Current Affairs

Corruption is endemic in Nigeria, and the electoral process is renowned for spreading that corruption, but afterwards what is the significance of that corruption on the daily lives of Nigerians. In a special report by Global Initiative, they link the political corruption with crime after the elections. There are other arguments, but the link between organised crime and politicians is key to their arguments and understanding of the criminalisation that challenges Nigeria and the politicians. They case study two regions, River State and Kano, but for all intents and purposes crime and the politician sponsoring their own political aspirations is key to the criminal behaviour of gangs that are involved in stealing ballot boxes, destroying ballot papers and corrupting the whole political process through forced argument and violence.

Ken Soyinka, a Noble prize winner for literature, was a member of the Pyrates, he described how they were “having so much fun with social orientation.” But the gangs became something else, and he said in a BBC interview that he “never imagined that any university-based group could actually adopt a Mafia style, which involved manhood tests like raping, robbery, arms, murder, kidnapping,”

Omoyele Sowore is one of Nigeria’s most famous dissident journalist. His name became prominent when he battled against campus cults at his University in Lagos. In a BBC interview on 13^th March 2020, he detailed how he nearly lost his life fighting these cults. He was left bloodied, with a knife stuck in his head and had been injected with something that to this day he does not know. After hospital, he continued his studies, sat exams and was guarded by students determined to help him complete his degree, which he completed successfully. In many ways it is his story that engages the criminality of the gangs and how they have evolved from on Campus sororities to criminal gangs.

The prevalence of political gangs can be attributed to structural factors, which Global Initiative argues are, “unemployment, poverty, corruption in political institutions, the acceptance of violence as a political tool, perceptions of inequality and marginalisation.” But the emergence of fraternities, which would later evolve into cult gangs, these groups grew and emerged across River States and the wider Niger Delta. The fraternities were initially peaceful but in the late 1980s and 1990s, the fraternities became cult gangs and expanded their influence to the streets, where junior cults were formed, “such as the Deebam and Deewell, which engaged in petty crime and violence.”

In 1999, Nigeria returned from military government to democracy, it was an important moment and a pivotal point in the integration of cult groups into the political process. Between 1999 and 2003, political parties began contracting members of these cult gangs to direct attacks on political opponents, electoral officials, voters and also involved in the hijacking of ballot boxes and election rigging throughout the time of the election. At this time according to civil society representatives, Ateke Tom became a key leader of political gangs. Initially, overpowering the leader of the Iceland cult group, which was an off shoot of the Vikings university campus cult, (according to Global Initiative), he gained notoriety as a gang leader.

In the 2003 elections, the All Nigeria Peoples party (ANPP) controlled Orika LGA, according to Human Rights Watch, the Icelanders “effectively expelled the ANPP- affiliated Bush Boys from Orika,” which secured the PDP victory in the local government.  

In August 2007, following gun fights between militia groups and security forces in Port Harcourt, Ateke Tom requested amnesty. On 1^st October 2009, on the anniversary of Nigerian Independence, Tom surrendered at Government House in Abuja, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua stated that “ today […] you have given me my 49^th independence anniversary gift.” Since then Ateke Tom has become a king, or as the Governor describes him. “the traditional ruler, The Amayanabo of Okochiri kingdom, whose traditional duty is to make sure that peace reigns in his domain.”

However, during the 2019 and 2023 campaigns, gangs violently disrupted rallies and attacked convoys or supporters. Incidents of violence against political opponents was widespread, with politicians using gang members to stop candidates from campaigning. When Dumo Lulu Briggs of the Accord Party and Senator Magnus Abe were campaigning, they were attacked. In a press conference afterwards, Lulu Briggs accused the governing PDP of being involved in the attacks, though the governor had issued orders to protect the electoral process. According to Global Initiative an eyewitness in Kuru described what happened in one voting station in Ikuru: “Hoodlums came out with guns to chase away voters. Even the elderly have no access to vote.” A politician in Andoni LGA said: “People saw the kind of guns and arms (Yandaba) were brandishing and couldn’t come out for the election. Those that came out ..[to vote].. were injured.”

The violence in Rivers state surged in 2023 elections, with complaints that those in cult gangs were “armed with G3s, AK-47, Mach 4s, axes, machetes and knives.” Others told the reporter that “if you are not going to vote for the PDP, don’t come out.” The message was effective, the River State had the lowest electoral turnout of all the states in Nigeria in 2023, with a voter turnout of only 15.66%, though 74% of the population are registered to vote.

Overall the electoral system in River State is a mess, kidnappings have been reported, though not a central element to the violence in the election, gang members shared accounts where they kidnap political rivals and hold them captive until the conclusion of the election. According to Global Initiative, those kidnapped are not held for ransom, which underpins the argument that kidnapping is a political tool used by the gangs in conjunction with a politician rather than a financially motivated crime for the abduction.

Though this article is in three parts, you can already see and understand the difficulties that electoral officials, opposition politicians and those canvassing for them face in the Nigerian electoral cycle. So far I have looked at River State during the elections, but what comes after the election is in the third edition after I have looked at Kano and the electoral problems that it faces. Gangs cannot exist on revenue just from elections, but with the politicians comes widespread corruption, which effectively empowers these gangs and with the weapons that the politicians provide, the gangs go on to other forms of revenue making and criminality. With the gangs gaining protection from the political elite who are corrupt, the gangs of the ruling party are able to continue with their criminality as long as they are part of the winning side in the election.