Nigeria Oil Unrest 'Kills 1,000'

Sections of a report regarding revenue and lives that have been lost this past year caused by the growing oil unrest in Nigeria that was prepared for the federal government have been given to the media. The report, which is not yet published, contains information that 1,000 deaths from January to September of last year have been caused by the oil dispute along with 300 other kidnapping cases. In addition to the human sacrifices, oil exports have been cut by 25% during the past years and attacks and spillages have cost an estimated $20.7 billion. President Umaru Yar'Adua has announced that his government is considering offering armed groups an amnesty if they disarm, but Mend (the most visibly armed group in Nigeria) has dismissed his offer.

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The recent report connects to what we have been learning in class with the class cleavages because many armed groups in Nigeria are fighting for a more equal distribution of the wealth from oil. Also, President Yar'Adua's offer of amnesty shows the influence that the armed groups have on the political change and the rule of law as well as political violence and interest groups.

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Gunmen Kill Football Fans

A bus of football fans on their way to a game in southern Nigeria were ambused by a group of gunmen. At least six of the fans were killed and some are still in the hospital. The excecution-style murders were said to be revenge from a previous nightclub shooting. Bayelsa and Delta, where this occured, is a common place for shootings. Criminal gangs and militant groups frequently raid vehicles to hold people for ransom. Hundreds of people have been victims of "cult" violence such as this. Around election time, politicians are even known to pay campus gangs to commit crimes to other competitors. These violent ambushes have forced international companies out of this gas and oil-rich region for their safefty.

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This article relates to what we have been learning in class such as political violence, civil society, and the economy. Gangs that concentrate in Nigeria create violent attacks on one another for retaliation. Political figures contribute to this violence by supporting campus gangs. Because there is so much violence among the Niger Delta, it cuts into the level of economy. Nigeria could be profiting much more in their oil and gas industry, but because of all the violence, foreign companies have to remove staff and cut back their operations for safety precautions.

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Nigerian Oil Workers Go On Strike

Oil workers for the company, Total in Nigeria, have decided to protest against the recent situations by striking. The strikers are protesting about the apparent lack of security they receive from armed groups like Mend who have been kidnapping them and their family members. In addition, the kidnappings have increased over the past few months which are fueling the protesters even more. The protesters continued their plans for strike even after their national union executive informed them that the strike would only delay industrial action. The workers picketed their company office along with employees from Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (Pengassan). There have also been repeated rape threats towards kidnapping victims including towards the wife of the former oil minister who had to pay a reported $2.5 million dollars for her release after the kidnappers released a statement declaring that they would "rape her every day" until they were paid.

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The article relates to what we have been learning in class by the social cleavages caused by oil distribution in Nigeria. The armed groups like Mend are fighting for a more equal distribution of the oil wealth instead of all the wealth continuing to only to go the rich. Political violence is also displayed in the article by kidnapping. In addition, interest groups are formed like the workers who have decided to strike and their movement to strike also displays social movements that occur in Nigeria.

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