Onitsha Traders Association (OTA)
Origins
The OTA was formed in September 1999 by Anambra State Governor Mbadinuju as a vigilante group designed to promote security in the State. The OTA served as a replacement to the Onitsha Markets Amalgamated Traders Association in the late 1990s which had failed to combat the increasing occurrences of armed robbery in the Onitsha market. The OTA was subsequently replaced by the Bakassi Boys, in part due to its own ineffectiveness and in part due to their brutality. The OTA allegedly executed more than 1,500 people between its inception and July 2000 and has been accused of many human rights abuses, including torture and unlawful detention.
Location / Main area of operation
The OTA was active in Onitsha and Anambra State.
Objectives
The objective of the group was to reduce criminality in the Onitsha market areas, one of the biggest markets in West Africa.
Number of Members
The size and composition of the OTA is unknown.
Type : National
The OTA was a national non-state armed group operating at a local level.
Conflict Status : Active
The OTA was disbanded in 2000 and replaced by the Bakassi Boys, with the explicit support of the Anambra state governor, as a result of increasing “disenchantment” with the OTA’s performance in ridding the area of crime and banditry.
Structure of the organization
Relatively little is known about the OTA, though it is alleged that the governor of Anambra State played a leading role and provided the OTA with the support needed for their existence. This allegation was further substantiated when the governor decided to replace the OTA's sercurity services with the Bakassi Boys'.
Leadership
Though little is known about the formal structure and leadership, the OTA was assumed to be directed by the governor of Anambra State.
External aid/Third party involvement
No information is available on this matter.
External effects of the NSAG's armed activities
No information is available on this matter.
Funding
No data found.
Relationship with the international community
None.
Books
• [n.a.] (2005), “Part II: Armed Groups and Small Arms in ECOWAS Member States 1998-2004”, in Florquin, Nicolas and Eric G. Berman, (eds) (2005), Armed and Aimless: Armed Groups, Guns, and Human Security in the ECOWAS Region 224 (Geneva: Small Arms Survey), available at link
Articles and Chapters
• Meagher, Kate, “Hijacking Civil Society: the inside story of the Bakassi Boys vigilante group of South-eastern Nigeria”, 45. 1 Journal of Modern African Studies (2007), at 89-115.
Reports and resolutions of intergovernmental organizations
Governmental reports
Reports of think tanks and non-governmental organizations
• Amnesty International, Nigeria: Vigilante violence in the south and south-east, 19 November 2002, available at link.
• Ginifer, Jeremy and Ismail, Olawale (2005), Armed Violence and Poverty in Nigeria: Mini case study for the Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative, Centre for International Cooperation and Security, University of Bradford, March 2005, available at link.
• Hazen, J. & Horner, J. (2007), Small Arms, Armed Violence, and Insecurity in Nigeria, Small Arms Survey, Occasional Paper 20, December 2007, available at link. Accessed on 21 April 2008.
• Human Rights Watch/Center for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN), Nigeria. The Bakassi Boys : The Legitimization of Murder and Torture, Vol. 14, No. 5 (A), May 2002, available at link
Press Information (in chronological order)
Interviews
Internet resources
• IISS, Armed Conflict Database, Nga, available at link
Statements of the armed group
Agreements involving armed groups