Peterside: Blame politics, control over crime territories for Rivers’ bloodbath

A sociology teacher at the University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Sofiri Peterside, who has done extensive researches on the activities of gangs in the Niger Delta, has blamed the control of crime turfs and politics for the resurgence of gang wars in Rivers State. He spoke to South South Bureau Chief, KELVIN EBIRI.

What factors are responsible for the perennial bloodbath in Rivers State?
Honestly, from my experience and facts available to me, being an area where I have some competency and have done some works, I would like to say that these cult groups are, first and foremost populated by people that are outside the university system, but are trying to copy what is happening in the university system. Why their own appears to be very ferocious is because they lack tact and organisation, and that element of intellectual thing that campus organisations have because these are students. But what is creating this problem is control of what I call crime turfs. In other words, it is a contest over control of illicit business spaces.

For instance, there are some of these cult boys who are into robbery. When they go for robbery, those of them around Choba axis, go in a multitude. However, some of them that reside very far away still come around Choba to rob. When this happens, those around Choba feel that the robbery is an invasion of their own territory.

Then of course, there is also this hard drug market that is blossoming in this area. There are those who feel that they have control over the sale of stuffs there, including Tramadol, and when you try to penetrate their areas, it becomes a problem.

Illicit sales of petroleum products and those kinds of matters are also part of the problem. There are those who specialise in producing diesel; some are specialists in the production of kerosene and these are terrible businesses, which often times are done with the knowledge of state-owned security agencies that pretend not to know what is happening.

There is also what I call occupation of political space. Some are nursing the ambition of becoming councillors; some already have political godfathers, while some played active roles in the just concluded elections. Facts at my disposal show that there is a contest over the distribution of whatever they have received. Where those who have access to these kinds of resources try to exclude other members of the gang, you would see the contests become very bloody.

What is also important to note is that when they come into a house, in some very rare instances, they do not take on those who are not members of the opposing gangs. You can be with your elder brother, but when they come in, they just head straight and shoot the person that they want. On those occasions, they don’t shoot mothers or fathers that are present and that shows you something is happening.

Why have these gangs continued to operate with impunity in the Ogoni area?
Cult-related attacks are very pronounced in areas where you have state security agencies or institutions are very far away from the people. Let us take for instances, the Ogoni axis. It is only in Khana that you have a clear-cut police division. Even though there used to be a military post in Gokana. So, these areas that are very remote call for security emergency. Often, their calls for help are not responded to promptly until things get totally out of hand.

I also found out that some of the security men are complicit in this matter. In fact, there are allegations by some of these cultists that some security officials are their members. In that kind of atmosphere, it becomes very difficult to manage a situation when state-sponsored security operatives are alleged to be involved in cultism. They are always reluctant to take directives from their superiors over such matters. When they do, information actually goes out first to the groups that they align with, or support. So, it becomes difficult to get them down. The opposing cult groups, which also know that their rivals are enjoying some form of support from security agencies, often times begin to target these officers that are complicit.

But why do these cultists behead their victims?
Some of their members are of the opinion that there are certain persons that chopping off their heads is very necessary based on the roles they play in their cult organisation. Sometimes also, there are certain voodoos associated with this; certain kinds of rituals that are done. Some even claim that certain persons before they embark on their missions even make pledges that if the mission were successful, they would come and appease the gods and goddesses. I do not understand how that is correct, otherwise, how do you take away your victim’s head after killing him?

However, this is not a recent development. In the hey days of crisis in Port Harcourt township, a certain Julius and others had that kind of treatment when they were beheaded, and their heads taken away. So, you can see that this kind of situation is reoccurring. What is worrisome is the spread of this kind of violent conflict. It is very terrible.

Is there a nexus between politics and cultism in the state?
In Rivers State, the recent violent political processes actually energised these organisations. In areas where politicians felt their state security forces were becoming so overwhelmed, what they did was to rely on these non-state armed groups to provide some element of violence. In some other cases, these groups were used to contain what is considered the rampaging apparatus of state security machinery.

I also found out that some of these cult groups have very good support bases, and are aligned to political parties, where they play active roles. In election processes they are called logistics, and that is how they are spread across local governments areas, both upland and riverine.

However, you will see that in areas where state security forces are very active, politicians who rely on self-help consider such cult groups as organisations that are handy in containing state security forces.

What does this bloody scenario portend for the state?
First, it has economic consequences because the state is being portrayed as an unsafe environment for business. We are already crying over loss of businesses and the exodus of businesses from the state has actually accentuated this. In the political contestation area, it was difficult for both sides to actually speak out seriously because of their alignment with these groups and movements. But we expect that now that the political process has been completed, people will now begin to take this matter seriously.

Clearly, on both sides, they have what I call in my analysis private armies, and many people pretend not to know that this kind of thing is happening. We think that now is the time that these politicians, irrespective of the side that they belong, should see this state as a collective property of all of us, and all of us have a responsibility to maintain law and order. Since the elections are over, the tactics must definitely change. Those who saw them as their private armies, those who felt they had been humiliated by state security forces, and who rely on them as instruments of self-help must now have a rethink.

But how did Rivers State get to this abysmal level of barbarism?
It is a long story, as it didn’t just start now. You must remember that these cult groups are appendages of political parties. Those who have control over instruments of violence, as our electoral process have shown, are those who actually come out successful, while those defeated through the deployment of these instruments make sure that they mobilise heavily for next time.

Again, it must be stated that these non-state actors also have benefits that they derive for their services. Some of them become very important people in the state such that when decisions are to be taken, they are invited. The amnesty extended to them also creates the impression that violence is being rewarded. Well, now they are still settling their issues.

Apart from killings that stem from politics, there are situations where alleged winning over one’s girlfriend, in other words, love interest also lead to these bloody killings because in some of these groups, there are guys who lack the capacity to accommodate this kind of things. So, they go all out for the jugulars of whosoever has won over their girlfriend, kill them and take away their genitals.

What is the way out?
Those who are involved know what the real issues are. But I also think that state security actors need to go all out against them because some of them who claim to be tigers are very weak without the weapons they wield. When apprehended, they open up and confess how they are organised; who are their sponsors; where their bases are, and where their strike chiefs and sources of weaponry are.