Conflict in Niger Delta: Security, Civil Society and Violence

The Niger Delta has been a region of conflict from the middle of the 1960s. Gained independence in 1960, the state experienced the long-running Nigerian-Biafra war, which had crucial outputs at the age of seven. The region which is the source of oil and economical heart of the country with this feature, was also hosting a polarization based on ethnicity. As a result, it became a center of regional and national economic and ethnopolitical conflict. The civil war experience was the first step in the cycle of civil society, activism, violence and security activities that gave rise to the demands of the people of the region which are still valid today: claiming more rights, more income, democracy and independence. In this paper, causes of conflict and historical process of Niger Delta, where hosts many actors such as civil society, armed organizations, ethnic and religious groups, government and multinational companies, are examined. Changes ranging from warfare to amnesty, from peaceful actions to use of weapons; the steps taken on conflict and conflict resolution and varying stances of actors by time are analyzed in the framework of regional and global conjuncture