Militants threaten to seize land in Niger Delta

Ijaw militants in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region warned foreigners to leave by Monday and threatened to seize land before the incoming civilian government takes power on 29 May, news reports said. Ijaw youths in the area have for months been restive over the activity of oil companies, accusing them of degrading the environment and, thereby, their livelihood. The youths have seized oil flow stations and periodically kidnapped oil workers. They have also condemned the government for lack of development in the area, which produces about 90 percent of the country's wealth. General Abdulsalami Abubakar's government has agreed that the delta has been long neglected by various administrations. Even the location of local-government seats, which is linked to the control of local revenue, has spurred inter-communal clashes. Recently, there has been fighting between Ijaw and Itsekiri communities in the delta over the location of a municipality. In April, Abubakar said his government would not create any new local governments. This incensed Ijaw youths and led to clashes early May in an area close to Warri in which some 25 people were killed. Meanwhile, a member of the African Environment Action Network (EANET-Africa) has described environmental problems in the Niger Delta as a national security issue, 'The Guardian' newspaper said on Monday. EANET-Africa member Victor Fodeke said that for most Nigerians, security threats meant protection from disease, hunger, unemployment, crime, social conflict and environmental hazards. In this respect, he pointed out that fishing, farming and other economic activities in the Niger Delta continued to be hampered by environmental degradation. Ijaw fishermen, he said, no longer pulled in heavy catches as before. Fodeke said a survey by EANET-Africa had shown that the crisis in the delta had been triggered by degradation in oil-producing areas, the inadequate treatment and disposal of waste from oil exploration, the continued pollution of rivers, ground water and natural resources and, consequently, the disruption of social and economic activities. He said the incoming civilian government should shift policy away from the present dependence on oil and gas to an agriculture-based economy, and create a Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.