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Nigeria: Whether the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was responsible for human rights violations in Ondo state; whether violations were committed under the authority of a Chief Security Officer called Tunde Awanebi; whether there is a link between members of the PDP and members of a group called "Defenders of Democracy" (2003-2007)

Human rights violations in Ondo state

Information on human rights violations in Ondo state committed by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) is scarce among the sources consulted by Research Directorate but the following information may be of interest. The International Crisis Group, citing the Nigerian weekly magazine Newswatch as its source, reports that in Ondo state, the PDP was accused of facilitating election fraud in the April 2007 elections (International Crisis Group 30 May 2007, 5). Police and soldiers reportedly aided the PDP in moving ballot boxes between polling stations in Ondo state, and the police and "PDP thugs" picked up more than 300 members of the rival Labour Party from polling stations in Ondo City (ibid.). Similar allegations were also reported by Tunde Raheem, a correspondent for The Sun newspaper in Ondo state (RSF 20 Feb. 2008), who quoted the Director of Press for the Labour Party, Kolawole Olabisi, as saying that the PDP used "'heavily armed thugs'" to intimidate voters and that the PDP stole ballot boxes and other election materials, later replacing them with pre-marked ballots (Online Nigeria 2 June 2007). According to the article, Olabisi also alleges that some Labour Party members were shot while others suffered injuries inflicted by machetes (ibid.).

Tunde Awanebi

In 2003, Tunde Awanebi was appointed Chief Security Officer (CSO) for Olunsegun Agagu (Newswatch 11 June 2007) of the PDP, who was elected Governor of Ondo state the same year (Ondo n.d.). During the 2003 elections, an article appearing in the Daily Trust, a daily newspaper based in the federal capital of Abuja (Daily Trust n.d.), mentioned that a team led by a divisional police officer called Tunde Awanebi had arrested "'20 suspected thugs'" for participating in a drill which was allegedly part of a plan to disrupt polling in Okitipupa in the state of Ondo (Daily Trust 21 Apr. 2003). According to the article, one of the suspects contended that the group had been invited to "man trouble spots" during the election on behalf of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) Party, the ruling party in the state prior to the election of Agagu (ibid.).

On 30 May 2007, Awanebi was murdered by unknown assailants at a supermarket in Akure, the capital of Ondo state (Newswatch 11 June 2007; This Day 12 June 2007). There are allegations that Awanebi had been removed from his position as CSO several hours earlier (This Day 2 June 2007; Online Nigeria 2 June 2007; Newswatch 11 June 2007), but this has been denied by state officials (ibid.; This Day 2 June 2007). Some opponents of the PDP believe that the murder of Awanebi was an attempt to cover up the PDP's "nefarious" activities during the 2007 general elections (ibid.; Online Nigeria 2 June 2007), in which Awanebi was alleged to have been "'an active participant'" (ibid.).

According to the article published by Newswatch on 11 June 2007, the Director of Press for the Labour Party, Kolawole Olabisi, accused the PDP government of having a hand in Awanebi's death, alleging that he was murdered because "'he knew too much'" with respect to his role in enabling the PDP to "'foist itself on the people during the April [2007] polls'." In contrast, the article also reports an allegation by Femi Agagu, Chief of Staff for Governor Agagu (This Day 5 June 2007), that Awanebi's assassination was "the handiwork of the opposition party" (Newswatch 11 June 2007). The article notes that there has also been speculation that Awanebi was killed by some of the "thugs" whom he had helped train because they did not receive a share of the 63 million Nigerian naira [approximately 572,624 Canadian dollars (Oanda 2 Sept. 2008)] he had reportedly been given by the state government to purchase weapons (Newswatch 11 June 2007).

Defenders of Democracy

Cited in the 11 June 2007 Newswatch article, Olaiya Oni, former commissioner of education and chairman for the Labour Party, alleges that Awanebi played a large role in the acquisition of arms for the state government and also played a part in training and coordinating a group called Defenders of Democracy (DOD) (Newswatch 11 June 2007). The same article reports that Femi Agagu "confirmed the existence" of DOD and indicated that the group provided security for the PDP during elections (Newswatch 11 June 2007). Femi Agagu is also cited as stating that it is "normal for any serious minded political party to have people at each polling unit to ensure that nothing goes wrong" (ibid.).

Further information on a group known as Defenders of Democracy could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Daily Trust [Abuja]. 21 April 2003. "Electoral Malpractice: Police Arrest Suspects in Kebbi, Adamawa, Ondo, Niger, Taraba." (Biafra NigeriaWorld [BNW] News) <http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/default.aspx?a=10008&template=print-article.htm> [Accessed 22 Aug. 2008]
_____. N.d. "About Us." <http://www.dailytrust.com/content/view/4297/88>[Accessed 2 Sept. 2008]

International Crisis Group. 30 May 2007. Nigeria: Failed Elections, Failing State? (Africa Report No.126) <http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4876> [Accessed 22 Aug. 2008]

Newswatch [Lagos]. 11 June 2007. Tosin Omoniyi. "Who Killed the Security Chief?" <http://www.newswatchngr.com/editorial/allaccess/nigeria/10611142600.htm> [Accessed 22 Aug. 2008]

Oanda. 2 September 2008. "Oanda Currency Converter." <http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic> [Accessed 2 Sept. 2008]

Ondo. N.d. "Meet the Governor of Ondo State, Nigeria." <http://www.ondostategovernment.net/gov.php#POLITICS > [Accessed 3 Sept. 2008]

Online Nigeria [Akure]. 2 June 2007. Tunde Raheem. "Gunmen Kill Gov Agagu's Chief Security Officer." <http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/default.aspx?a=10008&template=print-article.htm> [Accessed 22 Aug. 2008]

Reporters Without Borders (RSF). 20 February 2008. ", Newspaper Reporter Freed on Bail after Being Held for 12 Days." <http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25782> [Accessed 2 Sept. 2008]

This Day [Lagos]. 12 June 2007. "The Murder of Awanebi." (AllAfrica/Factiva)
_____. 5 June 2007. James Sowole. "Agagu's CSO – Police Invite LP Chieftains." (AllAfrica.com) <http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200807080882.html> [Accessed 22 Aug. 2008]
_____. 2 June 2007. James Sowole. "My Father's Killing Politically Motivated – Daughter." (AllAfrica.com) <http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200706040905.html> [Accessed 22 Aug. 2008]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sources, including: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Daily Sun [Abuja], European Country of Origin Information Network (ecoi.net), Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Herald Tribune [Neuilly, France], Nigerian Masses Organization, Nigerian News.com, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), ReliefWeb, United States (US) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), US Department of State, Vanguard [Lagos].