In a telling document, reported on Reuters
Reuters Alert Net, HRW 2007 Nigeria
The 123-page report, "Criminal Politics: Violence, 'Godfathers' and Corruption in Nigeria," documents the most important human rights dimensions of this crisis of governance: politicians and other political elites openly encouraging systemic violence; the corruption that fuels and rewards Nigeria's violent brand of politics at the expense of the general populace; and the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these abuses that denies justice to its victims and is a roadblock to reform.
In Rivers State, at the heart of Nigeria's restive Niger Delta, the efforts of local politicians to arm and hire criminal gangs to rig elections have spiraled out of all control. Bloody fighting in 2004 between rival gangs armed by the administration of then-Governor Peter Odili during the 2003 election cycle claimed dozens of lives, but those responsible were not held to account. The same pattern has now repeated itself in 2007, with inter-gang fighting in the streets of Port Harcourt in July claiming dozens of civilian lives and prompting a full-scale military intervention. Still, none of the individuals most responsible for that violence have been brought to account.
Human Rights Watch documents how since democracy a cadre of violent thugs, bankrolled by powerful mafia-like power-brokers known as "godfathers":
In some parts of Nigeria, the need to mobilize vast sums of money and large numbers of political thugs to compete in politics has given rise to mafia-like power brokers known as "godfathers," who do not seek to occupy the elective offices they control, but instead use violence and corruption to rig their proteges into positions of influence. In return, they demand regular cash payments embezzled from government coffers as well as the right to control the distribution of government resources, jobs and contracts as patronage. In some cases these relationships are spelled out in remarkably explicit terms ? as in the case of a written contract and loyalty oath signed by PDP godfather Chris Uba and then PDP gubernatorial candidate Chris Ngige in 2003.
The full report can be viewed or downloaded at:
Criminal Politics: Violence, "Godfathers" and Corruption in Nigeria