Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force

The Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) is one of the largest armed groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and is composed primarily of members of the region's largest ethnic group—the Ijaw people. There are 5.8 million Ijaw people located in the Niger Delta. The group was founded in 1966 in an attempt to gain more control over the region's vast petroleum resources, particularly in Delta State. The NDPVF exists in an area that faces environmental and ecological degradation as a result of the multinational oil corporations in the area. Gas flaring and oil spillages are problems for Ijaw in the region. Nigerians in the Delta also lack availability to lots of their local resources, despite the fact that oil from their area is a major source of revenue for the Nigerian economy. Other local economies have fallen apart due to a focus on the oil economy. Furthermore, many Nigerian youths, who the NDPVF claims to represent, are unemployed and lack access to public services like schools and healthcare. Youth protests in the Niger Delta are frequent. The NDPVF has frequently demanded a greater share of the oil wealth from both the state and federal government and has occasionally supported independence for the Delta region. Until 2005 the group was spearheaded by Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who is viewed by many Delta residents as a folk hero.