Nigerian gangs partner with the Sicilian mafia Date Posted: 03-Aug-2016 Author: Anna Sergi Publication: Jane's Intelligence Review With Nigerian organised crime groups operating in the heartland of the Sicilian mafia, Dr Anna Sergi examines these groups' activities and their relationship with Cosa Nostra. Key Points The role of Nigerian criminal groups in Sicily was highlighted by the conviction of three members of the Black Axe group under laws designed to target mafia organisations in July 2016. The greater role played by Nigerian criminal groups in Palermo does not indicate a weakening of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia group in its traditional heartland. Instead, Nigerian criminal groups are effectively acting under licence from Cosa Nostra, which is concentrating more of its operations in licit activities, and delegating other activities to the Nigerian groups. On 6 July 2016, anti-mafia prosecutor Gaspare Spedale requested that the court in Palermo impose a 50-year prison sentence for four Nigerian citizens arrested in 2014 in the market district of Ballarò for charges including attempted murder, robbery, and actual bodily harm inflicted with an axe and various bottles. On 21 July, the court sentenced three of the men to imprisonment ranging from 10 years and six months to 12 years and four months, after they were found guilty on all charges. One of the three men convicted was Austin Ewosa (alias John Bull), whom the prosecution claimed was the leader of a Nigerian organised crime group called the Black Axe. One man, Osamwey Evans, charged only with robbery, was acquitted. The victim of the assault by the three convicted men was also Nigerian and the fight was about a local feud among Nigerian clans. Most significantly, this was the first time that the court had recognised that a Nigerian criminal group had been operating using 'mafia methods' as defined in Italian law. This legislation refers to unlawful associations that operate using intimidation and the code of silence (omertà), and have strong organisational bonds. In the case of the Nigerian groups, the prosecutors claimed, this included violent affiliation rituals for members.
ihs.com Camorra and the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra is one of the three principal mafia organisations in Italy. Since the 1990s, Cosa Nostra has lost ground to other mafia groups, particularly 'Ndrangheta, across Italy, but Sicily - and especially Palermo - remains Cosa Nostra's heartland. The fact that Nigerian gangs are allowed to operate in this area therefore suggests that they are working with Cosa Nostra. This assessment was borne out during Operation Golden Eggs in 2011, which was launched to combat drug trafficking between Italy and Nigeria. Sixty-seven people, from a range of countries including Ghana, Italy, Nigeria, and Tunisia, were arrested during the operation. However, the two main groupings were Nigerian and Sicilian, with hubs in Palermo, Catania, and Messina. At the top of the hierarchy were Francis Wiwoloku, from Nigeria, and Salvatore Castigliola, from Palermo. In January 2013, the Sicilian media reported that 24 individuals arrested as a result of Operation Golden Eggs had been convicted, including Wiwoloku, who received a sentence of three years and four months' imprisonment. Castigliola was jailed for four years. During the trial, the prosecution claimed that Wiwoluku had trafficked cocaine and heroin from mainland Europe mainly from the Netherlands - into Sicily, where it was distributed by Castigliola's organisation. On 21 June 2016, another police campaign against these groups, Operation Boga, led to the arrest of three Nigerian individuals and one person from Ghana. They face charges related to being part of a transnational criminal network operating in Italy, Libya, and Nigeria engaged in human smuggling and trafficking, and exploitation of Nigerian women. As of early August, the case had not yet reached the courts and none of those charged had entered a plea. As in the case in the district of Ballarò in 2014, it seems that, beyond Cosa Nostra's tolerance of foreign groups, there is a mutual interest in running the city of Palermo. In other words, the Nigerian clans in Ballarò behave like a mafia group, but they are still subject to the authority of Cosa Nostra in Palermo. Outlook The National Anti-Mafia Directorate (Direzione Nazionale Antimafia: DNA) has reported that Cosa Nostra entered a "submersion" phase in 2007, moving more of its operations into licit markets. Although this shift implies that the group's access to cash and international connections may have been reduced, the Sicilian mafia retains a powerful reputation, particularly in Palermo. Indicators of increased activity by Nigerian criminal groups in Palermo and across Italy more broadly do not necessarily mean that Cosa Nostra is declining. Instead, its control of the territory has evolved. On one hand, the group maintains a firm hold over businesses, extortion rackets, and contracts. On the other hand, it has effectively been able to delegate activities to the Nigerian gangs that the Sicilian mafia has historically never fully engaged in, such as human trafficking for sexual exploitation, but also activities, such as drug trafficking, that were the foundation of Cosa Nostra's power. The Nigerian groups do not act, and cannot be legally treated, as independent mafia-type organisations in Palermo. Rather, the two sets of groups are benefiting from a symbiotic relationship. Nigerian criminals, without the deep institutional roots of Cosa Nostra, need the support of the Sicilian mafia to operate. Equally, as a result of the trend towards submersion and the activities of the state's anti-mafia prosecutors since the mid-1980s, Cosa Nostra has fewer foot soldiers capable of enforcing its will on the streets, and fewer international connections.
Nigerian criminal groups therefore represent a source of manual labour for Cosa Nostra, as well as access to a diaspora network that it would otherwise not be able to use. In the court case against Ewosa and the others, Spedale alleged that the members of the Black Axe acted "thanks to the approval of Cosa Nostra clans who are short of soldiers to control the city, and need drug dealers and others who can stock the drugs". In such a relationship, there is always the risk that the junior partner would seek to usurp the position of its more established counterpart. However, such a reversal is unlikely in the case of Nigerian criminal groups and Cosa Nostra, which has deep historical roots in Sicily. It is highly unlikely that a foreign organisation would be permitted to maintain any degree of supremacy or unchallenged territorial control on the island. Therefore, for Nigerian gangs to usurp the Sicilian mafia, they would effectively have to completely destroy Cosa Nostra. A more probable scenario would be for the trend of submersion to continue, with actual executive power on the streets exercised by the Nigerian groups operating with Cosa Nostra's imprimatur. However, at present, the relationship is more balanced than that, with Cosa Nostra retaining the ability to exert force when necessary.
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