By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
ABUJA, Nigeria – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report citing that the behavior of Nigerian government officials is marked by “corruption and violence.” HRW claims that politicians recruit violent gangs to offer assistance in their political campaigns by rigging elections, and terrorizing political opponents.
In parts of Nigeria, power players in the election campaign are referred to as “godfathers,” because they carry out illegal operations in order to get their friends and protégés into positions of power. In return, the “godfathers” embezzle politicians by seeking monetary payments, control of resources, and jobs.
In the 2007 gubernatorial race in Anambra State, the power hungry candidate Andy Uba hired armed “cult” gangs to oversee the electoral process. The militant members ended up taking up a bloody battle in the streets of the state capital. Critics have compared Uba’s campaign organization to an “oil well” that was “tapped” by acts of violence.
HRW published a 123-page report, “Criminal Politics: Violence, ‘Godfathers’ and Corruption in Nigeria,” which documents Nigeria’s human rights violations and ramped corruption. Moreover, it accuses leaders of benefiting financially and socially, at the expense of the general population. The report holds that “the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these abuses that denies justice to its victims and is a roadblock to reform.”
An elder member of the Gombe tribe told Human Rights Watch that, “We are ruled by gangsters. The major source of criminal activity in Gombe is the politicians and their militias.”
While Nigeria is said to have “become mired in a state of crisis,” HRW believes that Nigeria’s newly elected president, Umaru Yar’Adua’s, may bring a brighter future for the country, as he has agreed to uphold the rule of domestic and international law.
For more information, please see:
VOA – Human Rights Watch Says Corruption Pervasive in Nigeria – October 2007
AllAfrica.com – Nigeria: Violence, Corruption Institutionalised – 9 October 2007
Human Rights Watch – “Criminal Politics: Violence, ‘Godfathers’ and Corruption in Nigeria” – 9 October 2007
