IRIN Chronology - Flashpoints since the inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo

29 May 1999: Inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo 29-30 May: Clashes between Ijaw and Itsekiri youths just south of Warri reportedly cause nearly 200 deaths. Western and Nigerian oil companies evacuate people from the area as fighting nears Chevron’s oil export terminal. Some 150 soldiers from the army’s 20 Amphibious Battalion, based at Effrun in Delta state, are deployed to the area. 1 June: Chief Ogibodide of Ugborodo village in Delta area kidnapped from his home and subsequently beheaded. Ijaw youths suspected to be responsible. 6 June: Dawn-to-dusk curfew announced in Warri by Delta state Governor, James Ibori. 11 June: Obasanjo meets Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri leaders in Warri. In an effort to pacify Delta communities, he creates a Special Project Division (SPD) to plan the development of services such as electrification, environmental protection, sanitation, education, housing and transport in the Delta. 12-13 June: Delta State Governor declares Warri a disaster zone. Announces his intention to establish an Urban Development Authority, and promises vocational training and work for Itsekiri, Ijaw and Urhobo youths. 19 June: Ijaw youths reportedly attack the Itsekiri town of Kantu, near Warri. Houses are burnt and five people killed. Kantu leaders later report that armed robbers were responsible. 19-20 June: Armed bandits, suspected to have come from Chad and Niger, raid four districts in the northern state of Taraba. Dozens reportedly killed. 23 June: Armed youths attack and board two oil rigs demanding compensation for a June 1998 oil spill. The attack prompts Texaco to declare “force majeure” and temporarily suspend production. 28 June: Two foreign helicopter pilots are kidnapped by group called ‘Enough is Enough’ after landing at Shell’s oil platform in Rivers State. Their release is reported on 17 July. 29 June: Two Indian nationals working for Nigerian rubber-processing company in Ughelli, Delta State are kidnapped. The Indian Embassy confirms their release on 14 July. 1 July: Three Shell employees are taken hostage. They are released unharmed on 11 July. 8 July: 16 Shell employees are taken hostage by armed militants but released hours later. 18 July: Fighting erupts between Hausas and local Yorubas in Shagamu, a town of about 300,000 inhabitants some 50 km north of Lagos. An estimated 60 people are reported dead. 22-25 July: Dozens are killed or wounded in Kano during violence following the return home from Shagamu of dead and displaced persons. 25 July: Seven expatriates and 57 Nigerian Shell employees are seized on their drilling rigs in the Delta by ethnic Isoko youths in Ozoro and Ovrode demanding money and amenities for the local population. They are released two days later. 31 July-6 August: Fighting erupts between Ijaws and Ilajes in the south-western state of Ondo. News organisations estimate 59 killed. The conflict originally broke out in September 1998 over control of land after rumours that oil companies had shown interest in the area. Ondo State government sets up a mediation panel and the army’s 2nd Mechanised Division in Ibadan is deployed in August to the state capital, Akure, under a peace deal reached between the two communities. 15 August: Troops are deployed to restore peace in the northern state of Taraba after clashes between the Jukun and Kutep over chieftancy titles and boundary adjustments. First half of September: Fighting between Ijaws and Ilajes in Ondo results in 16 people being killed and 20 reported missing. An attempt to broker peace by Ondo Deputy Governor Afolabi Iyantan founders after representatives of two communties fail to attend a meeting scheduled for 28 September. 23 September: The liquefied natural gas plant in the south-eastern town of Bonny, worth US $3.8 billion, is shut down less than two weeks after beginning operations after militant youth block roads to press demands for jobs and social amenities. Obasanjo meets youths and calls for time to develop area. 29-31 October: Clashes between Ijaw and Yoruba youths in Ajegunle neighbourhood in Lagos cause at least 12 deaths. Fifty-six youths are arrested. A peace pact is signed by OPC, Ilaje and Ijaw leaders on 3 November at a meeting attended by Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu and his cabinet. 30-31 October: Six Royal Dutch/Shell employees are seized near Warri by youths from the Opuama community. Four are released on 4 November. Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu imposes a curfew. The company later reports that the last two were freed on 11 November. 11 November: The governor of the south-eastern state of Bayelsa announces that 12 policemen were killed the previous week in Odi, a village in the state. 20-21 November: Some 5,000 troops are deployed in Bayelsa State. Presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe later says: “The security forces were deployed to the area under the control of the state governor, who is also the security officer of the state, primarily to ensure the enforcement of law and order, the speedy return of normalcy and peace.” The deployment is criticised by human rights groups. 25-26 November: Hausa traders clash with Yoruba neighbours at Mile 12 Market in Ketu District in Lagos resulting in at least 30 casualties and causing hundreds of Hausas to flee the area. The Nigerian Red Cross evacuates 150 wounded to two area hospitals. The police regain control, under orders from Obasanjo to shoot on sight. Obasanjo blames the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) for the troubles but the OPC denies involvement. 29 November: A Senate committee visits Odi to investigate complaints by the Ijaw community that the army killed residents there. The Senate’s president tells reporters afterwards that he was “shocked” by the scale of destruction in the town. Approx 5-6 December: Troops ordered out of Odi. 19 December: The people who killed the policemen in Odi are still at large in Port Harcourt, according to Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of Bayelsa State. 18-19 December: Churches in the central state of Kwara are attacked by some 3,000 youths, reportedly Muslims, and 14 are destroyed, according to State Police Commissioner Antony Sawyer. Police trying to protect the churches are stoned.