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[size=13pt]How Over 54,000 Unlawful Deaths Were Recorded Since 1999:[/size]

According to recognized war dictionaries, war is simply an inter-state or intra-state violent conflict that claims over 999 lives. With the foregoing definition, Nigeria is truly in a state of war against herself and her over 150 million population (intra-state war) with over 54,000 citizens killed since 1999 outside the law. This type of war clearly goes beyond norms guiding wars, contained in the international laws of war or the Geneva Conventions. These shilling killings can best be described as ¡§genocide¡¨ and ¡§crimes against humanity¡¨. On 8th April 2003, the leadership under this writer in then Anambra State CLO estimated that over 18,000 Nigerians died outside the law since 1999. On 5th August 2009, we in the Intersociety estimated that over 30,000 unlawful deaths took place in Nigeria since 1999, a period of ten years, and on 17th March 2010, we reviewed it and concluded that the number might have increased to 34,000 as a result of the further rise in the killings. Our latest findings, however, indicate that these figures may have been under-calculated, hence the latest figure in the neighborhood of 54,000 illegal deaths.

Unconstitutionality Of The Killings:

The over 54,000 unlawful deaths in Nigeria since 1999 had arisen from ethno-religious and inter-communal/intra-communal conflicts, vigilante killings, politically and other socially motivated assassinations, abduction-for-death killings, election-related killings, extra-judicial killings (those killed outside the law by security forces), and involuntary disappearances (those abducted and presumed killed usually by State and non-State actors). These killings are unknown to Section 33 of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and other sub-regional, regional and international rights instruments recognized by the Federal Republic of Nigeria such as the African Charter on Human & Peoples¡¦ Rights of 1981. The illegal deaths are also a clear sign of failure of the State to ensure the security and welfare of the citizens of Nigeria in accordance with Section 14(2) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and an inglorious attempt by the State to invoke as a policy the ¡§Malthusian theory of population control¡¨, which chooses mass-death as a form of population control.

. . . . .

http://nigeriamasterweb.com/blog/index.php/2011/12/11/nigeria-in-state-of-war

General Data:

[size=13pt]Vigilante Killings:[/size]

In the vigilante killings, the periods of 1998 and 2002 were the bloodiest era for the Nigerian States of Anambra and Abia, followed by Lagos, Imo, Ebonyi and Enugu. Apart from mass-murder openly recorded in those States, their Houses of Assembly, particularly those of the five Eastern States passed legislations, indirectly sanctioning summary executions, abductions, false imprisonment, rape, torture, forceful possession of properties, etc through ¡§trial by ordeal¡¨, which is considered repugnant to Nigeria¡¦s written criminal laws, equity and good conscience, all in the name of ¡§fighting crime¡¨.

Within this period, married women were forcefully taken away from their husbands, abducted, raped and murdered; under-age female students abducted, held illegally and raped for days (at the Bakassi White House in Onitsha Main Market); 32 innocent traders abducted, locked up in a small illegal cell and allowed to suffocate to death (i.e. the ¡§Orie Ohabiam 32¡¨ of August 2005 in Abia State) to mention but a few.

Over 5,000 summary executions or killings were recorded in Anambra State (1998 - 2002) in the hands of Onitsha Traders Vigilante Group (OTA) (1998 - 2000) and those of Anambra State Vigilante Services a.k.a Bakassi Boys (2000 - 2002). In Abia State, 3,500 - 4,000 killings were believed to have taken place (1998 - 2002) in the hands of the Abia State Vigilante Service (also called Bakassi). In Lagos State, the O¡¦odua People Congress Vigilante Group (OPC), backed by then Government of Lagos State is believed to have carried out over 1,500 criminal executions. Imo State is believed to have recorded over 1,500 unlawful killings courtesy of the State Vigilante Service between 2001 and 2002.

In Ebonyi and Enugu States, which embraced the monstrous vigilante security methods in 2001, dozens of unlawful executions were recorded before the Federal Government dislodged them in the Southeast in September 2002.

However, they re-grouped later with a slight pattern change as seen today. In all, over 11,500 criminal executions or killings appeared to have taken place as a result of vigilante killings in the States mentioned between 1998 and 2002. Though the vigilante killings, particularly in Anambra and Abia States have continued since 2002, but the rate and pattern with which they kill have reduced.

Presently, there are more than 1.000 armed vigilante groups operating in Anambra and Abia States respectively that is to say that over 2,000 armed vigilante groups may exist in the two States. Even though they are code-named ¡§community-based vigilante groups¡¨, yet, they are still controlled by various States¡¦ government, which sometimes use them for political purpose. As it is now, secret killings have replaced open killings and body dismemberment methods hitherto applied by the murderous outfits. Today, Abia State appears to record the highest number of unlawful deaths arising from vigilante killings since 2002, which is in the neighborhood of 2,000 including the ¡§Orie-Ohabiam 32¡¨ of August 2005, followed by Anambra with over 1,000 and Imo with about 500.

[size=13pt]Victims Of Vigilante Killings:[/size]

Some of those killed or tortured by the Anambra State and the Abia State Bakassi Boys as well as the Onitsha Traders¡¦ Vigilante Group (OTA) during the periods under review include: Citizens Chukwudozie Nwachukwu (29) and Okechukwu Maduekwe (27) (killed on 10th January 2000 by Abia Bakassi Boys), Chuma Onwuazo and Bonaventure Egbuawa (murdered in April and July 2000 by OTA Vigilante Group backed by then Government of Anambra State), Hon. Ifeanyi Ibegbu (then member of the Anambra State House of Assembly (abducted and tortured by Bakassi Boys on 21st August 2000), Edward Okeke (murdered in Anambra State on 9th November 2000 by AVS or Bakassi Boys), Ezeodimegwu Okonkwo (murdered in Anambra State by AVS on 18th February 2001), Ikechukwu Nwagboo (murdered in Anambra State by AVS in February 2001), Rockfeller Okeke (murdered in Anambra State by AVS in his residence on 23rd April 2001), Felix Ikebude (murdered in Anambra State by AVS in December 2001), Sunday Uzokwe (murdered in Anambra State by AVS on 30th January 2002), Mrs. Ngozi Oranu (raped and murdered in Anambra State by AVS at the Bakassi White House, Onitsha Main Market in November 2001), Barnabas Igwe (then Onitsha Bar Association Chairman murdered in Anambra State by AVS in the evening of 1st September 2002), and Barr (Mrs.) Amaka Blessing Igwe ¡§A. B. Girl¡¨ (wife of Barrister Barnabas Igwe murdered by AVS alongside her husband on 1st September 2002).

There were also cases of thousands of torture and rape involving the murderous groups mentioned. For instance, in 2002, 17-year-old Miss Chinenye Okoye, who was an SS2 Student of the Mathamavis Secondary School, Umuoji, Anambra State was abducted by Bakassi Boys, taken to the Bakassi White House in Onitsha Main Market and raped for 60 days (Source: The News Magazine, 21st October 2002, page 21).

In August 2005, Citizens Uchenna Elewa (23), Jonathan Ukaegbu (39), Onyebuchi Nwamuo (22), Uzoma Njoku Nwangwa (41), Onyema Ibeneme( 27), Goodluck Sunday (26), Uzoma Onyebuenyi (40) and 25 others were forced to suffocate to death by the Abia Bakassi Boys in Orie-Ohabiam near Aba in Abia State (Source: Human Rights & Justice Foundation, Aba, Abia State).

In all, it may be correct to say that vigilante killings in Nigeria since 1999 accounted for over 15,000 unlawful deaths. Those tortured and extorted within the periods are also in tens of thousands. It should be noted that many States and communities have also formed armed vigilante outfits, which sometimes engage in torture and summary executions expressly through ¡§trial by ordeal¡¨ crime methods, and in all these, most, if not all those responsible for the illegal killings, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments are neither investigated nor prosecuted, making them to be on the prowl ad infinitum thereby encouraging culture of impunity.

[size=13pt]Deaths Arising From Inter-Communal & Intra-Communal Conflicts:[/size]

In the Ezza-Ezillo inter-communal conflicts of 2008 and 2010, over 300 unlawful deaths were recorded owing to the failure of the State to effectively manage the conflict. Other inter-communal and intra-communal conflicts in Nigeria since 1999 such as Ife - Modakeke inter-communal conflict in 1999/2001, Hausa/Yoruba Shagamu and Igbo/Yoruba (Alaba Market & Lagos Wharf) clashes in 2001, Umuleri - Aguleri inter-communal conflict in 1999/2000, Owerre - Ezukala/Ogboji inter-communal conflict in 2011, Umunya intra-communal conflict, Akpu - Ajali inter-communal conflict, Fulani - host farmers¡¦ clashes in Nasarrawa LGA, Nasarrawa State, which killed at least 50 people, etc have resulted in over 1,000 unlawful deaths or summary executions since 1999.
[size=13pt]
Deaths Arising From Military Invasion Of The Nigerian Hostile Communities:[/size]

It is estimated that over 4,000 civilians were killed outside the law by the Nigerian security forces led by the Nigerian Army during the military invasion of the Odi community in Bayelsa State in 1999, Zaki-Biam community in Benue State in October 2001 (over the abduction and killing of 19 soldiers), Gbaramatu community in Delta State in May 2009 and other troubled areas in the South-south or Niger Delta region between 1999 and 2009. In the Odi massacre, for instance, over 2,000 innocent citizens were massacred. The leadership of the Environmental Rights Action (ERA) believes that over 2,500 civilians were massacred; while in the Zaki-Biam community¡¦s military invasion, the Human Rights Watch stated that about 200 civilians were killed by the Nigerian Army in revenge for the abduction and killing of 19 soldiers.

[size=13pt]Ethno-Religious/Sectarian Killings:[/size]

Judging from several media and rights groups¡¦ reports, over 16,000 Nigerian civilians might have been killed in ethno-religious/sectarian violence in Nigeria since 1999. As of March 2010, it may be correct to say that over 13,500 civilians particularly women, children and the elderly were killed. Over 5,000 civilians may have died in Jos crises since 2001. In the 2000, 2001 and 2002 Kano and Kaduna ethno-religious violence alone, over 3,000 deaths were reportedly recorded. In the ethno-religious violence that hit Jos in September 2001, at least, 1,000 people lost their lives (Human Rights Watch). In May 2004, over 700 lives were lost in Yelwa, Plateau State. In November 2008, over 700 people were killed in Jos. The Human Rights Watch recorded about 133 extra-judicial executions carried out by the Police-led Nigerian security forces. Other media reports showed that on 17th January 2010, over 150 people were killed in Kuru Karama near Jos in Plateau State. On 7th March 2010, over 400 people died in the villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Rassat in Jos South LGA of Plateau State as a result of early morning bloody attacks launched by armed suspected Muslim fanatics. Most of those killed were women and children. Over 120 people were killed in main and reprisal attacks in Jos prior to the Christmas Eve bloody bombings in the troubled capital city, which also killed at least 80 people. On 7th January 2011, 8 Muslim youths were killed in Jos and on 8th January 2011, 48 Igbo traders were ambushed and killed in Dilimi and Bauchi Road Markets in Jos. In the evening of same day, 14 Muslims were killed in several communities near Jos. On 10th January 2011, 11 Christians in the village of Wareng in Southern Jos were killed. Between 28th and 30th January 2011, 15 people including Police Corporal Jacob Mada were killed in Jos. In January 2011 alone, at least 42 Muslim commercial motorcycle operators and 51 Christians were declared ¡§disappeared¡¨ by their relatives. The Jos killings continued into August 2011 and even beyond it. On 9th August 2011, at least 23 people were killed. In August 2011 alone, at least, 50 people were killed. Therefore, it may be correct to say that up to 1,000 unlawful deaths have been recorded in Jos in 2011 alone.

nigeria is a country killing her own citizens, using assassins like Alj_harem.
one of these days, a full blown civil war will erupt there because we have a peace of the graveyard.
imagine 54,000 dead, yet we say we are not in a civil war. abeg make the war dey open make everybodi buy gun for self defence. this "peace" is killing people! notice how nigerians are absent on this thread! nonsense people.

So sad.

realchange:

nigeria is a country killing her own citizens, using assassins like Alj_harem.
one of these days, a full blown civil war will erupt there because we have a peace of the graveyard.
imagine 54,000 dead, yet we say we are not in a civil war. abeg make the war dey open make everybodi buy gun for self defence. this "peace" is killing people! notice how nigerians are absent on this thread! nonsense people.

^^^Oh, they're not absent trust me. They've just got their heads lodged in the sand.

[size=13pt]Other Sectarian Killings (i.e. Boko-Haram):[/size]

According to media reports monitored by the Intersociety, following the Yelwa sectarian violence of 2004 that led to the death of over 700 people, some of them Muslims, the reprisal killings that took place in Kano in 2005 resulted in the death of over 200 Christians, who were mostly Igbo traders and in the reprisal killings that took place in early 2006 in Anambra State, over 80 people, many of them Muslims were killed. The Boko-Haram violence in Nigeria, which started in 2002 in Borno State, may have killed over 3,000 innocent citizens. The Islamic Sect abhors ¡§western education¡¨ and opts for the strict application of the Sharia Criminal Law as a State law governing Nigeria. The late Ustaz Yusuf Mohammed and Alhaji Fuju Foi, a former Commissioner for Religious Affairs in the Government of Borno State, who reportedly resigned in 2008, led it. Both of them are university graduates.

While the Niger Delta militants adopted bombing of oil installations and other strategic government facilities and abduction-for-ransom as its ¡§war methods¡¨, the Boko-Haram uses bombing of government facilities and mass-murder as its ¡§war tactics¡¨. Unlike the Niger Delta militants that are traceable, the members of the Boko-Haram sect are highly elusive and very scientific. The Sect has killed notable religious or Christian denominational leaders; and destroyed a number of Churches, beer parlours, hotels and restaurants in the Northern part of Nigeria.

Key government facilities including the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Military Barracks and the UN Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria have also been bombed with the Sect claiming responsibilities for such attacks. In July 2009, for instance, the Boko-Haram inspired violence broke out in the Northern States of Bauchi, Borno, Yobe and Kano, resulting in the death of between 800 and 1,000 people. The ¡¥This Day Newspaper¡¦ of 2nd August 2009 reported ¡§about 700 dead bodies were recovered and buried in Borno State alone¡¨. One Colonel Ben Ahanotu, an official of the Nigerian Army in the area, according to the newspaper, confirmed the causality figures to the Associated Press. The violence sparked off by an attack at a Police Station in Bauchi State lasted for six days (26th July - 2nd August 2009). On 29th January 2011, at least 25 people were killed in Bauchi State and 4 people in Borno State, bringing the total to, at least, 29. The violence started in Belewa LGA in Bauchi State. In the 2010 Boko-Haram inspired bombings that hit the Nigeria¡¦s Golden Jubilee anniversary and the ¡§Mogadishu¡¨ Barracks, over 50 people were killed. At least, 30 people died on the 1st October 2010 attack. On 16th June 2011, at least 5 people were killed when a car bomb went off at the Force Headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja. On 26th August 2011, according to independent sources, as many as 80 people were killed when bombs went off at the Nigeria¡¦s UN Building in Abuja. The Government of Nigeria and her security forces put the official figure at 24. On 4th November 2011, between 100 and 150 people including 11 security personnel were killed in Yobe and Borno States during bomb attacks suspected to have been launched by the Boko-Haram Sect, which hit five Churches, liquor joints and strategic security formations in Yobe State, where most of the casualties were recorded. The Nigeria Police Force puts the official figure at 65. On 26th November 2011, at least four Police personnel and an undisclosed number of civilians were killed in Geidam, Geidam LGA of Yobe State when bombs hit eight Churches and a Police Divisional Command.

The Boko-Haram Sect claimed responsibility for the attack. In all, over 3,000 people might have been killed since the Boko-Haram violence started in 2002 at the Nigerian - Nigerien border, which is close to Borno State, North-east Nigeria.

[size=13pt]Deaths Arising From Military Invasion Of The Nigerian Hostile Communities:[/size]

It is estimated that over 4,000 civilians were killed outside the law by the Nigerian security forces led by the Nigerian Army during the military invasion of the Odi community i[/b]n Bayelsa State in 1999,[b] Zaki-Biam community in Benue State in October 2001 (over the abduction and killing of 19 soldiers), Gbaramatu community in Delta State in May 2009 and other troubled areas in the South-south or Niger Delta region between 1999 and 2009. In the Odi massacre, for instance, over 2,000 innocent citizens were massacred. The leadership of the Environmental Rights Action (ERA) believes that over 2,500 civilians were massacred; while in the Zaki-Biam community¡¦s military invasion, the Human Rights Watch stated that about 200 civilians were killed by the Nigerian Army in revenge for the abduction and killing of 19 soldiers.

[size=20pt]What about the unarmed MASSOB members who are slaughtered by the Nigeria's armed forces?

Should we exclude them?[/size]

Well, you have access to the link? I would suggest you read it for yourself. It is a good read.

realchange

notice how nigerians are absent on this thread! nonsense people.

@^^ Nigerians are inherently cruel and spiteful of each other. We are inured to pain and general wickedness around us. I've said it many times on NL that we are actually at WAR(low intensity conflict). In which war do you loose such significant number of citizens without internal outrage other than in Africa(NIGERIA). We do not really care about such matters because perhaps we are not touched/affected directly hence our indifference to massacres and genocide in our backyard(Naija). Most Nigerians especially southern Nigerians are concerned or conscious or Boko Haram yet we are not conscious enough of the past and ever present violence everywhere in Nigeria(from the contemptuous/abusive armed policemen on our high roads to so called Area boys and vigilantes. It is the unfinished business that we should be addressing as a people besides other mundane issues.

Nigeria is a nation of eternal optimists, whose abiding philosophy is that bad things never happen to those who pray fervently enough to any of the numerous patron gods enlisted for "spiritual" protection.

A fascinating behavioral trait worthy of mention is the typical response of the average Nigerian to ANY suggestion of danger or possible misfortune. On being informed about possible perils that may be encountered as a consequence of reckless conduct, the always devout Nigerian optimist will wave an arm over their head in a hair-brushing motion, snapping their fingers, as though to notify God that a special request is being voiced, while intoning the timeless phrase " God forbid bad ting".

With the aforementioned ritual enacted, the Nigerian optimist is then ready to confidently drive a rickety vehicle with bald tires, poor brakes and one headlight along a dark, pot-hole riddled highway at suicidal speed, with the calm assurance that God's protection from blatant idiocy has been requested and automatically granted. The same serenity, grounded in the blissful presumption that God's dutiful protection can be demanded on cue by any ardent believer, explains why folks in Nigeria rarely take pre-emptive measures for self-preservation, when civil order breaks down close by and within earshot.

Machinegun fire in the distance ? No problemo. God has been ordered to protect me, so all is well. Praise the Lord !

Too bad

Jakumo

Nigeria is a nation of eternal optimists, whose abiding philosophy is that bad things never happen to those who pray fervently enough to any of the numerous patron gods enlisted for "spiritual" protection.

A fascinating behavioral trait worthy of mention is the typical response of the average Nigerian to ANY suggestion of danger or possible misfortune. On being informed about possible perils that may be encountered as a consequence of reckless conduct, the always devout Nigerian optimist will wave an arm over their head in a hair-brushing motion, snapping their fingers, as though to notify God that a special request is being voiced, while intoning the timeless phrase " God forbid bad ting".

With the aforementioned ritual enacted, the Nigerian optimist is then ready to confidently drive a rickety vehicle with bald tires, poor brakes and one headlight along a dark, pot-hole riddled highway at suicidal speed, with the calm assurance that God's protection from blatant idiocy has been requested and automatically granted. The same serenity, grounded in the blissful presumption that God's dutiful protection can be demanded on cue by any ardent believer, explains why folks in Nigeria rarely take pre-emptive measures for self-preservation, when civil order breaks down close by and within earshot.

Machinegun fire in the distance ? No problemo. God has been ordered to protect me, so all is well. Praise the Lord !

@^^^ . Fantastic observation and write up

Yeske!:

Too bad

Really? This is a massacre of lives going on right under our noses, and all you have to say is "Too bad"? I expected a different reaction but . . . hey!

Kobojunkie:

Really? This is a massacre of lives going on right under our noses, and all you have to say is "Too bad"? I expected a different reaction but . . . hey!

I feel as passionately as you do on this issue. So, in your opinion, what do you think is the solution?

You are really asking me for a solution in this? Really?

Kobojunkie:

You are really asking me for a solution in this? Really?

Maybe I expected you to follow my method: identify a problem, propose a solution, then the debate starts.

Well, here is where I believe we can start. We can start by carefully documenting extra-judicial killings in Nigeria, and taking the case to the ICC. The Nigerian judicial system spares too many mass murderers and extra-judicial killers.

Now, what are your own proposals?

So in your assessment, the problem is that the deaths are not reported to the ICC?

I hate to disappoint you but I don't see any debate in this. The vast majority of the numbers reported are of murders committed by Nigerians against their fellow Nigerians -- mostly hate crimes committed against in the name of religion, ethnicity or sex. Many of these murders walk free, waiting for the next opportunity to kill out of hate. If you ask me, those who spread the hate are themselves guilty as those who go out to kill for them.

Now, I would suggest that those who spread hate, even those on Nairaland who are guilty of spreading hate against people of other tribes should be gathered and shot in the head but I know that is not sensible. So, all I can do is hope that stories like this helps educate people like you of the consequences of your actions, even that which you spew here on Nairaland.

Kobojunkie:

So in your assessment, the problem is that the deaths are not reported to the ICC?

I hate to disappoint you but I don't see any debate in this. The vast majority of the numbers reported are of murders committed by Nigerians against their fellow Nigerians -- mostly hate crimes committed against in the name of religion, ethnicity or sex. Many of these murders walk free, waiting for the next opportunity to kill out of hate. If you ask me, those who spread the hate are themselves guilty as those who go out to kill for them.

Now, [b]I would suggest that those who spread hate, even those on Nairaland who are guilty of spreading hate against people of other tribes should be gathered and shot in the head [/b]but I know that is not sensible. So, all I can do is hope that stories like this helps educate people like you of the consequences of your actions, even that which you spew here on Nairaland.

I can now see why this thread is not getting any attention.
Can you ever make sense for once?
Well, good luck with your madness.
Steppin' over.

Oh!!! You mean my solution frightens you? I mean you are the one who suggested I join you in the vain exercise of proposing solutions --- I bet you expected no one would go as far as pointing out that people who spread hate like you do are part of the reason why 54,000 lives have been lost since 1999, huh?