Conflict and Violence in Nigeria Results from the North East, North Central, and South South zones 2018 The World Bank National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria Conflict in Nigeria |0 Conflict and Violence in Nigeria Results from the North East, North Central, and South South zones ABUL AZAD, EMILY CRAWFORD, HEIDI KAILA POVERTY AND EQUITY GLOBAL PRACTICE, THE WORLD BANK Conflict in Nigeria |1 Acknowledgements This is a collaborative effort of the National Bureau of Statistics, and Poverty and LSMS teams of the World Bank. We greatly appreciate the cooperation and support of the NBS and LSMS teams. At the World Bank, we would like to acknowledge the technical contributions and support of Sarosh Sattar, Vasco Molini, Alvin Ndip, Gbemisola Oseni, Amparo Palacios-Lopez, Kevin McGee, Michael Wild and Akuffo Amankwah. We also appreciate the support and input of Yemi Kale, Biyi Fafunmi, Nemi Okujagu, Esiri Ojo, Florence Oke, and Victoria Irenonse of the National Bureau of Statistics. We are thankful for their great assistance throughout this project. Finally, we appreciate the contributions of Delight Gutip, Gabriel Woji and Maryjoy Barrah throughout the process of data collection. Conflict in Nigeria |2 Executive Summary This report seeks to explain the prevalence of conflict and violence, and how these affect Nigerian households, between 2010 and 2017. The report takes into account conflict- and violence-related events of all types, independent of the cause or perpetrator of the event. This approach seeks to provide a better understanding of the extent to which households are affected by violence and conflict. Conflict in Nigeria • Conflict was higher in 2016 than in 2010 in each of the three zones • Households in North East Nigeria are the most exposed to all types of conflict events • In the North Central conflict levels are steadily high compared to 2010. • In the South South the situation is potentially alarming as conflict has increased sharply during the last two years. • Each of the three geopolitical zones surveyed has a distinct principal cause of conflict • A small minority of conflict-affected households in any of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones receive any form of assistance Conflict events over time by zone, Nigeria 2010-2016 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% North East North Central South South 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Conflict in Nigeria |3 Cause of most recent conflict event that affected a household member, by zone, Nigeria 2010-2017 North East 73% 7% 15% Terrorism Land or Resource Access North Central 21% 55% 16% Cultism or Criminality Ethnicity, Politics, or Religion South South 19% 36% 9% 32% Personal Disputes Key Lessons • Overall levels of conflict have risen between 2010 and 2016 • Sustained conflict is known to be both caused by and contribute to poverty; however, according to our findings wealth does not protect households from exposure to conflict and violence in Nigeria • Many conflict events are never reported to authorities; engaging community and religious leaders in surveillance may improve rates of reporting events and improve overall understanding of the changing context of conflict and violence across Nigeria • Only a small minority of conflict-affected households receive any type of assistance in support of their recovery – increased reporting and a stronger response system may aid in post- conflict rehabilitation • Phone-based data collection can improve understanding of conflict and violence, especially in areas where insecurity prevents face-to-face access to community members Conflict in Nigeria |4 Results by Geopolitical Zone North East Nigeria • Conflict levels peaked in 2014 in North East Nigeria, but remained relatively high through 2017 • From 2010 to 2017, 49% of households in the North East experienced at least one event of conflict or violence against a household member • More than two-thirds of conflict events in North East Nigeria were caused by Boko Haram • Only 8% of conflict-affected households report having received any assistance North Central Nigeria • Conflict and violence events in North Central Nigeria have remained steady since 2013 to 2016 • 25% of households experienced any type of conflict event from 2010 to 2017 • More than half of all reported conflict events (55%) were caused by disputes over access to land or resources • 33% of conflict-affected households had at least one member displaced as a result • 34% of the events of conflict in North Central Nigeria were never reported to any authorities South South Nigeria • The proportion of households affected by violence in Nigeria’s South South has risen steadily each year from 2010 to 2016, with a sharp increase during 2015-16. • One-fifth of households (22%) have been directly affected by conflict events or violence since 2010 • 87% of conflict events in communities are attributed to criminals, cultists, and individuals • nearly one-third of conflict-affected households had at least one member who was displaced or migrated (37%) • Three quarters of conflict events in South South Nigeria were reported to authorities Conflict in Nigeria |5 Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Country Context and Background ................................................................................................................................... 7 Research Design .................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Conflict and Violence in Nigeria’s North East Zone .................................................................................................. 12 Conflict and Violence in Nigeria’s North Central Zone ............................................................................................ 17 Conflict and Violence in Nigeria’s South South Zone................................................................................................ 22 Conflict and Violence across three geopolitical zones in Nigeria ......................................................................... 27 Relationship between poverty and conflict ................................................................................................................ 35 Key Lessons ....................................................................................................................................................................... 40 Annexes ............................................................................................................................................................................. 42 Conflict in Nigeria |6 Country Context and Background This report focuses on conflict in North East, North Central, and South South Nigeria. Each of these three geopolitical zones has a unique history and context of conflict. NORTH EAST NIGERIA comprises six states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe. This zone has been the most severely affected by conflict of any zone in Nigeria over the last decade. Conflict and violence in North East Nigeria is primarily attributable to Boko Haram, the terrorist group responsible for human rights abuses across Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger. The violent radicalization of the Boko Haram members and the resulting military operations have reportedly affected nearly fifteen million people since 2009. This conflict has triggered an acute humanitarian and forced displacement crisis, with devastating social and economic impacts on the population, further deepening underdevelopment and regional inequalities. The most affected states are the Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. The most affected groups are women, children, and youth. Boko Haram’s tactics have included multiple modes of attack, including suicide bombings, seizure and destruction of entire villages, forced displacement, abductions, sexual violence targeting women, and forced recruitment of men. Although Boko Haram-held territory has reduced in size over the last few years, the group continues to perpetrate consistent attacks in North Eastern states. NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA consists of the states of Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, and Plateau, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In recent years, conflict in the North Central zone has both escalated and expanded as tensions between farmers and herders have risen. This conflict is multi-faceted and complex. The conflict centers around agricultural households and nomadic cattle-herding groups who come into conflict over land access. As the population in North Central Nigeria increases, the amount of land used for farming also increases, often into areas that have traditionally served as cattle grazing areas. At the same time, climate change and the Boko Haram insurgency reduce the amount of land suitable for grazing in North East Nigeria, forcing herding communities to expand their routes into increasingly Southern areas. This competition over land and resources is compounded by religion and ethnicity – herders are most members of the minority Fulani ethnic group and are generally Muslim. Farmer-herder conflicts often consist of attacks by one group and subsequent retaliation from the other community. Although attention to this issue is growing, to date there has been little response directed towards affected parties and few resources allocated towards reconciliation and prevention of future conflict. SOUTH SOUTH NIGERIA is made up of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers states. This area is renowned as Nigeria’s source of oil wealth; widely perceived as the economic force driving Nigeria forward. Nevertheless, this resource wealth has not translated to economic success for most inhabitants of these states. Instead, the region suffers from ecological degradation as a result of oil spills, high rates of youth unemployment, and extensive inequality between the local population and employees of oil companies. These issues are compounded by ethnic and political tensions in the region. In particular, ethnic minority groups have frequently clashed in competition for oil wealth; political tensions in this zone also run high. All of these factors have resulted in high levels of crime. Militant and pirate groups have operated in the region for decades, targeting oil companies, pipelines, and individuals. Killings, abductions, and robberies are not uncommon, and many people have been displaced from their homes or communities as a result of the violence. The figure below summarizes key events affecting conflict and poverty in Nigeria since 2010. Conflict in Nigeria |7 North East North Central South South 2010 Boko Haram (BH) Violence increases Presidential amnesty President Umaru declares a jihad; the preceding presidential program launched for Yar’Adua dies; first attack, a prison elections militants; pipeline break, takes place in attacks decrease Goodluck Jonathan September becomes president Insurgency increases in Insurgents begin suicide 2011 North-East with bombings assassinations of Muslim Elections held voting leaders, bank Goodluck Jonathan robberies, bombings of into office government buildings Piracy attributed to Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) 2012 militants increases, kidnappings continue, but pipeline attacks decrease Insurgents continue Cattle-rustling increases; MEND leader captured conquering territory in estimated 60,000 cattle and sentenced to prison; 2013 North-East stolen this year MEND promises revenge attacks BH holds territory in Increased herder Amnesty International North-East the size of attacks lead to ethnic- records 550 oil spills in 2014 Belgium based counter-herder the Niger Delta in 2014 Worldwide price shock movements, which alone causes oil prices to dip engage in broader political violence 2015 New Nigerian president The Niger Delta launches offensive Avengers emerge and Muhammadu Buhari against BH and retakes launch attacks, causing elected and sworn into territory Nigerian oil exports to office fall 2016 International Crisis Nigeria enters 5 Group estimates 2,500 quarters of economic deaths in herder-farmer conflicts this year recession 2017 Insurgents maintain Herder-famer conflicts President Buhari territory around Lake continue, are indicates amnesty for Nigeria emerges from Chad, southern Borno, increasingly reported in pirate groups will economic recession in and eastern Yobe. National Media. continue despite third quarter frequent sabotage Conflict in Nigeria |8 This document reports on the prevalence of conflict and violence, and how these affect Nigerian households, between 2010 and 2017. The report takes into account conflict- and violence-related events of all types, independent of the cause or perpetrator of the event. This approach seeks to provide a better understanding of the extent to which households are affected by violence and conflict, as well as their perceived risk of exposure to conflict. It assumes that the economic and social impacts of violence are meaningful no matter what the cause. The report also provides context on the perceived causes and perpetrators of the conflict and violence. This data can be useful in informing response to and prevention of these events. Research Design Sampling and survey instruments The survey was a telephone based survey conducted between March 22 and May 10th, 2017. The interview was the first round of a telephone survey using a sub-set of the sample of GHS (General Household Survey) households. The first round was focused on conflict exposure, while the second round not discussed in this report focused on food insecurity in conflict affected regions. This first round of the telephone interview had 717 completed interviews with the following geographical distribution: 175 interviews in the North East, 276 in North Central and 266 in South South. In the three-conflict affected geographical zones comprising of 16 states of Nigeria, households from LGA’s that had high conflict exposure were oversampled chosen for a pilot sample, conducted before the telephone surveys. These LGA’s were chosen based on the following criteria: The oversampled LGA’s needed to have over 10 conflict events during 2012-14 recorded in the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) database1. However, given that during the third round of the GHS some of the LGAs in the North East were unsafe to visit due to the conflict, our sample might still be biased towards less conflict affected areas, as the households included in round 3 of the GHS were used in drawing the sample. The first round of the telephone survey (which took place after the pilot), first attempted to reach 742 households from the GHS panel, of which 529 could be reached and interviewed. The rest did not have phone numbers or functioning phone numbers (only 2.7 per cent refused to answer). In order to increase the sample size to a level that was considered adequate for the survey, an additional 288 replacement households were included in the sample also from the GHS panel. Out of these replacement households 188 could be interviewed. Therefore altogether 1030 households were attempted to be reached, with a final sample size of 717 completed interviews. Conflict affected areas were oversampled in order to have a large enough sample of individuals that in fact experienced conflict events in order to shed light on the type of events that have happened. A random sample of the zones might have given too small sample of conflict affected households and therefore restricted the analysis of the various types of conflict events. Due to the oversampling however, the sample drawn was not representative at the level of the geographical zone, as is the case in the GHS. Therefore, in the analysis we use probability weights that adjust for the propensity of being in a conflict affected LGA in order to ensure that the sample is representative at the level of the geographical zone. As mentioned earlier, due to the challenges of collecting data in the North East during GHS round 3, our data might still suffer from some bias such that the conflict exposure in our data is a lower bound of the true conflict exposure in the North East. During the second round of the survey 582 of the 717 households were re-interviewed on food security related issues (only the 717 were attempted to be reached). The data on the second telephone interview 1 For details, see https://www.acleddata.com/ Conflict in Nigeria |9 on food security as well as issues related to attrition in reaching the households are discussed in a separate report. Data Collection NBS in collaboration with the World Bank carried out the survey using mobile phones and captured data in tablet, which was later uploaded to the server after verification. Both teams worked together to design and program the instrument in Survey Solutions, and put in place two layers of quality control measures. The first layer incorporated measures into the programing to ensure data accuracy, and metadata was followed closely to flag questionable entries. In the second layer, a supervisor was engaged to monitor the data collection effort and also to verify responses before uploading them to the server. The data collection effort took three enumerators and a supervisor, who went through a two-day training in survey protocols, data capturing and uploading, and the questionnaire itself. The instrument was tested in house before the data collection started. The entire data collection process including the training took two and half weeks. Data Analysis Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in Stata 15. All data analysis was tracked using comprehensive do files to ensure reproducibility. All statistics presented in this report have been adjusted with probability weights, when possible, to be representative at the level of the geopolitical zone. Demographics for each geopolitical zone were analyzed based on the complete GHS 2016 dataset. The figure below shows the geographic distribution of households interviewed. Conflict in Nigeria | 10 Limitations Recall Bias In the pilot data collection, respondents were asked to report on conflict events that had taken place in their family and their community over the last six years. This extremely long recall period must be considered when drawing inferences from the data. People are likely to under-report less severe (and therefore less memorable) events, particularly those that happened to community members in larger communities. Respondents are also more likely to recall events that happened to family members than those that happened to community members. Other biases may also be at play – for example, those who have been most highly affected by conflict over the last six years may have moved to another community. These factors demonstrate the importance of implementing a regular data collection schedule, which would allow far more accurate data to be collected. Sampling Bias The GHS is a panel survey taking place over multiple rounds through a period of time. Therefore, households that are more mobile or households that are nomadic are less likely to be represented in this sample. This may be particularly relevant in circumstances where nomadic groups are named as perpetrators of conflict events. Power Dynamics There are some disadvantages to the phone system, and for this reason it should be supplemented by additional types of data collection wherever possible. In a mobile phone survey, the respondent is the person who owns a mobile phone. In many areas, particularly those highly affected by poverty and those located in rural areas, only one family member owns a mobile phone. This is generally the household head, who is most likely male. Furthermore, in many of these communities, women are not allowed to have access to mobile phones and are forbidden from speaking to outsiders, which can prohibit mobile phone-based data collection. Gender Dynamics The questionnaire was administered to only one respondent per household - most often a male household head. This means that crimes that carry stigma, especially sexual violence, are less likely to be reported. In this dataset, no sexual assault was reported despite data collected elsewhere that indicate that rape was used as a weapon by Boko Haram and elsewhere. This also means that violence that affects members of the household with less power (such as women, children, and employees), is less likely to be reported. This may be particularly important when considering violence not related to ongoing external conflict, such as domestic violence. Considering the nature of the data collection and these limitations, it is important to keep in mind that the bias arising from these limitations is likely to be a downward bias, hence leading to a lower bound of the true conflict exposure. This is due to the fact that sexual violence seems to be underreported, the sensitive nature of the conflict questions, as well as the long recall period. These factors might lead to underreporting rather than overreporting. In the case of the North East we are clearly capturing a lower bound of the true conflict exposure due to the fact that the GHS round 3 was not able to reach some of the most conflict affected LGAs. Conflict in Nigeria | 11 Conflict and Violence in Nigeria’s North East Zone North East Nigeria • Conflict levels peaked in 2014 in North East Nigeria, but remained relatively high through 2017 • From 2010 to 2017, 49% of households in the North East experienced at least one event of conflict and violence against a household member • More than two-thirds of conflict events in North East Nigeria were caused by Boko Haram • Only 8% of conflict-affected households report having received any assistance Conflict in Nigeria | 12 Demographics of North East Nigeria The population of North East Nigeria is younger than the national average, with a mean age of 22 (compared to the national average of 25). Median age is 16 (national median is 18), and 50% of the population is between the ages of 8 and 33. 93% of households use firewood as their main cooking fuel, 52% obtain their drinking water from a protected source, and 77% have any type of toilet or latrine. Few households (17%) use electricity as their main source of light, and 11% of villages have electricity. 84% of individuals have access to a mobile phone. In the last year, nearly half of households in the North East have worried about whether they would have enough money for food (47%). More than a quarter have skipped a meal due to lack of money (28%), and children in 8% of households have gone without food. Approximately half of the population in the North East zone is literate (49%). 29% of men and 44% of women have never been to school. Of those who did attend school, approximately 75% completed primary school or beyond. Overall, 48% of the population in the North East has completed primary school or beyond. Highest Level of Education Completed by individuals in North East Nigeria, 2016 38% 14% 26% 16% 7% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% None Some primary Primary Completed Secondary Completed Some tertiary Very few individuals in North East Nigeria work for someone outside their household (4%; 5% of men and 2% of women). Men are more likely to work on a household member’s farm, with 25% of men and 13% of women doing such work. 16% of men and 18% of women work for a household business. Both men and women do unpaid chores such as collect or chop firewood (22% and 15%, respectively) and fetch water (38% and 41%, respectively). Conflict and violence events in North East Nigeria peaked in 2014 Conflict levels peaked in 2014 in North East Nigeria. In 2010, relatively few conflict events affected households and communities. The figure below shows the distribution of conflict events over time. For example, we can see that less than 5% of all events recorded, both at the household and at the community level took place in 2010 (this also holds for 2011). The number of reported events increased over time, the number of of events affecting household members tripled between 2013 and 2014. While this data is subject to recall bias that may cause underreporting of events that took place long ago, the trend is undeniable. While the number of events to households has gone down each year since 2014, the amount of conflict reported in the North East in these years is still higher than levels reported pre-2012. Conflict in Nigeria | 13 Conflict events in North East Nigeria over time, 2010-2016 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Household member Community member As a comparison of the distribution of events over time, the number of community members killed in North East Nigeria was mapped against the proportion of fatalities reported each year in the ACLED and GTD databases. As shown in the figure below, these trends are consistent with data collected through other sources such as the ACLED database2 and the Global Terrorism Database.3 Distribution of fatalities over time, from three data sources, North East Nigeria ACLED fatalities GTD fatalities World Bank/NBS 2017 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 More than half of households in North East Nigeria are directly affected by conflict From 2010 to 2017, 49% of households in the North East experienced at least one event of conflict or violence. Households affected by conflict or violence experienced an average of 3.4 conflict events between 2010 and 2017. 2 ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project), www.acleddata.com 3 GTD (Global Terrorism Database), http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/ Conflict in Nigeria | 14 More than one in five households had a member displaced (27%), their dwelling robbed (22%), or access to school blocked (21%) at least once between 2010 and 2017. A household member was killed in 7% of households in North East Nigeria in the same time period. When considering conflict at the community level in North East Nigeria, a very high number of citizens have been affected. One third of households (32%) had someone in their community killed between 2010 and 2017. Similarly high numbers of households reported knowing someone in their community who had been robbed (30%), displaced (30%), or had their dwelling robbed (32%). A detailed summary of the number and frequency of conflict events in both households and communities in North East Nigeria follows below. Percent of households affected by conflict events targeting members of their household and members of their community; North East Nigeria 2010-2017 North East Households (%) Community members (%) Percent experiencing any conflict event 49% 72% Type of Event (Household/Community member … since 2010) Killed 7.0% 34.0% Physically attacked 5.0% 18.0% Injured 5.4% 19.0% Suffered sexual violence 0.0% 6.0% Forced to work 0.9% 1.2% Abducted 0.0% 7.2% Robbed 12.0% 30.0% Displaced 27.0% 30.0% Dwelling robbed 22.0% 32.0% Dwelling damaged 5.6% 20.0% Land occupied 5.6% 9.7% Assets destroyed 3.6% 11.0% School access blocked 21.0% 26.0% Health service access blocked 6.6% 11.0% Insurgents perpetrated two-thirds of conflict events in North East Nigeria In North East Nigeria, more than two-thirds of conflict events in households (72%) were caused by insurgents. A smaller minority of conflict was due to crime or cultism (15%), disputes over land or resources (7%), and ethnicity, politics, or religion (2%). Conflict in Nigeria | 15 Perpetrator of conflict events affecting household members, North East Nigeria 2010-2017 Militants Insurgents 15% Bandits, Criminals, Cultists Pastoralists 72% Individuals Others One in four conflict-affected households in North East Nigeria experienced displacement and lost economic opportunity Each conflict-affected household was asked to report the most important consequence of the Main Consequence of Household-level most recent conflict event they experienced (if Conflict Event, North East Nigeria more than one conflict event was experienced 2010-2017 in the same year, they were asked to report 0% 10% 20% 30% the most important consequence of the most severe event). The most common and most Lost hh member important consequences of conflict events in North East Nigeria were displacement, Displaced or migrated experienced by 26% of conflict-affected households, and lost economic opportunity, Lost assets experienced by 28% of conflict-affected households. 16% of households affected by Lost economic opportunity conflict had to send their children away or remove them from school, 12% faced Sold property additional costs for expenses such as medical treatment or replacement of stolen or Borrowed money damaged items. 77% of households didn’t report the conflict Reduced consumption event they experienced to any authorities. The 23% that did report mostly contacted Faced additional costs community leaders (71%), religious leaders (15%), or the military (12%). Only 8% of Children sent away or out households report having received any of school assistance after the conflict event. Nearly all of this assistance was received either from relatives outside the household or from an NGO. Conflict in Nigeria | 16 Conflict and Violence in Nigeria’s North Central Zone North Central Nigeria • Conflict and violence events in North Central Nigeria remained steady from 2013 to 2016 • More than half of all reported conflict events (55%) were caused by disputes over access to land or resources • 33% of conflict-affected households had at least one member displaced as a result • 34% of the events of conflict in North Central Nigeria were never reported to any authorities Conflict in Nigeria | 17 Demographics of North Central Nigeria In North Central Nigeria, the age of the population generally reflects that of the national population. Mean age is 24, and the median age is 18. Half of the population is between the ages of 9 and 37. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of households in the North Central zone use firewood as their main cooking fuel, 70% of households get their main drinking water from a treated or protected source and 45% have any type of latrine or toilet. Electrification is rare; 13% of villages have electricity and 30% of households use the national grid as their main source of light. 90% of individuals have access to a mobile phone. In the last 12 months, 30% of households in North Central Nigeria had worried about having enough money for food, 13% skipped a meal due to a lack of money, and 10% of households had children go without food for economic reasons. Men have a higher level of educational achievement than women; 66% of men are literate and 82% of men have ever attended school, whereas only 49% of women are literate and 65% have ever attended school. Overall, of those who attended school 46% completed primary school, 25% completed secondary school, and 16% have at least some tertiary education. Highest level of education completed by individuals in North Central Nigeria, 2016 28% 7% 34% 18% 12% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% None Some primary Primary Completed Secondary Completed Some tertiary Only 6% of adults in the North Central zone work outside the household. However, 25% work on a farm owned by a household member (30% of men and 21% of women), and 18% work for a household business (11% of men and 24% of women). More women do unpaid labor, with 28% having collected firewood the previous day (compared to 17% of men) and 69% having fetched water the previous day (compared to 41% of men). 12% of individuals spend more than 30 minutes fetching water for the household. Conflict and violence events in North Central Nigeria remained steady from 2013 to 2016 Reported levels of conflict in North Central Nigeria rise each year from 2010 to 2012, then doubled in 2012, when 17% of reported conflict events occurred. Since 2013, levels of conflict and violence have remained steady. However, 17% of reported conflict events took place between January and May of 2017, indicating that levels of conflict and violence may have increased in that year. Conflict in Nigeria | 18 Conflict events in North Central Nigeria over time, 2010-2016 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Household member Community member As a comparison of the distribution of events over time, the number of community members killed in North Central Nigeria was mapped against the proportion of fatalities reported each year in the ACLED and GTD databases. As shown in the figure below, the time distribution of fatalities reported each year from the three sources appears similar over this time period. Distribution of fatalities over time, from three data sources, North Central Nigeria ACLED fatalities GTD fatalities World Bank/NBS 2017 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 25% of households in North Central Nigeria experienced conflict since 2010 25% of households experienced any type of conflict event between 2010 and 2017, with the average conflict-affected household experiencing 3.1 events. More households report having family member displaced (8%) or assets destroyed (7.9%). 6% of households were robbed, 6% had their dwelling damaged, and 6% of households had school access blocked. More respondents reported that someone in their communities had been robbed (17%), killed (15%), injured (14%) or had their dwelling robbed (14%). Conflict in Nigeria | 19 The table below shows reported conflict and violence events that took place in North Central Nigeria from 2010 to 2017. Percent of households affected by conflict events targeting members of their household and members of their community; North Central Nigeria 2010-2017 North Central Households Community (%) members (%) Percent experiencing any conflict event 25% 47% Type of Event (Household/Community member … since 2010) Killed 2.5% 15.0% Physically attacked 2.8% 12.0% Injured 1.5% 14.0% Suffered sexual violence 0.0% 3.0% Forced to work 0.0% 0.2% Abducted 0.6% 8.0% Robbed 6.0% 17.0% Displaced 8.1% 7.0% Dwelling robbed 5.5% 14.0% Dwelling damaged 6.2% 9.7% Land occupied 4.8% 9.1% Assets destroyed 7.9% 10.0% School access blocked 6.0% 7.2% Health service access blocked 0.9% 1.4% Most conflict in North Central Nigeria is related to land or resource access In the North Central Zone, disputes over access to land or resources was the cause of more than half of the most recent events (55%)4. Land or resource access refers to the responses “livestock grazing on farm,” “land disputes,” and “access to natural resources.” Another fifth of the reported most recent events were caused by terrorism (21%). Similarly, pastoralists were reportedly the perpetrator of 45% of the most recent conflict event experienced by the household, and insurgents were named as the perpetrator of 21% of these acts. It is essential to consider the survey population when interpreting this data; surveyed households were selected from a panel survey and are therefore less likely to be nomadic herders. Therefore, reporting of the perpetrator of crimes may be biased towards reports of events targeting the non-nomadic agricultural populations in this zone. 4 The cause of the event was collected only for one event per household, the most recent one. Conflict in Nigeria | 20 Cause of most recent conflict events reported in North Central Nigeria, 2010-2017 5% Terrorism 21% 16% Land or resource access Cultism or Criminality Ethnicity, Politics, or Religion Personal Disputes 55% Others Households in North Central Nigeria are frequently displaced and receive no assistance following conflict events The most common and most important outcome of thes most recent conflict event experienced by the household was displacement or migration of at least one household member, which affected one third of households (33%). Twenty-nine (29) percent of households reported losing economic opportunity. The next most common consequence was facing additional costs, such as having to spend money on medical treatment or replacing resources, affecting 13% of conflict-affected households. Eleven (11) percent of conflict-affected households had sent their children away or removed their children from school. Only 66% of the most recent events of conflict in North Central Nigeria were reported to any authorities. Of the reported events, 65% were reported to community leaders and 15% to the police. Only 10% of households report receiving assistance from any source following the event. Main Consequence of Most Recent Household-level Conflict Event, North Central Nigeria 2010-2017 Children sent away or out… Faced additional costs Reduced consumption Borrowed money Sold property Lost economic opportunity Lost assets Displaced or migrated Lost hh member 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Conflict in Nigeria | 21 Conflict and Violence in Nigeria’s South South Zone South South Nigeria • The proportion of households affected by violence in Nigeria’s South South has risen steadily each year from 2010 to 2016 • One-fifth of households (22%) have been directly affected by conflict and violence since 2010 • 87% of conflict events in communities are attributed to criminals, cultists, and individuals • nearly one-third of conflict-affected households had at least one member who was displaced or migrated (37%) • Three quarters of the most recent conflict events experienced by the household in South South Nigeria were reported to authorities Conflict in Nigeria | 22 Demographics of South South Nigeria Residents of South South Nigeria are slightly older than the national population, with a mean age of 27 and median age 21 (compared to the national mean of 25 and median of 22). 50% of the population is between the ages of 11 and 40. 58% of households in South South Nigeria use firewood as their main cooking fuel, 77% get the drinking water from a protected source, and 82% have any kind of toilet or latrine. Half of households (49%) use electricity as their main source of light, and 45% of villages have electricity. 83% of individuals have access to a mobile phone. In the last year, more than half of households worried about having enough money for food (54%), and 40% had members skip a meal due to lack of money. One in five children (22%) went without food in the same period due to a lack of money. Most individuals in the South South zone are literate: 88% of men and 76% of women can read and write. Similarly, 98% of men and 93% of women have ever attended school. 93% of the population over 12 has completed primary school, and 22% has reached some level of tertiary education. Highest Level of Education Completed by individuals in South South Nigeria, 2016 7% 43% 32% 17% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% None Primary Completed Secondary Completed Some tertiary Nearly one in ten adults works for someone outside of the household (9%) – 12% of men and 7% of women. 21% of adults work on a household member’s farm, and 19% work for a household business. Women are more likely to work both for household farms (23% compared to 20% of men) and household businesses (22% compared to 16%). Women also do more of the unpaid labor, with 20% of women and 12% of men collecting or chopping firewood and 22% of women and 16% of men fetching water. Conflict and violence events in South South Nigeria have increased each year between 2010 and 2016 In Nigeria’s South South geopolitical zone, reports of conflict and violence have risen steadily each year from 2010 to 2016. Though the low levels of reported conflict and violence in 2010-2014 are subject to recall bias (that is, respondents are more likely to forget events that happened longer ago), the trend is clear. Whereas in 2010 only 3% of reported conflict events occurred, 17% of the events in South South Nigeria took place in 2015, and 34% took place in 2016. 16% of the events reported occurred between January and May 2017. Conflict in Nigeria | 23 Conflict events in South South Nigeria over time, 2010-2016 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Household member Community member Both ACLED and Global Terrorism Database (GTD) measure reported fatalities over time. In the figure below, the time distributions of fatalities are mapped against the time distribution of reported killings of community members since 2010. The exact time series differs among the three sources varies; however, the upward trend of incidents over time remains strong and alarming in all three datasets Distribution of fatalities over time, from three data sources, South South Nigeria GTD fatalities ACLED fatalities World Bank/NBS 2017 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 One in twenty households in South South Nigeria have had a household member killed since 2010 One-fifth of households (22%) have been directly affected by conflict or violence since 2010, with the average affected household experiencing 2.5 conflict events in that time. In the same time period, half (49%) of households have had someone in their community affected by violence. Nearly five percent (4.8) of households have had a household member killed between 2010 and 2017. Approximately 6% of households have had at least one person displaced (5.7%), their dwelling robbed (6.4%), or their access to schools blocked (6.0%). 25% of households report someone in their community has been killed between 2010 and 2017. High numbers of respondents also report someone in their community having their home robbed (25%). Conflict in Nigeria | 24 Percent of households affected by conflict events targeting members of their household and members of their community; North East, North Central, and South South Nigeria 2010-2017 South South Households (%) Community members (%) Percent experiencing any conflict event 22% 49% Type of Event (Household/Community member … since 2010) Killed 4.8% 24.0% Physically attacked 3.5% 13.0% Injured 3.0% 12.0% Suffered sexual violence 0.0% 3.6% Forced to work 0.0% 0.0% Abducted 1.1% 13.0% Robbed 2.4% 13.0% Displaced 5.7% 11.0% Dwelling robbed 6.4% 25.0% Dwelling damaged 4.6% 11.0% Land occupied 1.6% 6.3% Assets destroyed 4.2% 7.0% School access blocked 6.0% 8.4% Health service access blocked 0.0% 1.1% Conflict events in South South Nigeria are perpetrated by many actors Some of Nigeria’s conflict-affected regions have a predominant, identifiable cause and related perpetrator of violence. In the South South, both the cause and the perpetrator of events is less consistent. Approximately one-third of the conflict events reported by households (36%) are said to be caused by cultism or criminality. Another third are caused by personal disputes (32%). Access to land or resources is said to be the cause of 19% of conflict events. Those named as the perpetrator of conflict events are most often bandits, criminals, or cultists – 45% of conflict events in communities are attributed to these actors. Another 42% of events are attributed to individuals. Perpetrator of conflict events affecting household members, South South Nigeria 2010-2017 Militants Insurgents 42% Bandits, Criminals, Cultists 50% Pastoralists Individuals Conflict in Nigeria | 25 Many households in South South Nigeria move or send their children away due to conflict and violence As a result of the most recent conflict event they experienced, nearly one-third of conflict-affected households had at least one member who was displaced or migrated (37%). A considerable amount (16%) lost economic opportunity as a result of this experience. 13% of conflict-affected households lost a household member as a result of the most recent event, and 11% lost assets. Another 11% of households sent their children away or kept them out of school as a result of the most recent conflict event they experienced. Reporting of conflict events to the authorities is quite high, with 74% of households contacting someone to report the most recent event they have experienced. 54% of these reports were made to religious leaders, and 43% to the police. Only 5% of households received any assistance following the event. Main Consequence of Household-level Conflict Event, South South Nigeria 2010-2017 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Lost hh member Displaced or migrated Lost assets Lost economic opportunity Sold property Borrowed money Reduced consumption Faced additional costs Children sent away or out of school Conflict in Nigeria | 26 Conflict and Violence across three geopolitical zones in Nigeria Three zones in Nigeria • Conflict was higher in 2016 than in 2010 in each of the three zones • Households in North East Nigeria are the most exposed to all types of conflict events • Each of the three geopolitical zones surveyed has a distinct principal cause of conflict • A small minority of conflict-affected households in any of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones receive any form of assistance Conflict in Nigeria | 27 Conflict was higher in 2016 than in 2010 in the three zones Across the three surveyed geopolitical zones, the number of conflict events each year increased between 2010 and 2017. The trends varied widely, however, by geography. In North East Nigeria, the number of conflict events increased until 2014, but was reported at lower levels in 2015 and 2016. In contrast, the number of conflict events more than doubled between 2012 and 2013 in the North Central zone. Since 2013, the number of events has remained stable. Meanwhile, South South Nigeria has shown consistently increasing levels of conflict between 2010 and 2016, with a particularly sharp and alarming increase between 2015-16 Conflict events over time by zone, Nigeria 2010-2016 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% North East North Central South South 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Data collection was conducted in May 2017, and the number of conflict and violence events that took place in 2017 was also collected. Because this represents only a portion of the year, this data is not useful for observing multi-year trends, and therefore we have not included it in the above graph. Conflict in Nigeria | 28 Between 2010 and 2017, households in North East Nigeria experienced higher levels of conflict of all types Between 2010 and 2017, 49% of households in North East Nigeria were directly affected by conflict perpetrated against a member of the household. This is twice the proportion of households affected in North Central (25%) and South South (22%) Nigeria. Proportion of households with any member affected by a conflict event, Nigeria 2010-2017 North East North Central South South 25% 22% 49% Conflict in Nigeria | 29 When reviewing the reports of conflict events by type of event, it is clear that with the exception of abduction, North East Nigeria was more exposed to every type of conflict event recorded. In particular, households in the North East were far more likely to experience displacement, robbery of a dwelling, and blocked access to school and health services. This is illustrated in the figure below, and exact percentages are presented in the table that follows. Proportion of households affected by conflict, by type of event, zone, and person affected, Nigeria 2010-2017 Household members Community Members 0% 20% 40% 0% 20% 40% Killed Physically attacked Injured Suffered sexual violence Forced to work Abducted Robbed Displaced Dwelling robbed Dwelling damaged Land occupied Assets destroyed School access blocked Health service access blocked North East North Central South South The reported data shows some intriguing inconsistency between household and community data. No respondent reports any member of their household experiencing sexual assault since 2010, in any geopolitical zone. This is likely due to the stigma related to sexual assault, but highlights a potential weakness in reporting this type of indicator by phone. Similarly, only 1.4% of households have had a member abducted since 2010. However, 30.2% of communities know of a community member that was abducted in the same period. This may be due to increased awareness of abduction at the community Conflict in Nigeria | 30 level, as the family of someone who has been abducted may raise an alarm and also reach out to community members in order to collect ransom. Proportion of households affected by conflict, by type of event, zone, and person affected, Nigeria 2010-2017 North East North Central South South Households Community Households Community Households Community (%) members (%) members (%) members (%) (%) (%) Percent experiencing 49% 72% 25% 47% 22% 49% any conflict event Type of Event (Household/Community member … since 2010) Killed 7.0% 34.0% 2.5% 15.0% 4.8% 24.0% Physically attacked 5.0% 18.0% 2.8% 12.0% 3.5% 13.0% Injured 5.4% 19.0% 1.5% 14.0% 3.0% 12.0% Suffered sexual violence 0.0% 6.0% 0.0% 3.0% 0.0% 3.6% Forced to work 0.9% 1.2% 0.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% Abducted 0.0% 7.2% 0.6% 8.0% 1.1% 13.0% Robbed 12.0% 30.0% 6.0% 17.0% 2.4% 13.0% Displaced 27.0% 30.0% 8.1% 7.0% 5.7% 11.0% Dwelling robbed 22.0% 32.0% 5.5% 14.0% 6.4% 25.0% Dwelling damaged 5.6% 20.0% 6.2% 9.7% 4.6% 11.0% Land occupied 5.6% 9.7% 4.8% 9.1% 1.6% 6.3% Assets destroyed 3.6% 11.0% 7.9% 10.0% 4.2% 7.0% School access blocked 21.0% 26.0% 6.0% 7.2% 6.0% 8.4% Health service access blocked 6.6% 11.0% 0.9% 1.4% 0.0% 1.1% The primary cause of conflict in Nigeria varies widely by geopolitical zone The figure below illustrates the vastly different principal causes of conflict for the most recent event experienced by the household in each of the three geopolitical zones surveyed. In North East Nigeria, 73% of the most recent events were attributed to terrorism – generally understood to be Boko Haram activity – whereas no acts of terrorism were reported in the South South. In North Central Nigeria, more than half (55%) of the reported events were attributed to land or resource access. This includes conflicts related to agriculture, livestock, land ownership, and water access. In South South Nigeria, the causes of conflict still differ from the other two zones. In the South South, two-thirds of the most recent conflict events can be attributed to cultism or criminality (36%) or personal disputes (32%). The table below shows in detail the reported cause and perpetrator of the reported conflict events by zone. Conflict in Nigeria | 31 Cause of most recent conflict event that affected a household member, by zone, Nigeria 2010-2017 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% North East 73% 7% 15% North Central 21% 55% 16% South South 19% 36% 9% 32% Terrorism Land or Resource Access Cultism or Criminality Ethnicity, Politics, or Religion Personal Disputes North East North Central South South Household Community Household Community Household Community events (%) events (%) events (%) events (%) events (%) events (%) Cause of household event Terrorism5 73% 62% 21% 14% 0% 0% Land or Resource Access6 7% 9% 55% 39% 19% 17% Cultism or Criminality 15% 16% 16% 29% 36% 45% Ethnicity, Politics, or Religion 2% 5% 5% 6% 9% 14% Personal Disputes 1% 2% 0% 3% 32% 20% Others 1% 6% 3% 9% 5% 4% Perpetrator of the event Militants 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1% Insurgents 72% 62% 21% 12% 0% 0% Bandits, Criminals, Cultists 15% 17% 15% 33% 42% 45% Pastoralists 5% 8% 45% 35% 3% 2% Individuals 7% 10% 16% 13% 50% 42% Others 1% 3% 2% 6% 5% 10% Notes: Perpetrator of the event was asked for all the events reported. Cause of the event was only asked in relation to the most recent event. In the case where there were more than one event occurring during the same year, the households were asked to identify the most severe of those most recent events. A small minority of conflict-affected households in any of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones receive any form of assistance No consistent national reporting structure exists for events of conflict and violence, and each geopolitical zone surveyed has a distinct reporting pattern. In North East Nigeria, only 23% of the most recent conflict events to the household were reported at all. Those events that were reported were most often taken to community leaders (16% of events). In North Central Nigeria, a larger proportion of events were reported 5 Terrorism is generally attributable to Boko Haram activities, and was recorded as “militant/terrorist activity” or “insurgency activity” during data collection 6 Land or resource access refers to the responses “livestock grazing on farm,” “land disputes,” and “access to natural resources.” Conflict in Nigeria | 32 – 66%. These, too, were most frequently reported to community leaders, though 10% of events were reported to the police. In the South South, three-quarters of most recent events were reported (74%). These were most often reported to religious leaders (40%), and a third of events (32%) were reported to the police. Authority most recent household event was reported to by zone, Nigeria 2010- 2017 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% North East 77% 16% North Central 34% 10% 43% South South 26% 32% 40% Not reported Military Police Religious leaders Community leaders Others Despite the variation in event reporting, the proportion of conflict-affected households receiving any form of assistance following the most recent event is consistently low – between 5 and 10% in the three zones7. Proportion of conflict-affected households receiving assistance for the most recent event, by zone, Nigeria 2010- 2017 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 8% 10% 5% 0% North East North Central South South Households receiving assistance after event No assistance received 7 The distribution of the sources of assistance are not reported as the frequencies are so low in all regions. Conflict in Nigeria | 33 Consequence of most recent household event, by zone, Nigeria 2010-2017 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Lost household Displaced or Lost assets Lost economic Faced additional Children sent away member migrated opportunity costs or out of school North East North Central South South Looking at the consequences of the most recent event, it seems that in the South South the perceived consequences are more related to losing a household member or displacement and migration than in the North Central and North East. In the Northern regions the loss of economic opportunity and additional costs are more often reported. Given the alarming increase of conflict in the South South since 2015, these severe consequences need to be kept in mind. North East North Central South South Household Household Household events (%) events (%) events (%) Main consequence of the event Lost household member 7% 6% 13% Displaced or migrated 26% 33% 37% Lost assets 5% 3% 11% Lost economic opportunity 28% 29% 16% Sold property 1% 0% 1% Borrowed money 2% 0% 2% Reduced consumption 3% 4% 2% Faced additional costs 12% 13% 7% Children sent away or out of 16% 11% 11% school Event reported 23% 66% 74% Authority event was reported to (of events reported) Military 12% 9% 2% Police 2% 15% 43% Religious leaders 15% 9% 54% Community leaders 71% 65% 1% Others 0% 2% 0% Households receiving 8% 10% 5% assistance after event Conflict in Nigeria | 34 Relationship between poverty and conflict Conflict can have a detrimental effect on the economy and on the livelihoods of households living in conflict affected areas. We are also worried whether more vulnerable households are more affected by conflict. Therefore, we take a next step in the analysis to see whether poor households (in 2016) had been more affected by conflict than non-poor households. The below figures show the exposure to conflict at the level of the household across poor and non-poor households in North East, North Central and South South, respectively. In the North East, non-poor households report having experienced slightly more conflict events than poor households. The differences are noticeable particularly when it comes to robberies, having an internally displaced person or a refugee household member and having been restricted services (school or health care). For example, among non- poor households 35 per cent have an internally displaced person or a refugee household member, compared to 18 per cent of poor households. North East: Conflict exposure by poverty status .4 Share of households .3 .2 .1 0 Non-poor Poor Robbery Displaced Restricted services Violence Asset or dwelling destroyed Land occupied In the North Central, the picture is quite different. Households having experienced robberies are much more likely to be poor, whereas non-poor households have higher rates of almost all other conflict events. As in the North East, non-poor households are more likely to have an internally displaced person or a refugee household member, and also have a higher probability of having been restricted school or healthcare services. Conflict in Nigeria | 35 North Central: Conflict exposure by poverty status .2 Share of households .15 .1 .05 0 Non-poor Poor Robbery Displaced Restricted services Violence Asset or dwelling destroyed Land occupied In the South South conflict rates are consistently higher for poor than for non-poor households. The differences are largest among robberies, violence and having had land occupied. In the South South 13 per cent of poor households had experienced a violent event (a killed household member, injury or physical violence) compared to 9 per cent among non-poor households. South South: Conflict exposure by poverty status .15 Share of households .1 .05 0 Non-poor Poor Robbery Displaced Restricted services Violence Asset or dwelling destroyed Land occupied Conflict in Nigeria | 36 Finally, we run regression models to understand whether the differences observed are statistically significant. Table “The relationship between any conflict event and poverty” shows us regression models where the dependent variable is the poverty status (getting the value 1 if the household is poor, and value 0 if household is non-poor). The variable Conflict in household is a dummy-variable that takes the value one if a household has experienced any conflict event (at the household level) between 2010 - May 2017. Columns 1-4 display results from the North East, columns 5-8 for North Central and columns 9-13 for South South. We run a linear probability model and logit models with and without household level controls that we consider rather time-invariant. We can see that in none of the models conflict is statistically significantly associated with poverty, so we do not find a relationship between poverty and conflict in any region. This reflects the fact that a large share of the population, also non-poor households, have been affected by conflict. As we saw from the above figures, it is plausible that different conflict indicators are differentially related to poverty. For instance, it could be that non-poor households can better afford moving a household member out of the conflict area and therefore are more likely to report having a displaced or refugee household member. To study whether the relationships indeed are different, we ran a disaggregated regression to study those correlations. The results are presented in table “The relationship between conflict events and poverty”. The regression models are organized similarly as in the first table presented. We can see that violent events are not correlated with poverty in any region, other factors held constant. We have highlighted statistically significant findings. These show that in the North Central robberies (of individuals or dwellings) are positively and statistically significantly related to poverty. That is, household who were poor in 2016 had a higher chance of having experienced a robbery. This finding is significant in all the models for North Central. This difference was very clear also from the graphical analysis. Furthermore, we find some slightly weaker evidence between poverty and having been restricted services in the North Central, such that non-poor households have been more likely to having experienced being restricted services. In the South South, there is some weaker evidence of poverty being related to having had one’s land occupied, but this relationship is not robust to including controls. Finally, no statistically significant results emerge from the North East, the region that has experienced the most conflict of the three regions. The analysis suggest that no clear relationship exists between poverty status in 2016 and past conflict experiences. However, we would like to point out that this analysis is preliminary and based on a cross- sectional regression. The limitation here is that that all the conflict events are accounted for similarly in the data. An event that took place in 2010 would surely be correlated differently with poverty in 2016, than a similar event that took place in 2015, for instance. Now our regressions do not take the time-dimension into account. Furthermore, it is possible that poorer households live in locations that are potentially less protected by the state, which could be a confounding factor in our analysis, which controlling for the urban status of the household does not fully absorb. Rigorously controlling for household’s location would require household fixed effects, which goes beyond the simple analysis of this report. In general, a panel data analysis would be required to better understand the relationship between poverty and conflict, and to get coefficient estimates that aim at capturing causal effects. All in all, the analysis should be taken as a correlation study, that is, we do not claim that the relationships observed are causal. Conflict in Nigeria | 37 The relationship between any conflict event and poverty (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) NE NE NE NE NC NC NC NC SS SS SS SS VARIABLES OLS Logit OLS Logit OLS Logit OLS Logit OLS Logit OLS Logit Conflict in household -0.103 -0.414 -0.0779 -0.326 0.0354 0.156 0.0281 0.125 0.0195 0.281 0.00717 0.0844 (0.0863) (0.349) (0.0722) (0.361) (0.0824) (0.359) (0.0655) (0.363) (0.0426) (0.605) (0.0422) (0.649) Ever attended school hh head -0.214*** -1.026*** -0.243*** -1.369*** 0.0367 1.081 (0.0811) (0.382) (0.0779) (0.419) (0.0362) (0.888) Household size 0.0336*** 0.183*** 0.0503*** 0.280*** 0.0176*** 0.230*** (0.00932) (0.0678) (0.00891) (0.0617) (0.00649) (0.0675) Male hh head 0.113 0.513 0.105 0.627 -0.0322 -0.440 (0.160) (0.855) (0.0727) (0.471) (0.0416) (0.708) Urban -0.228*** -1.145*** -0.146** -0.858** -0.105*** -2.839*** (0.0785) (0.436) (0.0690) (0.391) (0.0354) (0.824) Observations 175 175 175 175 276 276 276 276 266 266 266 266 R-squared 0.011 0.218 0.001 0.224 0.001 0.073 Dependent variable: Poverty status. Logit regression coefficients are not adjusted for any marginal effects. All regressions use weights. Robust standard errors in parentheses. *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1 Conflict in Nigeria | 38 The relationship between conflict events and poverty (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) NE NE NE NE NC NC NC NC SS SS SS SS VARIABLES OLS Logit OLS Logit OLS Logit OLS Logit OLS Logit OLS Logit HH conflict: violence 0.0587 0.264 0.104 0.507 -0.115 -0.764 -0.136 -0.851 0.0252 0.343 0.0227 0.302 (0.114) (0.509) (0.120) (0.640) (0.122) (0.914) (0.131) (1.066) (0.0813) (1.024) (0.0773) (0.962) HH conflict: robbery 0.00361 0.0173 -0.0294 -0.119 0.292*** 1.387*** 0.193** 1.290*** 0.0214 0.280 0.0118 0.244 (0.0947) (0.396) (0.0840) (0.432) (0.0976) (0.458) (0.0924) (0.493) (0.0562) (0.719) (0.0563) (0.801) HH conflict: property destroyed -0.133 -0.637 -0.242 -1.444 0.00947 -0.115 0.0198 -0.274 -0.00989 -0.131 0.0394 0.689 (0.148) (0.736) (0.190) (1.330) (0.103) (0.533) (0.0980) (0.664) (0.0568) (0.726) (0.0571) (0.814) HH conflict: land occupied 0.170 0.748 0.111 0.475 0.198 1.015 0.0479 0.524 0.204 1.651** 0.149 0.832 (0.170) (0.731) (0.182) (1.010) (0.138) (0.672) (0.135) (0.693) (0.142) (0.787) (0.146) (0.929) HH conflict: refugee / displaced -0.189 -0.794 -0.125 -0.660 -0.205 -1.257 -0.0172 -0.693 0.00271 0.0272 -0.0562 -1.348 (0.153) (0.668) (0.136) (0.729) (0.155) (1.068) (0.142) (1.180) (0.0462) (0.623) (0.0531) (0.887) HH conflict: restricted school or -0.0688 -0.314 -0.0564 -0.112 -0.179 -1.551 -0.207* -1.614 0.00187 0.00801 -0.000348 0.533 healthcare (0.149) (0.671) (0.142) (0.757) (0.126) (1.181) (0.123) (1.289) (0.0475) (0.601) (0.0447) (0.806) Ever attended school hh head -0.214*** -1.053*** -0.223*** -1.324*** 0.0431 1.193 (0.0811) (0.404) (0.0799) (0.425) (0.0376) (0.918) Household size 0.0355*** 0.194*** 0.0470*** 0.262*** 0.0180*** 0.249*** (0.00853) (0.0624) (0.00921) (0.0623) (0.00674) (0.0684) Male hh head 0.133 0.639 0.0918 0.826* -0.0349 -0.583 (0.158) (0.816) (0.0742) (0.475) (0.0421) (0.721) Urban -0.203** -1.086** -0.141** -0.839** -0.103*** -2.862*** (0.0832) (0.488) (0.0707) (0.410) (0.0376) (0.850) Observations 175 175 175 175 276 276 276 276 266 266 266 266 R-squared 0.046 0.251 0.071 0.249 0.012 0.082 Dependent variable: Poverty status. Logit regression coefficients are not adjusted for any marginal effects. All regressions use weights. Robust standard errors in parentheses. *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1 Conflict in Nigeria | 39 Key Lessons Conflict and violence in Nigeria cannot be addressed with a single, monolithic approach across different geopolitical zones. Patterns of conflict incidence, type of event, cause, and consequence of event vary widely in each area of the country. This data illustrates, however, several critical trends that should be investigated and addressed. • Overall levels of conflict have risen since 2010 In each of the geopolitical zones where data was collected, conflict rates were lowest in 2010, and rose dramatically over the following years. Understanding these trends and the root causes of this violence will be critical to understanding how to prevent further deterioration of security across Nigeria, as well as how to rebuild peaceful communities in severely conflict-affected areas. • Sustained conflict is both caused by and contributes to poverty; however, wealth does not protect households from exposure to conflict and violence The conflict events that affect Nigerian households are frequently a product of poverty, but also contribute to the cycle of poverty. Many of the conflict events reported during the data collection were caused by economic issues: terrorism (which relies on economic instability to gain traction), disputes over access to land and natural resources, and bandits. Those households that experienced conflict go on to lose economic opportunities and in many cases are displaced from their homes. The cycle of poverty is perpetuated as children are removed from school in large numbers and many families are blocked from accessing health services. Households with greater wealth, however, were still affected by conflict and violence at the same rates as those living in poverty. These households also routinely experienced economic shocks and losses, potentially putting these households at risk of entering poverty as well. • Many conflict events are never reported to authorities; engaging community and religious leaders in surveillance may improve rates of reporting events and improve overall understanding of the changing context of conflict and violence across Nigeria People and communities who are affected by conflict do not have a consistent way to report conflict. Many conflict events across all geopolitical zones are never reported, though the least amount of reporting happens in the North East. Those events that are reported do not consistently get reported to the same actors. This makes surveillance of the prevalence and impact of conflict and violence irregular and inaccurate. Currently, community leaders or religious leaders receive the most information about conflict events. The police and military receive relatively few reports. If the government is interested in building systems for surveillance of conflict, it should consider engaging religious and community leaders in these efforts. • Only a small minority of conflict-affected households receive any type of assistance in support of their recovery – increased reporting and a stronger response system may aid in post-conflict rehabilitation Although the frequency, type, and cause of conflict and violence varies widely across the different geopolitical zones of Nigeria, one data point remained consistent: only a small minority of conflict- affected households receive any type of assistance. No zone reported more than 10% of conflict-affected households receiving any form of assistance. Furthermore, the majority of those who did receive assistance received it from family members. As shown in this data, the majority of theevents are not reported – which in turn makes it difficult for officials to respond. This highlights an urgent need for more comprehensive reporting and response to conflict, especially in highly-affected areas. Conflict in Nigeria | 40 • Phone-based data collection can improve understanding of conflict and violence, especially in areas where insecurity prevents face-to-face access to community members This report distills and presents the best available data on conflict, representative for three geopolitical zones across Nigeria. Despite low levels of reporting conflict and violence to authorities across the three zones, this phone-based data collection allows for a more nuanced understanding of the extent to which households across Nigeria are affected by conflict – not just physically, but socially and economically as well. Data collection via phone allows for penetration of data collection into areas rendered inaccessible due to violence and insecurity. Because of the relative anonymity of this interview method compared to household interviews conducted in the respondent’s home, some respondents may also feel more comfortable disclosing information. Nevertheless, this data represents only a portion of the true picture of conflict in Nigeria. Only additional research, carried out consistently over time, can shed more light on the true impact of conflict and violence on Nigeria’s population and its economic development. Future research should ideally be carried out more frequently, to allow for shorter and more accurate recall periods. Furthermore, additional efforts should be made to ensure more accurate reporting of events – especially those that carry stigma and may go unreported such as sexual violence. Future study designs should take gender and power dynamics into careful account. Conflict in Nigeria | 41 Annexes Proportion of conflict events occurring per year; North East, North Central, and South South Nigeria 2010-2017 Household events refer to the events that surveyed households reported that affected members of their own household. Community events refer to events that affected the communities where the surveyed households are located. Communities may contain more than one surveyed household. North East North Central South South Household Community Household Community Household Community level level level level level level 2010 3.0% 4.1% 4.1% 3.9% 2.9% 2.5% 2011 2.6% 3.8% 6.9% 6.4% 3.6% 0.6% 2012 4.3% 8.1% 7.3% 7.9% 5.9% 4.3% 2013 10.6% 10.3% 16.5% 12.1% 7.7% 4.9% 2014 36.6% 28.9% 17.0% 17.2% 11.7% 7.4% 2015 23.4% 22.3% 16.1% 17.2% 17.1% 9.9% 2016 9.9% 12.9% 15.1% 21.3% 34.6% 45.1% 2017 9.6% 9.6% 17.0% 14.0% 16.5% 25.3% Percent of households affected by conflict events targeting members of their household and members of their community; North East, North Central, and South South Nigeria 2010-2017 North East North Central South South Households Community Households Community Households Community (%) members (%) members (%) members (%) (%) (%) Percent experiencing 49% 72% 25% 47% 22% 49% any conflict event Type of Event (Household/Community member … since 2010) Killed 7.0% 34.0% 2.5% 15.0% 4.8% 24.0% Physically attacked 5.0% 18.0% 2.8% 12.0% 3.5% 13.0% Injured 5.4% 19.0% 1.5% 14.0% 3.0% 12.0% Suffered sexual violence 0.0% 6.0% 0.0% 3.0% 0.0% 3.6% Forced to work 0.9% 1.2% 0.0% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% Abducted 0.0% 7.2% 0.6% 8.0% 1.1% 13.0% Robbed 12.0% 30.0% 6.0% 17.0% 2.4% 13.0% Displaced 27.0% 30.0% 8.1% 7.0% 5.7% 11.0% Dwelling robbed 22.0% 32.0% 5.5% 14.0% 6.4% 25.0% Dwelling damaged 5.6% 20.0% 6.2% 9.7% 4.6% 11.0% Land occupied 5.6% 9.7% 4.8% 9.1% 1.6% 6.3% Assets destroyed 3.6% 11.0% 7.9% 10.0% 4.2% 7.0% School access blocked 21.0% 26.0% 6.0% 7.2% 6.0% 8.4% Health service access blocked 6.6% 11.0% 0.9% 1.4% 0.0% 1.1% Conflict in Nigeria | 42 Causes, perpetrators, and consequences of conflict events in North East, North Central, and South South Nigeria 2010-2017 Household events refer to the events that surveyed households reported that affected members of their own household. Community events refer to events that affected the communities where the surveyed households are located. Communities may contain more than one surveyed household. North East North Central South South Household Community Household Community Household Community events (%) events (%) events (%) events (%) events (%) events (%) Cause of household event Terrorism8 73% 62% 21% 14% 0% 0% Land or Resource Access9 7% 9% 55% 39% 19% 17% Cultism or Criminality 15% 16% 16% 29% 36% 45% Ethnicity, Politics, or Religion 2% 5% 5% 6% 9% 14% Personal Disputes 1% 2% 0% 3% 32% 20% Others 1% 6% 3% 9% 5% 4% Perpetrator of the event Militants 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1% Insurgents 72% 62% 21% 12% 0% 0% Bandits, Criminals, Cultists 15% 17% 15% 33% 42% 45% Pastoralists 5% 8% 45% 35% 3% 2% Individuals 7% 10% 16% 13% 50% 42% Others 1% 3% 2% 6% 5% 10% Main consequence of the event Lost household member 7% - 6% - 13% - Displaced or migrated 26% - 33% - 37% - Lost assets 5% - 3% - 11% - Lost economic opportunity 28% - 29% - 16% - Sold property 1% - 0% - 1% - Borrowed money 2% - 0% - 2% - Reduced consumption 3% - 4% - 2% - Faced additional costs 12% - 13% - 7% - Children sent away or out of 16% - 11% - 11% - school Event reported 23% - 66% - 74% - Authority event was reported to (of events reported) Military 12% - 9% - 2% - Police 2% - 15% - 43% - Religious leaders 15% - 9% - 54% - Community leaders 71% - 65% - 1% - Others 0% - 2% - 0% - Households receiving 8% - 10% - 5% - assistance after event Notes: The data for causes, consequences and reporting of the event to an authority are only recorded for the most recent event experienced by the household. In the case where there were more than one event occurring during the same year, the households were asked to identify the most severe of those most recent events. 8 Terrorism is generally attributable to Boko Haram activities, and was recorded as “militant/terrorist activity” or “insurgency activity” during data collection 9 Land or resource access refers to the responses “livestock grazing on farm,” “land disputes,” and “access to natural resources.” Conflict in Nigeria | 43