed in a fresh outbreak of fighting between rival ethnic militias, the Itsekiri and Ijaw, near the town of Warri ("At least five killed in fresh Itsekiri, Ijaw clashes") [#18967],  [ID 15000]

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Sporadic alliance between Ijaws and Urhobo against the Itsekiri ("Country Report - October 2003") [#17332],  [ID 15001]

"6.85 After the Ijaws joined forces with the Urhobo against the Itsekiri during March and April, the death toll topped 100, more villages were set alight and thousands more people were forced to abandon their homes."

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Fighting between Ijaws and Itsekiris ("Country Report - October 2003") [#17332],  [ID 15002]

"6.78 Fighting between Ijaws and Itsekiris in March 2003 left at least 100 people dead and forced oil companies operating in the swamps of the Niger Delta to shut down facilities that produce 40 percent of Nigeria's oil exports.

6.79 At the heart of the violence are claims and counter-claims to the ownership of oil-rich land in a region whose inhabitants are still mostly poor. Ijaws accuse Obasanjo's government of favouring the Itsekiris, giving them the best of government patronage and most of the few amenities given to the impoverished region. The individuals and communities who control the land mop up the many benefits that can be extracted from the oil companies whose wells have been drilled there.

6.80 These include rent and compensation payments, access to jobs, a quota of which are reserved for local people and the provision of social amenities such as clean drinking water, schools and health centres. Such benefits in an environment of widespread poverty and mass unemployment is considered well worth fighting over."

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Ijaw clashes against Urhobos and Itsekiris early 2003 ("Country Report - October 2003") [#17332],  [ID 15003]

"Throughout early 2003 there were clashes between Ijaws, Urhobos and Itsekiris in Warri area. The dispute was ostensibly over electoral boundaries, and hence political representation in the region, after the forthcoming elections. But underlying this is the issue of access the region's oil wealth. The army and Nigerian naval force have been deployed to the area, but have been accused of being heavy handed in their approach to this conflict. This violence has also resulted in oil production being disrupted, as oil companies have suspended production and evacuated their staff from the areas where clashes have occurred."

Document(s): Open document

21.08.2003 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Niger Delta: Rival Ijaw and Itsekiri militias have agreed to end fighting ("Delta militants agree to end fighting, says governor") [#15345],  [ID 15004]

""Rival ethnic militias have agreed to end fighting after days of bloody clashes in Nigeria's southern oil city of Warri in which dozens of people died, the local Delta State governor said on Thursday.

Governor James Ibori, who cut short his annual vacation abroad to deal with the crisis, said he called a meeting of leaders of the rival Ijaw and Itsekiri ethnic groups and impressed on them the need to put an immediate stop to the fighting.

"What I have done is to appeal to their conscience that we're all going to be losers in this game if Warri is destroyed," he told reporters.

Fighting broke out in the city which is a major centre for oil transnationals operating in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta on Friday and continued for the next four days despite a night curfew imposed by the authorities.""

Document(s): Open document

18.08.2003 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Niger Delta: At least 20 people killed in renewed ethnic clashes in the city of Warri ("Renewed ethnic clashes kill 20 in southern oil town") [#15176],  [ID 15005]

""A new outbreak of ethnic fighting has left at least 20 people dead in Nigeria's southern oil city of Warri, residents and
police said on Sunday.

Warri, a sprawling city of one million people set amid the swamps of the Niger delta, is a major base for the oil companies that pump the crude oil that is the lifeline of the Nigerian economy from nearby oil platforms."

The violence broke out on Friday night in the MaCiver area of the city and continued overnight as ethnic Ijaw and Itsekiri militias armed with automatic weapons exchanged fire on the streets.""

Document(s): Open document

18.08.2003 - Source: BBC News

Warri: More than 30 people killed since the fighting between Ijaw and Itsekiri communities began ("Battle rages in Nigeria's Delta") [#15255],  [ID 15006]

"The Ijaw and Itsekiri communities have long held grievances over access to political and economic power in the region, and in particular it is the Ijaw who perceive the Itsekiri to have been favoured by both the government and multi-national oil companies operating in the area."

Document(s): Open document

19.03.2003 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

15 deaths in a week of ethnic clashes between Ijaw and Itsekiri groups ("Death toll mounts as violence escalates in Niger Delta") [#11534],  [ID 15007]

Document(s): Open document