Civilians and oil firms flee Niger Delta as guerrilla attacks worsen

Assaults on foreign workers that threaten to shut down one of the world’s biggest suppliers reveal the struggle for power between the army and shady militia gangs

Threatened with beheading and harried by pirates who robbed them, people fleeing the Niger Delta’s Bonny Island this weekend struggled to reach Port Harcourt, the regional capital, as the conflict worsened between armed groups and Nigeria’s armed forces.

Barely reported amid attacks on oil facilities and their expatriate staff, the story of what has been happening on Bonny Island – site of the giant Nigeria liquefied gas plant – is a story of two communities in conflict: the better educated and paid incomers from outside the delta and the economically marginalised indigenous Ijaw.


According to reports from Bonny Island and Port Harcourt the problems began two weeks ago with notices placed on the walls of buildings giving those of non-Bonny origins – bankers, shopkeepers and those working at the gas plant – until last Tuesday to leave the island or ‘face the consequences’. They spoke of an island overrun with groups of threatening armed men – many with more weapons than the police.

The banks closed down and many of the non-Bonny fled, describing a harrowing flight across open sea or through creeks, pursued by armed men in motorboats who robbed them. Those who chose to remain have been confronted by an influx of Nigerian troops who have flooded the streets, reportedly harassing anyone suspected of being a militant.

Observer