NIGERIA

Officials of Royal Dutch Shell, the international oi1company, had to yet again face the wrath of angry natives of Niger delta. 'This time, the protesters were not Ogonis but members of the Ijaw community who stormed six Shell facilities taking 127 Shell staff hostage. The protest soon spread eastward through the delta, as villagers took over Shell's Nembe Creek flowstation. The hostages were later released in groups. Shell has been facing stringent international and local criticism over the past several years for causing largescale environmental damage and exploitation of local people and resources in Nigeria. Most of these protests have been staged by Ogonis in the Ogoniland.

"The Ogoni problem seems to be repeating itself in other oil areas," said lawyer Enock Fubara, a native from the Rivers state in the Niger delta which produces 75 per cent of Nigeria's oil. "The problem essentially is that we the minorities produce the oil, but the proceeds from it go to develop the major tribes in the north, east and west." Shell tried to distance itself from the issue by saying that the protest was not directed against them, but that it was the result of the people's ire against local governments.

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