NIGERIA: Nigeria battles insecurity in the Niger Delta as presidential elections near

Record ID: 234617

  • Title: NIGERIA: Nigeria battles insecurity in the Niger Delta as presidential elections near
  • Date: 20th April 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA (APRIL 18, 2007) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICHARD AGAZUMA SAYING: "We don't have much confidence in the security system that is set up. It has actually not helped people; it did stop a lot of people from voting. It heightened the rumour that there will be violence. There presence was enough to cause a kind of setback and unwillingness among people."
  • Embargoed: 5th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADSHC26XRYEA3BTNDX45N17FLO
  • Story Text: In the volatile region of Niger Delta in Nigeria, protesters are only the tip of the iceberg and locals are worried about violence erupting during the coming weekend's presidential election.
    The vote to replace President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose eight years in office have been marked by growing anarchy in the Niger Delta, where militants demand a greater share of billions in oil wealth for poor villages.
    Clashes between troops and gunmen have stoked fears of retaliation by the armed groups, whose fighters from the mangrove-lined creeks are behind attacks and kidnappings that have driven many oil workers from the region.
    Local residents of Port Harcourt, the oil-rich Delta's largest city, like Richard Agazuma, are expecting the worst.
    "We don't have much confidence in the security system that is set up. It has actually not helped people; it did stop a lot of people from voting. It heightened the rumour that there will be violence. There presence was enough to cause a kind of setback and unwillingness among people," he said late on Wednesday (April 18).
    The situation in the Niger Delta is rooted in the poverty and lack of infrastructure, facilities and strong local government in the region. Communities have had to demand roads, electricity, schools and jobs from oil companies based in the region.
    But millions in the Delta still live in squalid conditions. Oil spills have polluted the creeks, gas flares have poisoned the air and most of the people are uneducated and jobless.
    But the political opposition, who lost local elections last week, may not get the representation they desire. Many say irregular voting practices will ensure the ruling party remains in power.
    Omoye Uzamere says he will not vote because when he voted in the local election, he was intimidated. "Personally no because the voting center was quite close to my house. It's a walking distance; I could easily walk there to vote. The only problem was that there were a lot people there it was not a secret ballot which it ought to be."
    Due to the violence in the region, Nigeria is losing millions of dollars in oil revenue monthly. An estimated 600,000 barrels per day of oil is shut in. Nigerian output was estimated at 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in March.
    Local resident Maxwell Usoro explains "security in Port Harcourt now, is not they way it used to be. For now I don't think we have security, because, if we have security things like this will not be going on every time. You will see a white man, a mobile man escorting a white man to the airport, at the same time you will see all these militants double cross, kill the mobile man and go with the expatriate. So with that I don't really see any security."
    Despite the pessimism, however, analysts have said the elections may actually be a rare chance to cool unrest in the main oil-producing region and eventually bring back lost oil output and help the region get back on its feet.
    While flare-ups during voting remain possible, few predict violence on such a scale it cause a national crisis or cut oil production further. And some say a change in leadership may lead to renewed interest in solving the region's problems.
    The Nigerian government has taken some security measures including providing police escorts for the western expatriates and more policemen on the streets and major junctions in the city.
    "In the Niger Delta area government is trying to see that their lives are not in danger, that's why they are giving them escorts. You know the stress in the area, the stress of kidnapping and actual kidnappings. So when you see them they try to protect their lives, especially for those who are not from here," points out Bashiru Azeez, Lagos Police chief.
    False hopes, however, are nothing new in the Niger Delta, and there are plenty of reasons for things to go wrong. But if the region does get a leader who cares, there is always oil money to make things go right.
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