Ijaw militants fighting for the control of oil and gas resources in the Niger Delta have warned they will wage a “consistent and intensified mass campaign” against Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a unit of ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), until the company pays compensation for an oil spill caused by its operations in January 1998.
“Must there be a festival of violence before help and succor can come?” the group asked in an e-mail sent to Dow Jones Newswires late Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, protesters barricaded the entrance to Mobil’s Qua Iboe Terminal in eastern Nigeria, demanding compensation for the spill. A company official told Dow Jones Newswires the group demanded 18 million naira ($141,430).
In the e-mail, the group said the oil spill affected the means of livelihood of persons who live in the area.
“Hundreds of thousands of Niger Deltans who reside and do business along the banks and shorelines of the seas, rivers, canals, tributaries, channels and waterways suffered damages caused by the dangerous chemical and gas constituents of the crude oil emitted uncontrollably into the environment,” the group claimed.
The group gave its name as the Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front, Political Wing of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer, led by incarcerated Mujahideen Asari-Dokubo.
Also Thursday a letter apparently written by Dokubo called for an Ijaw government of National Unity and Parliament in exile.
Dokubo purportedly also called on Ijaws in the Diaspora to establish a radio station to propagate their cause.
“No struggle can succeed without a strong media base. Access to information media remains a veritable ingredient for the achievement of a liberated Ijaw land,” Dokubo allegedly wrote in a letter sent to Dow Jones by Cynthia White, spokesperson for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
Dokubo also called for the establishment of a “strong” Ijaw military force.
“We must not shy away from setting up a credible, dependable and virile Ijaw military force, to restore the stolen sovereignty of our beloved nation and to defend our territorial integrity,” he wrote.
Dokubo has been in prison since last September, accused by the Nigerian government of felony.
Militants in the Niger Delta have demanded a payment of $1.5 billion for compensation for environmental pollution from activities of Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSB) Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria unit.
The militants say the payment is now one of the conditions for the release of the remaining three hostages they have been holding since last month.
Mar92006