Mujahid Dokubo-Asari

Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari (born June 1, 1964 in Asari in the Kalabari kingdom of the Ijaw , born as Dokubo Melford Goodhead Jr. and simply Asari ), is an important political figure of the Ijaw ethnic group in the Niger Delta . He was president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), founded on December 11, 1998, from 2001 , founded the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) militant group in 2003 and has since been the leader of the NDPVF and the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Front (NDPSF), the political wing of the NDPVF.

Asari is a devout Muslim with populist views. He has two wives and eight children.

His opposition to the government makes him a local folk hero . Asari is an outspoken admirer of Osama bin Laden and sees parallels between his struggle against the Nigerian government and that of al-Qaeda against western civilization .

He had been in custody since September 20, 2005 until he was released on bail in June 2007.

Life

education

Asari was born in 1964 as the son of a Christian magistrate . He went to school in Port Harcourt and then attended law school at the University of Calabar , which he left early in 1990 after three years. Asari converted to Islam and changed its name to Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.

Ijaw Youth Council

When the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) was founded on December 11, 1998, he became Vice President. The Kaiama Declaration , published by the IYC , not only articulated the interests of the Ijaw towards the oil companies and the Nigerian government, but there was also a commitment to direct action if the oil companies did not withdraw from the Ijaw territory. The IYC vowed a peaceful struggle for freedom, self-determination and ecological justice and on December 28, 1998 started a campaign with celebrations, prayers and direct actions (" Operation Climate Change ").

In 2001 Asari became President of the IYC. He is said to have been financially supported by Governor Odili of the state of Rivers . In general, Odili is said to have prepared his re-election in 2003 with financial and logistical support from youth groups that were supposed to put pressure on the opposition in the state of Rivers.

Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force

In 2003, Asari founded the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), a militant group , a loosely connected association of around 200,000 members. There were fights in Warri and Port Harcourt with the rival group Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV), which also want to control oil resources. There were hundreds of deaths and several Ijaw villages were destroyed.

The NDPVF and NDV illegally extract , bunker and sell oil from the pipelines .

"All-Out War" (oil crisis)

On September 24, 2004, Asari announced the " all-out war " and asked the oil companies and the foreign embassies to leave the Niger Delta. Shell then withdrew around 200 employees from Port Harcourt. On September 27, Asari repeated the announcement in a communique . Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called Asari and Akeke Tom , the leaders of the NDV, to peace talks and on October 1, 2004 they agreed an immediate ceasefire, the dissolution of all militias and militant groups and complete disarmament. At the end of 2004 the agreements were already invalid. In an open letter to the President, Asari refused to cooperate and proclaimed the sovereignty of the Niger Delta.

The attack on oil wells and pipelines in the Niger Delta in 2005 led to a massive drop in oil production and a global rise in the price of oil .

arrest

The arrest of Ijaw Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha on suspicion of money laundering in London in mid-September 2005 was answered with protests by the Ijaw. Asari was arrested on September 20 and charged with treason by the Nigerian central government on October 6 . The NDPVF and the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which emerged in early 2006 , unsuccessfully demanded his release from prison, which on June 6, 2006 was also denied by the court.

Asari remains the leader of the NDPVF and the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Front (NDPSF), the political wing of the NDPVF. His former spokeswoman, Cynthia White , left the NDPVF in 2005 and forms an alliance with the MEND controlled by the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) with the Martyrs Brigade, which she founded .

After the conflict in the Niger Delta escalated in August 2006, Asari was transferred to another detention center.

In June 2007, Asari was released on bail. This is seen as part of the efforts of the newly elected government under Umaru Yar'Adua to ease the situation in the Niger Delta. Previously, three governors from the Niger Delta had appealed to the president to release Asari from prison on health grounds.

Web links

• BBC October 2004: Profile of Asari: Nigeria's oil militant
• The Jawa Report March 2006 Rebel Leader in Nigeria Big Fan of Osama bin Laden
• United Ijaw: http://www.unitedijawstates.com/ndpvf.htm ( Memento of February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• The Library of Congress Country profiles (June 2006): Nigeria (PDF, 120 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ United Ijaw: THE KAIAMA DECLARATION by Ijaw Youths of the Niger Delta ( Memento from April 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Human Rights Watch : The Emergence of Armed Groups in Rivers State
   (1) The manipulation of youth groups by local politicians
3. ↑ ^{a b} Nigeriafirst (September 29, 2004): Government squares up against insurgents ( memento of the original from October 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ^ Human Rights Watch: Criminal Violence and Human Rights Abuses Against the Local Population in 2004
5. ^ Human Rights Watch: The Agreement to End the Violence in Rivers State
6. ↑ United Ijaw: NDPVF ( Memento of February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN STATE
   My Position for a comprehensive settlement of the Niger Delta Imbroglio
7. ↑ United Ijaw: We want peaceful disintegration of Nigeria -Asari Dokubo ( Memento of February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ United Ijaw: Asari Dokubo arrested ( Memento from February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) and Dokubo Charged with Treason ( Memento from February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ United Ijaw: The Drums of War Are Sounding ( Memento from February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) and One more Step in the Dark towards Midnight ( Memento from February 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ United Ijaw: NDPVF ( February 6, 2007 memento in the Internet Archive ) The Martyrs Brigade
11. ↑ Vanguard (September 1, 2006): Militants allege relocation of Dokubo  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ BBC News: Nigerian court frees oil militant