US embassy cable - 03LAGOS2606

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 002606 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE, BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
PASS GURNEY, LONDON AND NEARY, PARIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, PINR, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: WHEN DOVES FIGHT 
 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: POLOFF and Economic Counselor met on 
December 1 with Femi Falana, former president of the 
Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) and 
well-known international human rights lawyer, to discuss the 
internal battle for power within the CDHR. CDHR executives 
have accused Falana and former CDHR president, Beko 
Ransome-Kuti, of hiring a faction of the vigilante group 
O'odua People's Congress (OPC) to ransack CDHR's headquarters 
in mid-September.  That action sprang from problems allegedly 
centering on infighting among current and former organization 
leaders, a 300,00 USD grant from the Ford Foundation, and the 
personalities and political aspirations of Ransome-Kuti and 
Falana.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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WHEN DOVES FIGHT 
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2.  (SBU) On September 17 forty armed members of the Gani 
Adams faction of the OPC ransacked CDHR's headquarters in 
Ikeja, Lagos.  In their wake, the OPC thugs destroyed office 
and audio/visual equipment, confiscated bank statements and 
other financial documents, damaged the interior of the 
building, and stole personal and organizational funds.  The 
attackers also beat a staff member about the head, sending 
him to the hospital for several days.  Police were called to 
quell the violence and arrested several OPC members.  CDHR 
secretariat members allege that Femi Falana was on hand to 
 
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coordinate the release of the vigilante members.  Four OPC 
vigilantes returned to CDHR headquarters to stand guard until 
CDHR executives had them removed by the police.  In a press 
statement, CDHR's secretariat alleged that former CDHR 
presidents Ransome-Kuti and Falana had hired the OPC thugs to 
enforce the firing of the CDHR secretariat by a 
self-appointed Caretaker Committee composed of Ransome-Kuti 
and an associate. 
 
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CAN NIGERIA HAVE A FREE AND FAIR ELECTION? 
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3.  (SBU) CDHR has been embattled for some time, but 
dissension came to a head in May 2003.  On May 10, CDHR 
delegates from the various state branches met for their 
Annual General Conference (AGC) in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti, Falana's 
home state.  The AGC attempted to elect three officers to 
two-year terms as provided in the organization's 
constitution.  The Lagos State branch, headed by Falana, sent 
40 delegates who were not AGC voting members, allegedly in an 
attempt to sway the election in his favor.  Falana's faction 
contested the re-election of the secretary-general and 
reportedly rioted at the conference, destroying property and 
harassing delegates, when it became apparent his candidate 
would not be elected.  The AGC immediately adjourned and 
reconvened May 31 in Benin City, Edo.  Similar events ensued 
and Falana's faction reportedly attempted to confiscate the 
ballot box.  Members of Falana's faction also assaulted 
delegates and allegedly poured acid on a CDHR member of the 
Edo State Branch.  Police were brought in to restore order. 
The second AGC was able, however, to elect the current 
secretary-general, president, and vice president of the 
 
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organization. 
 
4.  (SBU) CDHR executives allege that Falana sought the 
assistance of Ransome-Kuti to contest the election. 
Ransome-Kuti had dissociated himself from CDHR in 1995 
because he was not allowed to run for re-election after seven 
years as the president.  In 2003 Ransom-Kuti returned and 
designated himself and an associate as members of a Caretaker 
Committee, deriving his authority from the "inconclusive" 
election outcome.  In this capacity, Ransome-Kuti attempted 
to run CDHR's activities and finances.  CDHR executives 
allege that on July 10 Ransome-Kuti led a group of 40 
militants to invade CDHR headquarters and hold a meeting of 
the Caretaker Committee.  Police came to disperse 
Ransome-Kuti and his supporters.  He tried again doing this 
on July 25 and September 5 and met the same response.  On 
September 6, officers from the Ikeja Division of the Nigeria 
Police Force reportedly cautioned Ransome-Kuti against 
further action and implored both parties to settle their 
disputes in civil court. 
 
5.  (SBU) In a recent meeting with POLOFF and Economic 
Counselor, Falana denied association with the violence 
surrounding the CDHR.  He stated that his linkage to the 
violence was "an afterthought" and proceeded to discuss the 
May conferences and place the blame on Ransome-Kuti.  Falana 
substantiated many of the CDHR executive's assertions in 
regards to the candidates he supported, but dissociated 
himself from the violent behavior of the Lagos State Branch 
members.  When asked by POLOFF if he saw irony in human 
rights activists' assaulting members of a human rights 
organization, he shrugged his shoulders, gave a broad smile, 
and claimed that he was out of the country at the time. 
 
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PECULIAR PERSONALITIES: BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
6. (SBU) Femi Falana acted as CDHR president from 1997 to 
2001.  He also served as vice president from 1995 to 1997. 
As a human rights lawyer, Falana has been active in many 
organizations.  He is the president of the National 
Association of Democratic Lawyers and is secretary-general of 
the African Bar Association.  He is now advocating for the 
GON to sign the protocols of the African Court of Human 
Rights and the African Court of Justice.  Falana is also 
trying to organize a West African Bar Association for ECOWAS 
countries.  Under the Abacha regime, he was often arrested 
for his outspokenness on human rights.  In 1995, Falana was 
one of the lead attorneys defending Ogoni environmentalist 
and playwright, Ken Saro Wiwa, and his eight Ogoni comrades. 
In recognition for his work, he received the 1996 American 
Bar Association's International Human Rights Award.  In 1999 
he was an Alliance for Democracy gubernatorial candidate for 
Ekiti State and again in 2003 under the National Conscience 
Party, but was unsuccessful both times.  CDHR executives have 
criticized Falana for attempting to use the CDHR to advance 
himself as a political candidate.  The organization claims to 
be non-partisan. 
 
7.  (SBU) Beko Ransome-Kuti, founding CDHR president from 
1989 to 1995, is a medical doctor.  He serves as executive 
director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance and is 
treasurer of the Fasheun faction of the OPC.  At CDHR's 
founding, Ransome-Kuti was also the organization's landlord, 
having provided it a building in Anthony Village, Lagos. 
When he was not elected president for an eighth year, 
Ransome-Kuti reportedly evicted CDHR from his premises 
without notice, stating that he had the right "to vote the 
organization out of his property." 
 
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OPC - THE DARK HORSE 
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8.  (SBU) The O'odua People's Congress (OPC) is a Yoruba 
vigilante group that provides security through intimidation 
and extortion.  It, too, is fractured and cyclically in and 
out of favor with the police.  Modiu Abudu, a spokesman for 
the Fasheun faction of the OPC, told POLOFF that the CDHR 
executives had written a letter to the OPC requesting help to 
resolve the dispute.  The OPC held a meeting with the key 
personalities involved and Abudu remarked that it was not 
until he arrived at the meeting that he realized how many 
CDHR members were also OPC members.  Of the 22 members who 
attended, 19 were affiliated with the OPC.  "I realized that 
we were having our own convention instead of the CDHR's," 
Abudu remarked.  Abudu confided that neither Falana nor 
members of the CDHR executive are OPC members.  However, in 
previous conversations with POLOFF, CDHR executives expressed 
affinity for the OPC and downplayed many of its human rights 
abuses that Post has documented in previous Human Rights 
Reports. 
 
9.  (SBU) COMMENT: CDHR is rife with intrigue and turmoil. 
Its battles with former presidents who have their own agendas 
reflect the larger society, which is not averse to violence 
as it strives to define itself by any means possible. 
Corruption and power positioning is widespread in Nigerian 
society, and this part of the human rights community is no 
exception.  The CDHR's unabashed use of and membership in the 
OPC is unfortunate since the OPC has been involved in mob 
violence and extra-judicial killings.  We advise that USG 
agencies rethink funding of CDHR programs until its internal 
disputes are resolved.  END COMMENT. 
HINSON-JONES