Women protesters hold 700 oil workers hostage

At least 150 women protesters have besieged Chevron-Texaco’s main oil export facility in Nigeria’s southern oil region to back demands for jobs for their children, company officials said on Wednesday.

A company statement sent to IRIN said the protesters from nearby Arutan and Ugborodo communities first seized a boat at the Escravos export terminal on Monday. They later divided into separate groups and occuppied the air strip, the helicopter pad, the oil storage area and the docks.

More than 700 Nigerian and expatriate employees of the company remained trapped at the facility, officials said. Planes and helicopters have been unable to land while boats cannot dock, making it impossible to bring in fresh supplies to the terminal.

"The protesters, who have barricaded key installations in the tank farm, have disrupted very important operational facilities," company spokesman Sola Omole said.

Most of the crude oil produced by Chevron-Texaco in Nigeria is exported from the Escravos terminal. The company’s US $400 million Escravos Gas Plant is also located at the facility.

Company officials said negotiations have begun with the protesters but added that the security agencies have equally been alerted of the situation. "The management has continued to appeal to the women to embrace peaceful dialogue in the resolution of their demands," the statement said.

Disruptions of oil operations are common in the Niger Delta oil region, where impoverished local people accuse oil companies and their government partners of neglect despite the huge oil wealth pumped from their land. But this is the first such action taken exclusively by women.

Chevron-Texaco operates a joint venture in which the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation holds the majority stake.