Rivers of Blood: Gang Violence in Nigeria’s Garden State
Since military rule ended in Nigeria in 1999, gang activities and the corresponding violence have seen a gradual but steady increase in Rivers state, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. From the formation of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity (SVC) in the early 1980s at the University of Port Harcourt, various criminal gangs known as cults...
Incidents of Atrocity in Rivers-State in September 2019
In September 2019, gang criminality continued to rise in River state. The month witnessed attack on Police officers, politically motivated killings and inter communal murders. However, the most bizarre of the killings were those by a serial killer(s) following a pattern of murders targeting women in hotels in Rivers state. In the month of September 25 persons were murdered in atrocious circumstances in River state...
Gang Wars
In the 31-day period of August 2019, there were 10 documented incidents of atrocity in Rivers state that resulted in 45 killings. This figure is more than double that of the previous month, indicating a further descent into insecurity in parts of the state. The spate of killings reflects a general climate of insecurity and lawlessness which continues to highlight Rivers state in atrocious murders...
Paradise of Pedophiles
In the last decade, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of children living in the streets of Calabar. These kids are exposed to the most horrendous conditions including forced labour and regular physical abuses. To survive each day, these kids depend only on what they can scavenge from refuse dumps, leftovers at restaurants, petty stealing and the occasional goodwill of a few individuals and organizations. These are kids whom our society- with its laws, institutions, cultures and religion- have left behind. They have been hardened by suffering, abuses and narcotics...
Death Toll
The month of July 2019 saw further reduction in cases of atrocious killings in Rivers state. The month also witnessed important interventions by the state government to address the problem of insecurity in the state as well as atrocious killings. In the 31-day period of July 2019, We the People tracked and documented 11 incidents that resulted in 21 deaths...
Killing Fields
In the 30-day period of June 2019, there were 16 documented incidents of atrocity in Rivers state that resulted in 26 killings. While this is a marked decline in the quarter, it nonetheless reflects a general climate of insecurity and lawlessness which continues to highlight Rivers state in atrocious murders...
Rivers of Blood
In the month of May 2019, there was a terrifying spike in the number of violent killings in Rivers state. While We the People in its Atrocities Monitoring Report for the previous Month of April recorded 16 incidents that resulted in 46 killings, an alarming 21 incidents were documented in the month of May that led to 80 verified deaths. 6 of the killings were carried out through beheadings...