Poverty in the Niger Delta has driven many to protest Southern Nigerian
community activists have forced the closure of three of Shell Oil's pumping
stations.
Youths from the Ijaw communities of Delta state entered the stations on
Sunday and ordered the workers on duty to shut them down. The closure is
costing the company 40,000 barrels per day.
In a statement issued on Monday, the protesters called for the provision of
amenities such as schools and roads, as well as jobs for local people.
There is widespread anger in the region over the absence of benefits to the
indigenous population from oil revenues. Shell Oil has been a frequent
target of attack.
Talks underway
Shell Oil says it is currently holding talks with community representatives
to try and find a solution. The protesters say the stations will not
re-open until their demands are met.
Lucky Izoukumor, speaking for the Ijaw communities, said that the protest
related to Ijaw protection of a key Shell project last year.
"We protected the project with our lives," he said. "now we have nothing to
show for it.
Until our demands are met, we will not give room for Shell to work."
The oil coming from the Niger Delta provides most of Nigeria's export
earnings and government income.
Community anger
But the people living there feel they get nothing back. This is the major
source of tension in the region.
A village living next to a well producing oil worth many thousands of
dollars a year may have no clean water supply, no passable road, no
electricity, no clinic or school.
In theory, a percentage of the government's oil revenues are ploughed back
into the producing areas, and that percentage has risen in response to
growing discontent.
But residents complain that, while the money may get as far as the state
capital - even the local government headquarters - it stops there, and they
never see the benefit.
Local anger was most famously mobilised in the Ogoni area by the late Ken
Saro-Wiwa, but in all parts of the Delta protesters have blocked access
roads, occupied production platforms and, on occasion, sabotaged pipelines.
