Protesters close oil plants

Poverty in the Niger Delta has driven many to protest

Southern Nigerian community activists have forced the closure of three of Shell Oil's pumping stations.

Until our demands are met, we will not give room for Shell to work

Ijaw spokesman

Youths from the Ijaw communities of Delta state entered the stations on Sunday and ordered the workers on duty to shut them down. The closure is costing the company 40,000 barrels per day.

In a statement issued on Monday, the protesters called for the provision of amenities such as schools and roads, as well as jobs for local people.

There is widespread anger in the region over the absence of benefits to the indigenous population from oil revenues. Shell Oil has been a frequent target of attack.

Talks underway

Shell Oil says it is currently holding talks with community representatives to try and find a solution. The protesters say the stations will not re-open until their demands are met.

Lucky Izoukumor, speaking for the Ijaw communities, said that the protest related to Ijaw protection of a key Shell project last year.

"We protected the project with our lives," he said. "now we have nothing to show for it. Until our demands are met, we will not give room for Shell to work."

The oil coming from the Niger Delta provides most of Nigeria's export earnings and government income.

Community anger

But the people living there feel they get nothing back. This is the major source of tension in the region.

A village living next to a well producing oil worth many thousands of dollars a year may have no clean water supply, no passable road, no electricity, no clinic or school.

In theory, a percentage of the government's oil revenues are ploughed back into the producing areas, and that percentage has risen in response to growing discontent.

But residents complain that, while the money may get as far as the state capital - even the local government headquarters - it stops there, and they never see the benefit.

Local anger was most famously mobilised in the Ogoni area by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, but in all parts of the Delta protesters have blocked access roads, occupied production platforms and, on occasion, sabotaged pipelines.