Communal Conflict and Conflict Management in Rivers State, Nigeria: A Study of Ogbakiri Crisis in Emohua Local Government, 1999-2009

Abstract

The study examined Ogbakiri communal crisis in Rivers State and the methodologies adopted in pacifying the conflict that led to communal carnage in Emohua Local Government Area. The Ogbakiri crisis was occasioned by an unsettled inter-village crisis between mainly two villages-Rumuoro-Ogbakiri and Odohua-Ogbakiri. However, the conflict escalated and spread to six villages that make up Ogbakiri Community. The study aimed at investigating the process and methods adopted in the restoration of sustainable peace among the eight communities in the Ogbakiri community. This study adopted the triangulation method of data-gathering techniques. The primary data were sourced through questionnaires and interviews. The secondary data were sourced through newspaper publications, journals and the Internet. The study unravelled that the cause of the Ogbakiri crisis was a clash of historical differences and an internal conflict between the eight villages. Hence, the study recommended among others that the Rivers State traditional rulers should be made Judge of the Customary Court.