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Delta bill outlaws armed groups

    ABIDJAN

    Governor James Ibori of Nigeria’s Delta State signed into law on Friday a new bill that outlaws armed groups how have been blamed for communal violence, the sabotage of oil installations and hostage-taking in the country’s leading oil producing state.

    “The state government can no longer afford to watch innocent citizens terrorised and its economy jeopardised by irresponsible youths that like to take laws into their hands,” a senior Ibori aide told IRIN on Monday.

    Those who continue to maintain armed militant groups would also be prosecuted with a battery of other existing laws covering crimes such as the illegal possession of firearms and unlawful assembly.

    The new law marks a significant move by Ibori away from his initial policy of containing the myriad of militant groups in the restive region through dialogue, to one of imposing his authority. Ibori had been elected in 1999, at a time the southern state, particularly the oil industry hub of Warri, was wracked by ethnic violence involving the Ijaws, Itsekhiris and Urhobos over claims of ownership of the oil town.

    [For full report see separate item ‘NIGERIA: Delta bill bans militant groups’]

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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