Local Nigerian militants have once again warned that more attacks will ensue if Royal Dutch Shell sends its workers back to the oil fields of the Niger Delta. The ultimatum was given over the April 8-9 weekend after a few weeks of relative calm. Since the beginning of 2006, militants have stepped up their efforts to incapacitate the company?s oil proliferation. With a quarter of Nigeria?s oil exportation now debilitated, the guerrillas have been able to claim a momentary triumph. Since January, at least two pipelines have been struck and several oil workers have been kidnapped (Terrorist Incident and Terrorist Incident). As TRC has previously discussed , the demands by the militant groups are rather clear: they want control of what they see as their lawfully inherited oil wealth; monetary compensation for Shell?s environmental damage to the province; and the release of rebel members imprisoned by the Nigerian government, including separatist leader Mujahid Dokubu Asari of the Niger Delta People?s Volunteer Force and former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyaseigha. The animosity is evidently omnipresent, and the civic hostility is unlikely to go away unless the government agrees to some form of compromise to recompense the Niger Delta people .
The recent suspension not only has caused a considerable blow to the country?s oil revenues, but has also triggered a rise in oil prices on the international market. Amid clashes between the dissenters and the joint forces of Shell?s security personnel and the Nigerian security forces, the government is now putting pressure on Shell to return their evacuated workforce and resume the oil production. Although the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate released a statement saying that they hope to be able to take up operations again in the coming days, it seems as if the situation continues inflamed enough to apply further travel bans to the region. There is no reason not to take the militants? message into account, as they have shown a forceful perseverance. Analysts have repeatedly cautioned that the fresh upsurge in violence foreshadows what can be expected for the general elections scheduled for 2007 . The rebel groups are expected to intensify their violence in a systematic campaign to pressure the government to comply with their demands. Concurrently, the Nigerian government is promising harsh retaliations if attacks continue, which makes a fierce collision imminent.
Hence, oil workers and persons traveling to the region in the next months ought to exercise much vigilance, as the volatility is inclined to carry on.