Experiences and attitudes of male and female ex-combatants in urban ethno-communal conflict in developing country: Nigeria

Abidemi R Asiyanbola, Olabisi Onabanjo University

Conflicts linked to ethnicity have become major elements in impoverishment, undermining human security and sustainable urban development. Although there have been various studies on African peace and conflict, however, when assessed jointly, the publications are relatively weak in terms of systematically providing empirical evidence to substantiate its claims. In this paper, I intend to present a preliminary report on the experiences and attitudes of male and female ex-combatants in urban ethno-communal conflict with a view to have a better understanding of the challenges facing these local urban residents. The data used was from an empirical study carried out in 2006 on urban ethno-communal conflict in Nigeria: the case of Ife-Modakeke. Significant relationship is found between perception of the conflict and sex, land ownership and having relative living in the community during the crisis. A positive relationship is found between perception of the conflict and attitude towards violence/conflicts/use of weapons.