Warri Crisis

The Warri Crisis was a series of conflicts in Delta State, Nigeria between 1997 and 2003 between the Itsekiri and the Ijaw ethnic groups. Over 200,000 people were displaced by the Warri conflict between 1999 and 2006. Over 700,000 people were displaced during this period by violence in Delta State overall.

The conflict broke out following a government decision that changed the location of the Warri South West Local Government Council (LGA) to the Itsekeri community of Ogidigben from the Ijaw town of Ogbe Ijoh. The Council headquarters was eventually returned to Ogbe Ijoh, which restored a fragile peace in 2005.

The Warri Crisis is part of a broader conflict over oil in the Niger Delta. Human Rights Watch determined that "although the violence has both ethnic and political dimensions, it is essentially a fight over the oil money." Ongoing armed conflict in the Niger Delta region, and the appearance of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in 2005 are continued expressions of these tensions.

Scholars have warned that the conflict is complex and not amenable to "quick fixes".