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Rights watchdog warns of threat to Nigeria poll
LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Political violence threatens to compromise Nigeria's first elections since the end of military rule in 1999 and the announcement of results could trigger further trouble, a human rights group warned on Thursday. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, in its report on Africa's most populous country, linked much of the violence to rivalries between Nigerian politicians and said their supporters enjoyed effective impunity. "The perpetrators of violence and their sponsors often enjoy complete impunity for their actions both from the official law enforcement bodies and from their own political parties." Nigerian authorities "must take serious steps now to bolster Nigerians' confidence in the electoral system and thereby prevent the post-election phase from degenerating into a period of violent protest and revenge in response to perceived electoral injustices," the report said. Nigeria is to hold a series of elections from April 12 to May 3, including legislative elections on Saturday and a presidential vote a week later. The polls will be the first since 1999, when Olusegun Obasanjo was voted in as president, ending 15 years of military rule. More than 10,000 people have died in religious, political and ethnic clashes in Nigeria since 1999. Human Rights Watch said political violence had been on the rise since primaries for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2002. The organization examined outbreaks of violence in six states, including Delta state, where ethnic conflict shut down some 40 percent of Nigeria's oil supply last month. It said dozens of civilians had been killed by soldiers sent in during the conflict. "Dozens of civilians, principally Ijaws, are reported to have been killed in a combined operation of Nigerian army, navy and police, who were deployed in large numbers after armed Ijaw youths allegedly killed four soldiers," the organization said. It urged oil companies to publicly call for the respect of human rights. "The oil companies can help save lives in this very tense situation," said the director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division, Peter Takirambudde. The other areas studied included the southern state of Bayelsa, where conflict between rival youths caused dozens of deaths in 2002, and Plateau, where scores were killed in a fight around the venue of PDP primaries last May. Many more have died in Plateau since then in a conflict which pits members of the Hausa ethnic group against wandering Fulani farmers. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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