Economic crisis fuels militant resurgence in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta

Record ID: 101868

  • Title: Economic crisis fuels militant resurgence in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta
  • Date: 26th May 2016
  • Summary: DELTA, NIGERIA (FILE) (REUTERS) EX-MILITANTS IN SPEED BOAT VARIOUS OF BOATS FILLED WITH EX-MILITANTS DRIVING PAST
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2016 11:59
  • Keywords: Niger Delta AvengersOil Niger Delta Militants Economy
  • Location: OGONI, DELTA, YENAGOA, BAYELSA, PORT-HARCOURT AND LAGOS, NIGERIA
  • City: OGONI, DELTA, YENAGOA, BAYELSA, PORT-HARCOURT AND LAGOS, NIGERIA
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Commodities Markets,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA0024JG351J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PART QUALITY AS INCOMING
    Chevron's onshore activities in Nigeria's Niger Delta have been shut down by a militant attack at its Escravos terminal, a company source said on Thursday (May 26).
    It is the latest in a spate of attacks in Nigeria's oil-producing southern region over the last few weeks which have driven the OPEC member's oil output to a more than 20-year low, deepening Nigeria's worst economic crisis in decades.
    A militant group called the Niger Delta Avengers, which has told oil firms to leave the Delta before the end of May, said late on Wednesday (May 25) it had blown up the facility's mains electricity feed.
    The Avengers and other militants, who say they are fighting for a greater share of oil profits, an end to pollution and independence for the region, have intensified attacks in recent months, pushing oil output to its lowest in more than 20 years and compounding the problems faced by Africa's largest economy.
    Abuja has responded by moving in army reinforcements but British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said this month President Muhammadu Buhari needed to deal with the root causes of the conflict.
    The impact can be seen on the pot-holed roads of Port Harcourt and Yenagoa where armed soldiers man checkpoints about a kilometre apart. Locals say this was not the case a month ago.
    Buhari hopes moving in troops will protect oil facilities. But for Eradiri, president of the powerful Ijaw Youth Council group, such tactics are fuelling anger that widespread poverty was not being addressed, driving young people into militancy.
    Delta residents, most of whom live on less than 2 U.S. dollars a day, have long demanded a greater share of oil revenues since most of the crude in what was - until the insurgency - Africa's top oil producer, comes from their region.
    The matted carpet of plastic bags and bottles on the banks of busy waterways in Yenagoa hint at the neglect which has stunted development in the region, and the scent of raw sewage in the city's rundown districts point to the endemic poverty.
    A security expert, who did not want to be named, said the military push was likely to be ineffective because the army was unfamiliar with the Delta's creeks, whereas local militants who grew up in the swampland know the terrain well.
    Under the amnesty, which prior to cuts was worth around 300 million U.S. dollars annually, thousands of men have received job training, but those who have finished courses have struggled to land jobs in an oil industry that mainly hires highly skilled workers.
    The main benefits have been lucrative contracts to secure pipelines, and a monthly 65,000 naira (330 U.S dollars) cash handout that has allowed them to leave the mosquito-infested creeks.
    Not all former militants direct their ire at the government and oil companies.
    Karo Edoro, who attacked pipelines in the creeks for 10 years before joining the amnesty in 2011, said the latest insurgents were "foot soldiers" who had not benefited from the amnesty because senior militants "hijacked" the money and benefits.
    During last year's presidential election the Christian Delta voted for their local "son" Goodluck Jonathan who was defeated by Buhari, a Muslim northerner.
    One year on, with a president who has never visited the Delta vowing to crush pipeline saboteurs like Boko Haram jihadists in the north, without focusing on developing the area, several new militant groups have emerged in recent weeks.
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