Nigeria at War: Oil war!
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Since this week began, militants in the Oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria have started blowing up oil installations in the region in a campaign tagged the "Oil War". In an email made available to media housed recently, the militia group that goes by the name the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) says it "has declared an oil war in response to the unprovoked aerial and marine attacks on a MEND position in Rivers state of Nigeria on September 13, 2008 by the armed forces of Nigeria," the statement reads.
MEND emerged as a fighting force in the delta almost three years ago. Since then, it has sought to portray itself as a unified political militant group. But the reality has been somewhat different with MEND operating as an umbrella organization for a host of armed gangs. Their coordinated attacks against oil infrastructure and personnel have slashed Nigerian oil output by a fifth.
Following the Sept. 13 military attack, formerly disparate gangs are looking increasingly unified, raising fears that long-running unrest in the delta could hit new levels. "When it comes to a common enemy, we all help each other," says a senior MEND leader, who declined to be identified. "The Army is not as formidable as they say, and we are ready to take them on."
"The attack by the Nigerian military is uniting them – there have been a lot of meetings recently between the different groups," says Patrick Naagbanton, a human rights activist in Port Harcourt.
Since Sunday, the group, acting with other militant groups in the Delta have attacked many oil facilities. According to The Punch today, "among the facilities destroyed by the gunmen included Orubiri flow station and a major oil pipeline at Rumuekpe, all in Rivers State. While Shell Petroleum Development Company operates the flow station, the trunk pipeline is jointly owned by the SPDC and Chevron Nigeria Limited."
The attack on the Orubiri flow station was the third on a Shell target in 48 hours. US major Chevron has also been targeted this week.
Hurricane Barbarossa is the code name it gave to this new offensive against foreign majors.
Howevwer, a recent online publication reports
"The Nigerian government has tried to downplay the threat. But the violence looks set to further disturb oil supplies from Nigeria, the United States' fifth-largest source of oil, at a time when global supplies are already being squeezed...
Since early 2006, MEND has waged a campaign of terror, attacking foreign-owned oil facilities and kidnapping foreign oil workers to draw attention to its political aims, according to a background report by the Council on Foreign Relations. In that time, MEND has cut Nigeria's oil production by a quarter. One of the group's main demands is that locals receive 50 percent of revenues from the delta's oil. Most oil revenues end up lining the pockets of corrupt Nigerian officials."
The Nigerian military has put on a brave face, saying the militants were hyping their threats to spread fear. According to the Vanguard, a Nigerian daily, one defense official has dismissed any notion of a an "oil war."
The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General Mohammed Yusuf, in a statement in Abuja said the military was not at war with any Nigerian or group.
"The oil war propaganda is just a gimmick by the militants to create fear in every law-abiding citizen, both local and foreign alike, and to provoke tension in the polity.
"We are not unaware of their antics and capabilities. The joint task force in place is very capable of containing the indiscretion of the militants. So there is nothing like war."
The offensive by the MEND militia has been tagged Hurricane Barbarossa with an advance warning to all foreign nationals to leave so as to escape the coming heat. All does not seem well at the moment for the "Giant of Africa".
