Basically, the oil industry is helping keep Nigeria's dictatorship in place, hiring mercenaries to kill those who oppose them. In the 70s and 80s, Shell Oil and Chevron Texaco both attempted to remove villagers from their land. when those villagers refused to do so, mercenaries were hired to kill them. Add in a rigged election here and there with plenty of oil industry financing, and it becomes quite clear Nigeria's people have little say in the affairs of its government or their own property. Discontent has built up to where angry and disenfranchised Nigerians are forming and joining groups with an intent to disrupt Nigeria's oil production. After all, Shell makes over $7 billion in profits each year from Nigeria alone, yet 75% of Nigeria's 132 million people are making less than $1/day. Not to mention Chevron-Texaco and Exxon. If that oil money would be going to the Nigerians(the people, not their crooked government), they would be living at least on the level of Eastern Europeans. The destruction of the enviroment has been devastating to Nigerian farmers and tribes. They can no longer grow their own food or find game to hunt. The forests have virtually been stripped barren from oil runoff, water rendered undrinkable, all in the name of money.
A professor I know has footage that would get me banned if I posted it here, of what these companies have done to these people. One scene in particular, in which mercenaries have tied villagers up, thrown tires around their necks, doused them in lighter fluid, and lit it. "Too Hot to Roast Marshmallows". Nothing is left after all is said and done.
Two videos:
http://ia300138.us.archive.org/2/ite...nigeria_1_.mov
http://ia300104.us.archive.org/3/ite...nigeria_2_.mov
Two articles:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110140.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/...ticle_continue
Nigeria: N/Delta: Militants Threaten Attack On Mobil
Daily Champion (Lagos)
April 11, 2006
Posted to the web April 11, 2006
Okey Onwuchekwa
Lagos
MILITANT groups in the troubled Niger Delta region Monday threatened to attack oil installations belonging to Exxon Mobil, just as they declared that they have begun to mobilize troops for fresh onslaughts against other agents of imperialism.
"We hereby declare Operation One Rocket for One Platform", noted a leader and spokesman of Martyrs Brigade, Ms Cynthia White, who also warned on the impending attack on Mobil in a statement made available to Daily Champion.
The militants said the oil company will be punished for "its crime against Niger Delta communities caused by a catastrophic crude oil spillage of 1997".
Continuing, the Martyrs Brigade, a leading militant group in the region, said "most unforgivable is Exxon Mobil's blatant disregard of a letter in this regard that was sent to the company's top management and personally signed by our patriotic and esteemed leader, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari sometime in September/October 2005."
The aggrieved militants also deplored the utterance of Mobil management, then, that the oil spill had "no discernable adverse effect on the people and the environment".
For such utterance, the Martyrs Brigade promised to mete out "jungle justice to any of these dubious corporations and multinationals that have been party to the dubious exploitation of our land, people and resources over the years."
The militants urged people of Niger Delta to stay off all Mobil oil locations till further notice as "we will have neither the time nor the patience to pursue identification and separation processes."
We will be quick, decisive and hard hitting".
Threatening Mobil further, the militants said if the company "will not heed to wise counsel, then, we will visit them explosive morsels. We will no longer tolerate imperialist indolence from these infidels whose only objective is to quickly drain our crude and leave us barren.
"We call on all Niger Delta groups to begin to identify heavy value Exxon Mobil assets for placement as priority potential targets. We must not relent in ensuring that they get a full dose of our venom. The wages of sin has always been death.
"Let us remind all those who seek to continue to test our might that "to err is human, but to forgive is not a policy we find heartwarming."
The Niger Delta has been on the boil since January 2006 as militants had held foreign oil workers hostage to the shock of the nation and the international community.
Last week, President Olusegun Obasanjo held a meeting with stakeholders in the oil-rich region to chart a way forward for the embattled area, but the militants shunned the parley.
However, a senior official of Mobil Producing Unlimited, who pleaded not to be mentioned, told Daily Champion in a telephone interview that they were not owing anybody or group arising from the 1998 oil spill.
According to the official, those who could not have their claims settled had the option of going to court and that all the court cases had been thrown out for lack of merit.
The company insisted that it had been carrying out its social responsibility to the people and expressed surprise that it was being held responsible fore things that are political.
Nigerian militants step up sabotage of oil installations
· Crude price rises as attacks disrupt supply
· Shell evacuates staff after pipeline targeted
Rory Carroll Africa correspondent Larry Elliott
Tuesday February 21, 2006
The Guardian
Militants in the Niger delta mounted fresh attacks on oil installations yesterday, extending a wave of sabotage which has crippled exports from Africa's leading oil producer. The guerrillas seized a Nigerian army post in waterways east of the city of Warri after soldiers fled, allowing them to dynamite a floating barracks block and an oil pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell.
A Shell spokeswoman confirmed the oil pipeline attack, and said the boat was abandoned when the attackers blew it up. It was unclear who owned the boat. The Anglo-Dutch multinational, the biggest foreign operator in Nigeria, has evacuated all its facilities in the immediate area, a stretch of creeks and swamps which normally produces 500,000 barrels a day.
The attacks sent oil prices surging in London amid concern that the world's eighth largest producer was facing months of turmoil. Despite reassurances from the International Energy Agency (IEA), threats of further action from the rebels against installations in the Niger delta pushed up the price of a barrel of Brent crude by $1.46 to $61.35 in the City. Geoff Pyne, an independent oil consultant, said: "There is a realisation that no one can be complacent about supplies." But IEA analyst Harry Tchilinguirian said that high US fuel stocks and refinery maintenance should soften the blow of losing so much Nigerian oil. "Yes, it's a disruption of a sizeable amount. But in the short term we have very heavy inventories and very heavy maintenance in the United States, so you can mitigate some of it," he said.
Yesterday's violence followed a series of raids at the weekend which damaged several installations and resulted in the kidnap of nine foreign employees of a Shell subsidiary. A spokesman for the militants said their fate had not been decided.
The group of three Americans, two Thais, two Egyptians, a Filipino, and a Briton - John Hudspith - were seized by up to 40 gunmen who stormed a pipe-laying barge. In emails to news agencies, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said its goal was to punish oil corporations and the government for siphoning off the region's wealth without returning anything to its impoverished ethnic Ijaw communities; as well as saying the hostages' fate had yet to be decided, the movement also warned that they might end up being killed in crossfire with the army. Government officials say the militants are bandits whose real aim is to sow chaos so they can steal the oil, a practice known as bunkering.
The militants set a target last month of halting a third of Nigeria's 2.5m daily barrels, most of it sweet crude bound for refineries in the US and Europe. If yesterday's attacks are confirmed, that target could be reached soon. The Mend statement said that it overran an army houseboat and an oil pipeline switching station. "Both were destroyed with explosives," it said. No casualties were reported.
Shell confirmed several flow stations had closed. On Sunday the militants threatened to fire rockets at international oil tankers, the first time such a threat had been made. The military said it could guarantee the security of shipping but admitted it did not know the capability of its foes. Much of their arsenal was supplied by the government in 2003 to help control the delta during elections.
Backstory
Militant groups in the oil-rich Niger Delta have fought the government and the oil industry for 15 years, demanding a greater share of oil revenues and compensation for environmental damage. They have attacked oil facilities and taken hostages. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta is fighting for control of the area's oil wealth, saying local people have not benefited. In 1995 Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and campaigner, was executed. One group has demanded $1.5bn (£860m) from Shell to compensate for pollution. Stealing oil from pipelines has resulted in fatal explosions. Analysts say attacks will halt up to 20% of the delta's crude production this year.
A professor I know has footage that would get me banned if I posted it here, of what these companies have done to these people. One scene in particular, in which mercenaries have tied villagers up, thrown tires around their necks, doused them in lighter fluid, and lit it. "Too Hot to Roast Marshmallows". Nothing is left after all is said and done.
Two videos:
http://ia300138.us.archive.org/2/ite...nigeria_1_.mov
http://ia300104.us.archive.org/3/ite...nigeria_2_.mov
Two articles:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110140.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/...ticle_continue
Nigeria: N/Delta: Militants Threaten Attack On Mobil
Daily Champion (Lagos)
April 11, 2006
Posted to the web April 11, 2006
Okey Onwuchekwa
Lagos
MILITANT groups in the troubled Niger Delta region Monday threatened to attack oil installations belonging to Exxon Mobil, just as they declared that they have begun to mobilize troops for fresh onslaughts against other agents of imperialism.
"We hereby declare Operation One Rocket for One Platform", noted a leader and spokesman of Martyrs Brigade, Ms Cynthia White, who also warned on the impending attack on Mobil in a statement made available to Daily Champion.
The militants said the oil company will be punished for "its crime against Niger Delta communities caused by a catastrophic crude oil spillage of 1997".
Continuing, the Martyrs Brigade, a leading militant group in the region, said "most unforgivable is Exxon Mobil's blatant disregard of a letter in this regard that was sent to the company's top management and personally signed by our patriotic and esteemed leader, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari sometime in September/October 2005."
The aggrieved militants also deplored the utterance of Mobil management, then, that the oil spill had "no discernable adverse effect on the people and the environment".
For such utterance, the Martyrs Brigade promised to mete out "jungle justice to any of these dubious corporations and multinationals that have been party to the dubious exploitation of our land, people and resources over the years."
The militants urged people of Niger Delta to stay off all Mobil oil locations till further notice as "we will have neither the time nor the patience to pursue identification and separation processes."
We will be quick, decisive and hard hitting".
Threatening Mobil further, the militants said if the company "will not heed to wise counsel, then, we will visit them explosive morsels. We will no longer tolerate imperialist indolence from these infidels whose only objective is to quickly drain our crude and leave us barren.
"We call on all Niger Delta groups to begin to identify heavy value Exxon Mobil assets for placement as priority potential targets. We must not relent in ensuring that they get a full dose of our venom. The wages of sin has always been death.
"Let us remind all those who seek to continue to test our might that "to err is human, but to forgive is not a policy we find heartwarming."
The Niger Delta has been on the boil since January 2006 as militants had held foreign oil workers hostage to the shock of the nation and the international community.
Last week, President Olusegun Obasanjo held a meeting with stakeholders in the oil-rich region to chart a way forward for the embattled area, but the militants shunned the parley.
However, a senior official of Mobil Producing Unlimited, who pleaded not to be mentioned, told Daily Champion in a telephone interview that they were not owing anybody or group arising from the 1998 oil spill.
According to the official, those who could not have their claims settled had the option of going to court and that all the court cases had been thrown out for lack of merit.
The company insisted that it had been carrying out its social responsibility to the people and expressed surprise that it was being held responsible fore things that are political.
Nigerian militants step up sabotage of oil installations
· Crude price rises as attacks disrupt supply
· Shell evacuates staff after pipeline targeted
Rory Carroll Africa correspondent Larry Elliott
Tuesday February 21, 2006
The Guardian
Militants in the Niger delta mounted fresh attacks on oil installations yesterday, extending a wave of sabotage which has crippled exports from Africa's leading oil producer. The guerrillas seized a Nigerian army post in waterways east of the city of Warri after soldiers fled, allowing them to dynamite a floating barracks block and an oil pipeline operated by Royal Dutch Shell.
A Shell spokeswoman confirmed the oil pipeline attack, and said the boat was abandoned when the attackers blew it up. It was unclear who owned the boat. The Anglo-Dutch multinational, the biggest foreign operator in Nigeria, has evacuated all its facilities in the immediate area, a stretch of creeks and swamps which normally produces 500,000 barrels a day.
The attacks sent oil prices surging in London amid concern that the world's eighth largest producer was facing months of turmoil. Despite reassurances from the International Energy Agency (IEA), threats of further action from the rebels against installations in the Niger delta pushed up the price of a barrel of Brent crude by $1.46 to $61.35 in the City. Geoff Pyne, an independent oil consultant, said: "There is a realisation that no one can be complacent about supplies." But IEA analyst Harry Tchilinguirian said that high US fuel stocks and refinery maintenance should soften the blow of losing so much Nigerian oil. "Yes, it's a disruption of a sizeable amount. But in the short term we have very heavy inventories and very heavy maintenance in the United States, so you can mitigate some of it," he said.
Yesterday's violence followed a series of raids at the weekend which damaged several installations and resulted in the kidnap of nine foreign employees of a Shell subsidiary. A spokesman for the militants said their fate had not been decided.
The group of three Americans, two Thais, two Egyptians, a Filipino, and a Briton - John Hudspith - were seized by up to 40 gunmen who stormed a pipe-laying barge. In emails to news agencies, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said its goal was to punish oil corporations and the government for siphoning off the region's wealth without returning anything to its impoverished ethnic Ijaw communities; as well as saying the hostages' fate had yet to be decided, the movement also warned that they might end up being killed in crossfire with the army. Government officials say the militants are bandits whose real aim is to sow chaos so they can steal the oil, a practice known as bunkering.
The militants set a target last month of halting a third of Nigeria's 2.5m daily barrels, most of it sweet crude bound for refineries in the US and Europe. If yesterday's attacks are confirmed, that target could be reached soon. The Mend statement said that it overran an army houseboat and an oil pipeline switching station. "Both were destroyed with explosives," it said. No casualties were reported.
Shell confirmed several flow stations had closed. On Sunday the militants threatened to fire rockets at international oil tankers, the first time such a threat had been made. The military said it could guarantee the security of shipping but admitted it did not know the capability of its foes. Much of their arsenal was supplied by the government in 2003 to help control the delta during elections.
Backstory
Militant groups in the oil-rich Niger Delta have fought the government and the oil industry for 15 years, demanding a greater share of oil revenues and compensation for environmental damage. They have attacked oil facilities and taken hostages. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta is fighting for control of the area's oil wealth, saying local people have not benefited. In 1995 Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and campaigner, was executed. One group has demanded $1.5bn (£860m) from Shell to compensate for pollution. Stealing oil from pipelines has resulted in fatal explosions. Analysts say attacks will halt up to 20% of the delta's crude production this year.
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