Traditional Mechanism of Controlling Violence in Rivers State Nigeria

Every society has in its system a mechanism of controlling violence and or settling conflicts related to violence. This paper focuses on the traditional means and or mechanism of resolving violence related conflicts in Nigeria and Africa, with Rivers State as a case study. Rivers State is one of the thirty-six (36) states of Nigeria. It is a heterogeneous society with diverse ethnic nationalities fused together for political and administrative convenience. However, in terms of controlling violence virtually all the ethnic groups in the state share some similarities in resolving violence related cases. To this extent, therefore, the paper seeks to identify the roles of traditional rulers in controlling violence; it examines the effectiveness of the traditional means in the past in relation to the present judicial system. In view of this, the paper highlights the significance of the traditional means of controlling violence in Nigeria. This study examines the extent to which colonial and external influence has impacted on the traditional means of controlling crime. The paper is purely qualitative in nature and therefore relies more on secondary data sources. The findings of this study reveal that before colonial administration in Nigeria, the traditional means of controlling violence was very effective. The study recommends that traditional rulers should ensure that their traditional institutions should be a synergy between the traditional judicial system and the modern judicial system. This synergy would help to ensure effective crime control in Rivers State and indeed Nigeria.