Oil feud boils over

2003-12-06 15:38

Lagos - Several people were killed in fresh fighting between two rival ethnic groups in the swamps of Nigeria's oil-rich Niger delta, police said on Saturday.

"We understand several people died but we are still investigating the incident," a police officer in Warri, the heart of the troubled region, told AFP by telephone.

He said the clashes flared on Friday when ethnic Itsekiri militants invaded some riverine Ijaw villages near Warri, killing and maiming villagers and setting fire to buildings.

"The villages of Ajakoto, Koto, Yakugbene, Oyibo camp and Sunny camp were almost destroyed by the rampaging youths," he said.

He said members of "Operation Hope", a joint security outfit patrolling the region to check piracy, pipeline vandalisation, kidnapping and attacks on oil facilities, intervened promptly to contain the violence.

The incident was the latest in the restive region where Nigeria derives the bulk of its daily output of some two million barrels.

Two weeks ago, seven foreign oil workers were kidnapped by militant youths who demanded ransoms for their release.

Security agents intervened to secure the release of the hostages, but not before their employers had paid the ransoms.

Press reports quoted the commander of the security outfit General Elias Zamani as saying that the leader of the gang that abducted the oil workers had been killed while attempting to evade arrest.

Zamani vowed his men would end the activities of criminals in the region which in March alone caused the deaths of hundreds of people and halted Nigeria's oil production by more than one-third.

Oil majors like Anglo-Dutch Shell, ChevronTexaco and Total have shut down dozens of oil wells and pumping stations in the region.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and the fifth largest exporter within the OPEC cartel.

- AFP