posted
BBC News Last Updated: Friday, 17 February 2006, 16:05 GMT
Nigeria oil 'total war' warning
A Nigerian militant commander in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta has told the BBC his group is declaring "total war" on all foreign oil interests.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has given oil companies and their employees until midnight on Friday night to leave the region.
It recently blew up two oil pipelines, held four foreign oil workers hostage and sabotaged two major oilfields.
The group wants greater control of the oil wealth produced on their land.
The warning came as militants and the army exchanged fire after a government helicopter gunship attacked barges allegedly used by smugglers to transport stolen crude oil.
Correspondents say the militants provide security for the smugglers.
Nigeria is Africa's leading oil exporter and the fifth-biggest source of US oil imports, but despite its oil wealth, many Nigerians live in abject poverty.
Aims
It is the first time the military leader of the Mend movement, Major-General Godswill Tamuno, has spoken publicly of his group's aims.
Nigeria's oil hope and despair
He refused to be interviewed on tape or for his location to be disclosed.
He told the BBC's Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar that they had launched their campaign, called "dark February", to ensure that all foreign oil interests left.
He said that they had had enough of the exploitation of their resources and wanted to take total control of the area to get their fair share of the wealth.
Our correspondent says the movement brings together a variety of local Ijaw groups that had been operating in the Niger Delta before.
The group enjoys considerable local support and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly who is a member, he says.
Mend's leaders tend to like to be faceless, our reporter says, and they usually send statements to the media via email.
Shell, one of the oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, told our reporter that security measures were being taken to secure their staff and property, but would not give details.
Well armed
The Niger delta has been the scene of a low-level war in recent months and the government has increased its military presence in the region.
After a government raid on oil barges earlier this week, Mend released a statement saying the helicopter gunship had fired rockets and machine-guns at targets on land and accused the military of targeting civilians.
It warned that its fighters were capable of shooting down military helicopters and accused Shell of helping out the security forces by allowing them use of an airstrip it operates.
The military has denied it used the facility.
According to AFP news agency, Shell has not confirmed or denied that its airstrip was the base for the attack.
The smugglers are believed to exchange oil for weapons from eastern Europe.
___________________ Biafra is inevitable.Illegitimis nil carborundum. Posts: 760 | From: europe | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged
Nigeria militants seize nine foreign oil workers 3 Americans reported to be among workers taken from American vessel Updated: 7:09 a.m. ET Feb. 18, 2006 WARRI, Nigeria - Armed militants carried out a wave of attacks across Nigeria’s troubled Niger delta on Saturday, blowing up oil and gas pipelines and seizing nine foreign oil workers.
In an e-mail to The Associated Press, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility for the attacks and for kidnapping the oil workers from a boat belonging to U.S. oil service firm Wilbros. The militants said those abducted included three Americans,
A Wilbros official confirmed the pre-dawn raid, saying more than 40 militants overpowered military guards on the boat near the oil port city of Warri. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to address the media. He said Wilbros was working on a contract with Royal Dutch Shell.
Story continues below ↓ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- advertisement
Maj. Said Hammed, spokesman for a military task force charged with security in the Niger Delta, confirmed there was an attack on an oil company but gave no details.
The militants claimed responsibility for other attacks in the volatile Niger Delta, including the destruction of Shell’s Forcados crude export terminal, the rupturing of a pipeline manifold and the blasting of a state-run gas pipeline that feeds gas from the Escravos gas plant in the delta to the country’s commercial capital, Lagos.
A Shell spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about the attacks, said one pipeline was ruptured near Shell’s Chanomi Creek facility, while another was ruptured and set ablaze near Shell’s Forcados export terminal. The Shell official said the fire was quickly put out. Both facilities are in the western delta.
On Friday, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported that militant commander Godswill Tamuno had announced his Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta was declaring “total war” on foreign oil interests and warned them to leave the oil-rich southern delta by midnight.
The same group has issued similar threats for more than a month and claimed responsibility for attacking two pipelines and abducting for foreign oil workers who later released.
The group says it is fighting for greater local control of oil wealth in the impoverished region.
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic
