CRSV: The Warri Crisis
This case note documents the occurrence of sexual violence in violent conflict. It contains explicit mentions of different forms of sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.
Background of the conflict
The Warri crisis refers to a series of conflicts in Delta State, Nigeria, between 1997 and 2003, between two ethnic groups, namely the Itsekiri and Ijaw (Leton, 2006). The conflict began after a government decision changed the location of the Warri Southwest local government council to the Itsekiri community of Ogidigben, from its original location in Ogbe Ijoh, an Ijaw town. The Warri crisis is a part of a broader, longstanding conflict over oil in the Niger Delta. As a result of the Warri crisis, 200,000 people were displaced between 1999 and 2006, and 700,000 were displaced overall (Leton, 2006). While tensions in the region have long existed, colonialists exacerbated them through occupation. The discovery of oil was another factor that increased violence.
Prevalence of sexual violence
Reports show that women and girls were subject to sexual and gender-based violence during military raids and at military checkpoints. Women and girls have been increasingly vulnerable to rape and sexual violence, and that nearly two-thirds of women had experienced one or more form of sexual and gender-based violence since the start of the conflict (Ikenyi, 2017). Precise numbers remain unclear. On many occasions women have protested against the extracting of oil companies and have been met with violence of different kinds as a form of suppression (Environmental Rights Action Nigeria, n.d.). In August 2002, for instance, women who protested against Shell for its extraction of oil were met with violence where soldiers used wire whips and kicked the women. Several other women who wanted to escape their violence jumped into a stream nearby - and three women were never found since (Environmental Rights Action Nigeria, n.d.).
Basic of the use of sexual violence
Sexual violence and rape were commonly deployed on all sides to the conflict both strategically and opportunistically. They were also used as a means of intimidation and torture to target women who protested against oil extraction. Further, violence in itself was used to suppress protests carried out by women in response to the oil companies’ policies.
References
Leton, Marcus (2006). "Oil And The Urban Question - Fuelling Violence and Politics in Warri" (PDF). Niger Delta Economies of Violence Working Papers (8).
Ikenyei, N. S. (2017). Dynamics of conflicts and criminal activities in Warri and environs, Delta State, Nigeria. The Nigerian Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 15(2), 48-62.
Environmental Rights Action Nigeria (n.d.). Violence Used Against Unarmed Women in Peaceful Protests Against Oil Companies. http://kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/50/304/32-130-1439-84-acasbulletin68.pdf
