11 May 2016
Nigerian trade unions called for oil companies to evacuate workers on Tuesday, following two attacks in the Niger Delta which left five people dead. Armed men killed two police officers and three soldiers in separate attacks in a region that has seen a resurgence of militancy.
After coming under fire from militants, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron have evacuated some of their workforce in high-risk areas. Last week, a group known as Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) attacked a Chevron oil facility in the Delta and succeeding in blowing up the platform. The NDA went on to claim responsibility for bombing an underwater Royal Dutch Shell pipeline in February. Consequently, Nigeria’s crude output has fallen to its lowest point in 22 years.In a country whose economy and foreign currency reserves are largely dependant on oil and gas, the destruction of its pipelines by such armed groups could be absolutely catastrophic,” strategic consultant Leke Adebayo told The World Weekly. “Bad enough in boom times but in the middle of a crippling recession, the results would be devastating. This provides yet another reason as to why Nigeria needs to diversify its economy as soon as is reasonably practicable.”
Much of Nigeria’s oil wealth comes from the Niger Delta. However, the southern region is still underdeveloped and pollution from oil spills is widespread. Royal Dutch Shell and ENI admitted to 550 oil spills in 2014 alone.
The Niger Delta was a site of armed struggle from 2004 to 2009, with groups such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) staging attacks against the federal government and multinational oil companies.
To end the conflict, the Nigerian government launched an amnesty programme for militants, which offered them income, work and education. However, the programme is hard to sustain indefinitely, and President Buhari does want to wind down the amnesty.
The NDA is believed to be composed of former MEND rebels. Many such groups demand reparations for environmental damage and local control over production. Some want self-determination for their ethnic group.
As the Financial Times reports, Nigerian politicians fear cuts to the amnesty programme may spur on the militants and, in turn, threaten the energy industry. [Paywall]
The Nigerian authorities ought to consider talks between the militants and stakeholders to prevent further violence, Omotola Omolayo suggests in Ventures Africa.
The upsurge in violence in the Niger Delta is a further challenge for the Buhari administration, which faces an economic crisis and the Boko Haram insurgency in the north, as reported by Reuters.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
