Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force
The Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force is one of the largest armed groups in the Niger Delta . It consists mainly of members of the Ijaw , who are the largest ethnic group in this region. The militia was founded in 2004 in order to gain more control over the oil reserves in the Niger Delta. The NDPVF demanded that all oil companies stop operating in the Delta.
Foundation and conflicts
Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari (born June 1, 1964 in Asari) founded the NDPVF in 2004 after he was elected President of the Ijaw Youth Council in 2001. The strong presence of the Ijaw in the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) led to long-term rivalries with the Itsekiri, another ethnic group in the Delta. The main conflicts took place over the city of Warri and the capital of Rivers State "Port Harcourt". The conflict in Port Harcourt took place in late August 2004 between the NDPVF and the Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV). The NDPVF's tactic to control the Nigerian Delta is to stow petroleum which the government believes is illegal as it is owned by the state.
Availability of weapons in the Niger Delta
The conflict in Rivers State was brutal by the large amount of small arms , which in Warri are sold, the capital of the Delta. In an interview with Human Rights Watch , fighters in the Delta admitted to possessing handguns, semi-automatic rifles and rocket launchers. According to the fighters, these weapons were sponsored by political parties or by people stashing petroleum.
Web links
- Rivers and Blood: Guns, Oil and Power in Nigeria's Rivers State, February 2005
- BBC: Profile of Asari
- Human Rights Watch: The Emergence of Armed Groups in Rivers State
- United Ijaw
Individual evidence
- ^ Violence in Nigeria's Oil Rich Rivers State in 2004: The Emergence of Armed Groups in Rivers State. Retrieved April 25, 2019 .