Building "Peace" and Neglecting Structural Violence

The emergence of the Niger Delta Avengers at the center of the oil conflict in Nigeria has returned the entire situation to the pre-amnesty era, and to conditions of violent conflict. The pre-amnesty situation and era were marked by violence such as the kidnapping of oil workers, criminal damage to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Peace review (Palo Alto, Calif.) Calif.), 2017-10, Vol.29 (4), p.497-505
Main Author: Nwokolo, Ndubuisi N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amnesties
Arms control & disarmament
Conflict
Destruction of property
Implementation
Kidnapping
Military demobilization
Offenses
Peace
Petroleum
Rehabilitation
Services
Violence
War
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The emergence of the Niger Delta Avengers at the center of the oil conflict in Nigeria has returned the entire situation to the pre-amnesty era, and to conditions of violent conflict. The pre-amnesty situation and era were marked by violence such as the kidnapping of oil workers, criminal damage to oil facilities, and outright war against Nigerian security services by militant groups. The resurgence of militancy in the oil region demonstrates that the crux of the conflict has remained unsolved, despite the implementation of the amnesty program. The major point of the amnesty program was that it granted "unconditional pardon to all persons who have directly participated in the commission of offenses associated with militant activities in the Niger Delta," with the aim of getting the militants to renounce attacks on oil facilities and become part of the government-sponsored process of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration. Here, Nwokolo establishes that the types of peacebuilding mechanisms employed by the Nigerian State in oil-village communities have failed as drivers of peace.
ISSN:1040-2659
1469-9982
DOI:10.1080/10402659.2017.1381523