Nigeria governor candidate assassinated

[Richard Akindele]

Jos, Nigeria - A candidate for governor of the central Nigerian state of Plateau has been killed in what police described on Monday as a political assassination, the latest sign of increasing violence ahead of elections next year.

Family members said local politician Jesse Aruku was abducted on Friday after attending a rally of his party, the new opposition Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), and his body was found in the bush the next morning, riddled with bullets.

"The incident is very unfortunate. It's a political assassination," said Richard Chime, police commissioner in Plateau. He said police were investigating and no arrest had been made.

The ACD said in a statement that Aruku had been abducted by thugs controlled by the ruling People's Democratic Party and alleged that the police investigation was compromised by interference "from above". Police denied this.

The national presidency and many powerful state governors' jobs are being contested in elections due in April 2007 which should mark the first time one elected government hands over to another since Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960.

Africa's most populous country returned to civilian rule in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous army dictatorship. But violence remains a feature of political life and the build-up to the last elections in 2003 was marred by numerous assassinations and by ethnic clashes fomented by politicians.

In recent months, two politicians in the southern state of Rivers have had their houses bombed and at least six people have been killed in politically motivated violence in the southeastern city of Onitsha, among other incidents.

The use of paid, armed thugs to intimidate opponents or voters is a common tactic in many parts of Nigeria.

The politics of Plateau are particularly complicated because the state is home to dozens of minority ethnic groups and is split between Christians and Muslims. Local or state-wide political rivalries and land disputes have fuelled clashes in which hundreds of people have been killed in recent years.

The state governor, Joshua Dariye, has been locked in a bitter feud with the federal government since he jumped bail in London in 2004 to escape money-laundering charges. In Nigeria, he has immunity from prosecution as a state governor.

Nigerian authorities have also charged him with embezzling public funds but efforts to get the state house of assembly to impeach him and strip him of his immunity have so far failed. The stand-off has fuelled unrest in Plateau.