The Gap

Political thugs: History, causes and effects

Political thugs: History, causes and effects

Political thugs have been described as one of the banes of politics and democracy, especially during the electioneering process, in Nigeria. Political thugs undertake different activities and are sponsored by several individuals, groups, and even state officials.

During campaigns and election days proper, certain people, out of their volition, decide to act as miscreants to disrupt various political activities and even take a step further by committing capital crimes. These thugs, who are mainly unidentified persons, wreak havoc and do not consider the impact of their actions on the affected individuals and the polity in general. As Nigeria prepares for its 2023 general election, the possibility of turbulence instigated by political thugs is very high.

So, who are political thugs? What triggers political thuggery in Nigeria? What is the impact of these thugs’ actions on the political process and system?

Who are political thugs?

Political thugs are an organised set of criminals who engage in acts such as intimidation and/or violence to undermine a perceived or real political opponent to enable their sponsor(s) to achieve their selfish political objective or interest. Political thuggery – as the action of the thugs is known – is a form of political violence that poses a threat and scares politicians, thereby unduly influencing the outcome of the political process and gaining an undue advantage, particularly in elections, against certain politicians, especially those in the minority or those touted to create an upset at the polls.

Political thugs are tools sponsored and used by the political class and their agents and even the government of the day to deliberately intimidate their opponents, blackmail or harm their opponents, as well as influence the outcome of elections, delay, derail polls, protest election results or suppress protests against election results.

political thugs running riot

The methods employed by political thugs to create electoral violence include assassinations, attempted assassinations, confinement, battering, arson, looting, and destruction. It also involves psychological dimensions aimed at injuring or intimidating populations. This takes the form of threats to opposition candidates by other political camps and/or security agents through threatening phone calls and text messages, shadowing opposition candidates’ movements, and leaving dangerous messages in places they frequent.

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As earlier mentioned, these thugs conduct their heinous activities during the pre-election period, election day proper, and post-election period.

History of political thugs in Nigeria

The existence of political thugs in Nigeria can be traced back to 1962, when the political crisis that rocked the defunct Action Group (AG) – the dominant political party in Western Nigeria – began to manifest publicly. The fallout between Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of the party, and Samuel Akintola, the party’s deputy leader and Premier of the Western Region, led to various politicians within the party pitching their tents against each other.

This internal party crisis took a new turn when the party split into factions, and Akintola eventually left the AG and formed a new regional party, the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP). The crisis led to commotion and wanton destruction in the Western Region by political thugs affiliated with the warring factions, to the extent that the Federal Government had to declare a state of emergency (SoE) in May 1962.

Although the SoE was later lifted, the strife within the party and the Western Region continued and escalated due to the controversies surrounding the federal elections of 1964 and the Western regional elections of 1965, respectively. Akintola’s party was accused of rigging the election in its favour and a crisis erupted in the region as political thugs took advantage of the AG’s protests to cause mayhem in the region.

During that same period in the First Republic, political thugs known as yan akusa were said to have been used by the Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC) to check the winning streak of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU). Since the 1964/1965 elections, virtually all general elections in Nigeria have been characterised by violence, majorly perpetuated by political thugs.

In this current Fourth Republic, the use of political thugs has been prioritised by members of the political class. These thugs have taken centre stage in the 1999, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 general elections, as well as the off-cycle elections conducted during the period under review. The 2007 and 2011 elections remain the worst in terms of these thugs and the outcome of their actions on the political system and the country in general.

Political thugs had a field day in 2007 as they threatened and assassinated political candidates and subsequently manipulated the election. In the 2011 elections, asides from the manipulation of the election, crises erupted majorly in the northern part of the country as thugs took advantage of the protests against the presidential election to cause mayhem.

Causes of political thuggery

Causes of political thuggery

Political thuggery continues to fester in Nigeria due to the following factors:

Poverty and unemployment

Poverty is the root cause of why individuals agree to be induced by political actors and act as their political thugs. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in 2020 that 82.9 million Nigerians live on less than $1 a day, representing 40 per cent of the population. With such a high number of people lacking the financial resources and essentials for a minimum standard of living, it is, therefore, not surprising when these miscreants agree to collect whatever amount they are offered to wreak havoc on behalf of politicians.

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To such persons, they are not mortgaging their future, despite the risks and consequences associated with their actions. Instead, these people state that they are only looking for the means to survive. The political actors know this and continue to weaponise and perpetuate poverty, using it as a tool to claim political power for themselves.

Desperation by politicians (and sometimes, the state)

Politicians and political parties are desperate to get power and will use all available means, legal and illegal, to ensure that they are elected. They consider the amount expended on campaigns and insist they cannot afford to lose the elections. They also dream of the thought of having enormous power and wealth they can gain if they are elected into office.

So, whenever they perceive that they cannot win the election in an area fair and square, these politicians, political parties, and even state institutions, deploy their “nuclear option” by deploying political thugs to cause violence. These thugs engage, on behalf of their principals, in all manners of dishonourable acts such as snatching ballot boxes and disrupting the voting and collation process on election day, political assassinations, or obstruction of opposition candidates’ activities.

Manipulation of election

Continuing from the immediate mentioned point, politicians and political parties are desperate to win elections and will employ all means – legal or otherwise – to win elections. The “otherwise” option is for them to manipulate the elections and the best method possible for them to achieve that is to engage political thugs.

These thugs help their sponsors to achieve their selfish political objectives by disrupting the process at polling centres on election day, snatching ballot boxes, tampering with already cast ballots, and forcing the election officials at gunpoint to declare false results or tamper with the result sheets.

Large war chest for political actors to prosecute elections

Politicians and political parties are empowered to expend a copious amount of money on elections, and this fuel their ability to fund political thugs to perpetrate violence during the election season. For example, Section 88 of the 2022 Electoral Act in Nigeria jacked up the spending limit for presidential candidates to N5 billion, while N100 million and N70 million, respectively, are the new campaign expense limits for senatorial and House of Representatives candidates. The maximum amount of election expenses for state House of Assembly and local government chairmanship candidates is N30 million. Councillors contesting for seats in local government areas are not to exceed the sum of N5 million for their campaigns.

Therefore, since elections are heavily monetised, it is not a big deal for members of the political class to dispense what may be described as “chicken change” to political thugs to foment violence on their behalf.

Lack of prosecution of previous offenders

Over the years, the political class has been able to mobilise people to act as their political thugs and engage in various activities that are flagrant violations of the law without any repercussions. While there have been arrests, there has not been a catalogue of successful prosecution of people who have committed electoral violence, especially the prominent political parties, their candidates, and their agents.

So, when politicians, political parties, and their underhand agents of doom know that there is little or no chance of being caught, they are encouraged to continue with their illegal activities.

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Consequences of political thuggery

The effects of political thuggery in Nigeria are as follows:

Breakdown of law and order

The immediate impact of political thugs causing mayhem is the breakdown of law and order. Once violence affects during the election cycle, the affected country or region becomes disorderly, and if not careful, it results in the Hobbesian state of nature, which is anarchy. As a result of the anarchy, the electoral process is disrupted and the result of the polls are disputed.

This anarchy leads to the massive deployment of the military, police officers, and other law enforcement officers, who, sometimes become overzealous in discharging their duties by subjecting the people to various threats, harassment, intimidation, extortion, torture, and rape. This escalates the violence level further. The aftermath of the 2007 general election in parts of South-West Nigeria and the 2011 general election in northern Nigeria attest to this situation.

Loss of lives and property and/or permanent injury

Loss of lives and property and/or permanent injury

This is perhaps the gravest of the consequences of political thugs’ actions. Violence in any form hurts, damages, or even kills people. This affects all stakeholders in the electoral process: candidates, politicians, election officials, security officials, and the entire citizens. Even the political thugs hired by members of the political class are not spared as they can also get killed in the course of fighting or sustain a permanent injury. There have been numerous incidents of electoral violence across Nigeria since the return to democracy in 1999.

Aside from the loss of lives, various private and public properties are also destroyed. This destruction creates a nightmarish experience for citizens in utilising these facilities and equipment as their non-functionality decimates the livelihoods of millions of citizens in the affected areas where the violence occurred. Also, due to the destruction of properties, some people automatically become internally displaced persons (IDPs) as their homes no longer exist. In addition, resources that the state could have used to provide additional amenities will have to be used to either cater to homeless citizens by the violence or repair existing facilities.

Voter apathy

Voter apathy sets in if a political system is heavily characterised by electoral violence. Eligible voters are discouraged from registering to vote and vote on election day or even outrightly prevented from voting because they feel that their safety is at risk due to the rampaging political thugs.

The citizenry is disillusioned with the political process or politicians in their countries and/or regions if these thugs perpetuate violence, and more often than not, the citizens express their disgust by not participating in the electoral process, especially by not voting on election day. They eventually get disinterested in the activities of the government, governance, and the entire political process itself. This is dangerous as it breeds dictators to govern most people.

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Entrenchment of poverty

When politicians notice that some members of society are always susceptible to being used as political thugs to perpetuate violence, they will hardly get to improve the people’s standard of living when elected into office. Instead of implementing good policies and carrying out good actions to mitigate the challenges of the electorate, members of the political class elected through violence will continue to constrict the creation of an enabling environment, making it more difficult for the people to succeed. They weaponise and entrench poverty the more so that these political thugs will habitually depend on them for financial handouts and gifts every election cycle.

Election of unpopular government

A direct implication of political thuggery is the election of unpopular leaders and government by the electorate. Incompetent politicians and candidates hijack and/or sabotage the electoral process through their political thugs for their selfish gain. The violence before and during elections largely means that the electorate may not be able to vote for capable candidates and this, therefore, empowers unpopular politicians, who will get their mandate and govern at the expense of the majority. This, therefore, indicates that people who are not fit to govern may be elected.

Withdrawal and paucity of credible individuals as potential candidates for elective positions

As a result of the activities of political thugs, political competition and participation is hampered as some persons who are deemed credible and have good intentions to participate in politics may be taken aback by the level of barbarity and decide to abstain from the process.

Therefore, only politicians who can maintain coercive force by hiring political thugs become the main players in the political system.

Solutions to political thuggery

  • Adequate education and sensitisation of the electorate by the electoral umpire, political parties, politicians, and the media on the need for citizens not to engage in political thuggery
  • Provision of adequate security at polling units and collation centres on election day
  • Effective implementation, review, and strengthening of electoral laws, especially provisions that deal with electoral violence and political thuggery
  • Arrest and prosecution of political thugs and their principals who engage in electoral violence
  • Non-interference in the political and voting process by politicians
  • Change of attitude by politicians by ending their do-or-die politics mantra
  • The entrenchment of internal democracy in political parties by properly implementing provisions of their constitution and attending to issues through internal party mechanisms
  • Strengthen and improve the economy by governments at all levels to empower their citizens and reduce the level of poverty

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Gabriel is a trained political scientist, and a qualified and versatile communications professional who has worked as a journalist and Public Relations executive. He has a knack for content creation and development and is a keen digital native interested in all things good.
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