The Hindu : Delays, violence mar Nigerian elections

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 13, 2003

International

International

Delays, violence mar Nigerian elections

WARRI (Nigeria) APRIL 12. Nigeria's legislative elections — an important test for civilian rule in Africa's most populous nation — began on Saturday with rain delays, ballot shortages and at least one reported attack on officials by ethnic militants trying to disrupt the vote.

Deadly fighting in the oil-producing Niger Delta has marred the electoral race for weeks. In the oil port of Warri and the rest of the volatile southern region, ethnic Ijaw militants have threatened to block polling because of a dispute over voting districts.

In Ogbe-Ijoh, an Ijaw town 30 km south of Warri, police said their station was attacked overnight by Ijaw youths who beat up several officers.

Election Commission officials fled the town and have not returned. There was no sign of voting. ``We've made it clear we don't want elections,'' said Joseph Opute, a young Ijaw activist. When voting officials arrived, ``we had to chase them away.''

Saturday's ballot precedes presidential elections on April 19 that will pit the President, Olusegun Obasanjo — a former military ruler-turned civilian leader — against 19 Opposition candidates, including three former army Generals.

The vote for the 469 seats in the House of Representatives and Senate was run by civilians. Military coups have scuttled Nigeria's previous attempts to hold democratic, civilian-run elections.

In some cities, heavy rain and delayed delivery of ballot boxes were the only problems. In Warri, few voting stations had opened, and officials said they were having logistical problems.

Crowds were growing impatient. ``We're not going to accept this if at the end of the day, they announce any results ... when we didn't vote,'' said one voter, James Esi.

Ijaws have pledged to prevent the elections in Ijaw-dominated parts of the city and in the mangrove swamps and rivers to the southwest.

The militants are angry that authorities refused to change electoral boundaries, which they say favour rival Itsekiris.

The threat came after weeks of fighting between ethnic militants and Government troops in the Niger Delta that left more than 100 people dead and shut down 40 percent of the country's oil production.

Nigeria is the fifth largest supplier of U.S. oil imports.

Police officers and Itsekiri activists said Ijaw fighters attacked the delta village of Koko on Friday, burning down dozens of houses and the town's election headquarters. Casualty figures were not immediately available.

— AP

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