The Guardian (UK): Militants threaten Nigerian oil stations after leader’s arrest
“We will unleash upon the government and its cohorts violence and mayhem never before reported in the history of the Nigerian state…”
Saturday September 24, 2005
Jeevan Vasagar in Nairobi
A separatist militia threatening to spread “violence and mayhem” throughout Nigeria’s oil-producing delta has forced the closure of two oil installations and the evacuation of dozens of workers.
The US firm Chevron shut down a station pumping 19,000 barrels a day yesterday after being warned of an “imminent threat” from armed militants.
A day earlier more than 100 fighters stormed another Chevron oil platform, disarming government security personnel and shutting down the facility, which pumped around 8,000 barrels a day. Shell, which produces about half the oil from Nigeria, withdrew 50 workers from three facilities on Thursday, but output was maintained by a skeleton staff. The unrest adds to pressure on oil prices, already approaching historic highs because of Hurricane Katrina in the US.