US embassy cable - 03LAGOS2535

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 002535 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE, BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
DRL/PHD FOR SONDRA GOVATSKI AND PATRICK HARVEY 
PASS GURNEY, LONDON AND NEARY, PARIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINS, EPET, PINR, MCAP, SOCI, NI 
SUBJECT: A PEACE FORUM FOR WARRING PEOPLE OF WARRI 
 
REF: ABUJA 2085 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: ConGen Lagos officers observed the initial 
meeting of the Warri Forum on Peace, Security, and Human 
Rights organized by USG grantee Academic Associates 
PeaceWorks (AAPW) November 18-20 in the Delta State capital 
of Asaba (reftel).  Partially funded through USAID and DRL, 
the meeting centered on security and use of conflict 
management tools.  Senior representatives of the Nigerian 
Army, Navy, State Security Service (SSS), Police Force (NPF), 
and Delta State Government participated alongside Ijaw, 
Itsekiri, and Urhobo elders and youths.  The atmosphere was 
cordial and discussions were productive, drawing out candid 
comments from senior GON officials about their operational 
capabilities and personal feelings.  All participants 
identified weaknesses within themselves and other parties, 
including shortcomings of the GON, criminal activities of 
ethnic youths, and the squalid social conditions that fuel 
violence.  Fortunately, all parties brushed aside the locally 
rooted issues of the ethnic conflict to facilitate discussion 
and focus on the Forum's main themes. END SUMMARY. 
 
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CLOSED LIPPED MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT? 
------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) The Nigerian Army was well represented. 
Brigadier-General (BG) Elias Zamani, Commanding Officer (CO) 
of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Restore Hope, 
attended all sessions of the Forum.  He was accompanied by 
Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Goro Dogo, CO of the 7th Army 
Battalion in Warri; LTC Adamu Lanre, JTF Chief of Operations; 
and Captain (CPT) O.B. Ogunjimi, CO of the Delta Naval 
Station in Warri.  In response to ECONOFF's remarks about 
relaxing the curfew in Warri town and its appearance of being 
under control, BG Zamani pointedly quipped, "No, let's not 
exaggerate.  I have no control.  I have the situation 
contained right now.  Containment is all I can hope for until 
we can pull out.  I'll never have control." 
 
3.  (SBU) Supporting BG Zamani's statement, LTC Dogo 
portrayed GON efforts as those of a "fire-brigade," a 
characterization often repeated during the sessions by 
security men and Delta residents alike.  "We need to go," he 
said, "beyond control of crises to resolution.  Suppression 
by security forces is not enough and is not long term."  Dogo 
admitted that soldiers and police in the Delta have little 
outside support and when threatened by militant youths, "my 
soldiers have the right to flee and protect their lives." 
Several participants, including other military and GON 
officials, shared Dogo's concerns, for they openly admitted 
that the militant youths are better armed and equipped than 
the JTF, which has little or no capability to project power 
despite the GON's recent acquisition of former U.S. Coast 
Guard buoy tenders.  In contrast, BG Zamani expressed concern 
about the international human rights community and its 
potential criticism of military actions against youths 
despite the youths having the upper hand.  NPF and SSS 
officials echoed this concern. 
 
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THE LONE DEFENDER 
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4.  (SBU) A. Amoo, SSS Director for Delta State, represented 
the agency at the Forum.  Amoo was the only GON official who 
vigorously tried to defend the GON and its policies.  Despite 
voicing support, Amoo identified unemployment, the 
mishandling of Delta State elections, federal supremacy, oil 
company failings, and communities claiming land based on 
family ties as the causes of the Warri conflict.  Amoo blamed 
the communities for "disserving themselves" and called on 
them to differentiate between problems that can be handled by 
the communities and those that should reach the federal 
level. Amoo railed against the media's use of "yellow 
journalism," exaggerated and inaccurate reports, and accused 
the media of unprofessional and unethical practices that 
incite violence and enflame tensions. 
 
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KEYSTONE COPS? 
-------------- 
 
5.  (SBU) Charles Akaya, Commissioner of Police for Delta 
State, and his Assistant Commissioner, J.O. Abiona, also 
attended the Forum. Akaya called for community policing and 
requested information on criminals and criminal activity, 
saying that the police cannot act if they do not know what to 
act upon.  When Abiona asked the warring communities to share 
information if they want to "stop the nonsense,"  groans and 
murmurings of disagreement followed his remarks.  Akaya 
recommended creating a state police force, which might 
forever change the make-up of the centralized national 
police, believing this move necessary to "secure the 
communities."  The Delta State Attorney General echoed 
Akaya's calls for a state police force.  (COMMENT: Putting 
the police under the jurisdiction of the states is anathema 
to the Federal Government.  END COMMENT.) 
 
6.  (SBU) Akaya also stated that piracy, hostage taking, and 
bunkering should be checked through community policing as 
well and stated that such policing should be legalized. 
(COMMENT: It is unclear whether he advocated vigilantism, as 
exhibited by the acts of groups like the O'odua People's 
Congress and the Bakassi Boys who often commit human rights 
abuses, or a more traditional method of control through a 
local chief or oga (boss man).  At one point Akaya suggested 
that the problem with the vigilante Bakassi Boys was not that 
they exist as a sort of militia, but rather that they have 
been allowed to get out of hand.  END COMMENT.) 
 
7.  (SBU) Many other participants echoed the call for better 
law enforcement and prevention, including prosecution of 
known criminals and illegal bunkerers.  "We know who the 
bunkerers are," cried an Ijaw youth, alluding to unnamed 
wealthy and influential individuals in Abuja, as well as 
unidentified international actors.  An Itsekiri youth added 
that crude stolen by youths is resold at substantially higher 
prices on the international market by these unnamed persons. 
 
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WARRING WARRI WARRIORS 
---------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU) Participants of the three ethnic groups -- the 
Ijaw, Itsekiri, and Urhobo -- criticized the GON, the Delta 
State Government, and the oil companies for their plight. 
Participants claimed that there had been no economic 
development of any of the riverine areas of the Delta, 
whether by the Federal and State Governments or the oil 
companies before the first crisis erupted in 1997. An Ijaw 
remarked: "The Federal Government doesn't treat Deltans as 
Nigerians, but as Ijaws, Itsekiris, and Urhobos," and drew a 
parallel to Rwanda pointing out that not until the crisis was 
out of control did anyone respond.  "The U.N. would do a 
better job than the Federal Government in the Delta." 
"People want a sense of belonging, a sense of being a part of 
a greater community," explained an Ijaw youth. 
 
9.  (SBU) An Itsekiri youth echoed that the communities' 
biggest issues are underdevelopment and poverty. Decrying 
recourse to the "fire brigade approach to conflict 
management," an Itsekiri elder criticized the GON's 
collection and distribution of oil revenues and stated that 
as long as the GON receives oil revenues, it will not deal 
with crises in the Delta.  If the GON received its funding 
through taxes, she said, the GON would address the crisis 
because it could not neglect the issues of the taxpayers.  An 
Ijaw youth voiced support, claiming that if oil revenues had 
no global or national impact, "no one would pay any attention 
to us.  When Chevron's boats are hijacked, a query comes from 
on high.  When villages are burned and people are killed no 
one calls us.  The system is only interested when money is 
threatened." 
 
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MORE ON THE WARRI FORUM 
----------------------- 
 
10. (U) The Warri Forum on Peace, Security and Human Rights 
was developed by Academic Associates PeaceWorks, under the 
direction of long-time American resident in Nigeria Judith 
Burdin-Asuni. Ms. Asuni orchestrated an earlier forum in 
Warri during the 1999 crisis.  The Forum held in November in 
the Delta State capital of Asaba is part of a four-phase 
project, partially funded by USAID and DRL. 
 
11.  (SBU) COMMENT: The November AAPW Forum held the 
attention of all and established a record for the quality of 
the participation by senior GON officials, ethnic leaders, 
and youths who exercise influence within their communities. 
Contacts gained through the Warri Forum and other USG 
initiatives in the Delta have given ConGen Lagos personnel 
unprecedented access to the actors in the conflict.  Although 
the causes of ethnic conflict in the Delta are complicated 
and run deep, the Forum creates opportunities for 
decision-makers to engage in dialogue and cooperation. The 
next phase of the Forum, ongoing dialogue and attempts to 
address the root causes of conflict, will test the mettle of 
the participants and will give us an indication of how far 
the protagonists are willing to go for peace. Meanwhile, this 
program should receive continued support from the USG.  END 
COMMENT. 
HINSON-JONES