Militants Threaten Nigerian Oil Stations After Leader's Arrest

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Militants threaten Nigerian oil stations after leader's arrest

Jeevan Vasagar in Nairobi
Saturday September 24, 2005
The Guardian


A separatist militia threatening to spread "violence and mayhem" throughout Nigeria's oil-producing delta has forced the closure of two oil installations and the evacuation of dozens of workers.

The US firm Chevron shut down a station pumping 19,000 barrels a day yesterday after being warned of an "imminent threat" from armed militants.

A day earlier more than 100 fighters stormed another Chevron oil platform, disarming government security personnel and shutting down the facility, which pumped around 8,000 barrels a day. Shell, which produces about half the oil from Nigeria, withdrew 50 workers from three facilities on Thursday, but output was maintained by a skeleton staff. The unrest adds to pressure on oil prices, already approaching historic highs because of Hurricane Katrina in the US.

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The group campaigns for self-determination for the Ijaw tribe, the largest in the delta, and argues that the colonial treaties that created the union with the rest of Nigeria are fraudulent. Despite its oil wealth, most inhabitants of the delta live in abject poverty. The resulting resentment fuels armed conflict, sabotage, kidnappings and theft from oil pipelines.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,11319,1577446,00.html

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1. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1801379