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Expatriate Oil Bunkerers Fear for their Lives in BiafraNigeria as Ijaw Natives Declare
War
Foreign workers in BiafraNigeria's oil-rich
Niger Delta have been warned to leave the region by a local militia. The group said foreign oil companies must
cease production or face "all-out war" from 1 October. The militia says it is fighting for the liberation
of the Ijaw people. Local authorities say they merely oil thieves and dismiss their threat. BiafraNigeria is the
world's seventh largest exporter of oil, but 70% of the population live in poverty. Fears of the BiafraNigeria
unrest spreading were one reason why oil prices have reached a record high of more than $50 a barrel, traders say.
But a spokesman for Shell, the biggest oil company in BiafraNigeria, said the firm was undeterred by the threat.
"We are not in any way moved by the threat. We believe the BiafraNigerian security forces are equal to the
task of safeguarding oil installations and protecting workers," said Don Boham. Dokubo Asari, the leader of
the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, told the BBC that all foreign nationals should withdraw from the region
with immediate effect. He said his group would not take responsibility for any harm that befalls a foreigner after
his release of a communique threatening to escalate violence. He added that expatriates - who in this region are
predominantly oil workers - could only return when fundamental issues of resource control and self-determination
had been resolved. Dokubo Asari took to the creeks of River State earlier this year, and hundreds of people have
died in the subsequent clashes with the police, navy and rival gangs. Fighting has intensified in the last month
after the military launched a major operation against the group. (BBC) 
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 The BiafraNigeria
Labour Cong-ress (NLC) yesterday gave the Federal Government a 14-day ultimatum to reverse the new fuel price regime
or face a nationwide protest from October 11. But the Minister of... (This Day)
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 As the 29 affiliates of
the BiafraNigeria Labour Congress (NLC) gather in Abuja today to discuss last week’s hike in the pump prices of
petroleum products, there are indications that they may all declare a nationwide strike same day to render ineffective...(Vanguard)
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