By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja

Some of Niger Delta’s prominent groups and ethnic leaders have called for urgent talks with the government to end the military’s ongoing operations in the region. Rights groups say the army’s indiscriminate bombing of villages in the oil-producing Niger Delta has created a humanitarian crisis.

The Nigerian military says troops will continue their search of the creeks of the Niger Delta to flush out militants whose criminal activities have hurt the country’s oil production.

An army spokesman in the delta, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, says the military will continue securing the region and dismissed any talk of a so-called cease-fire.

“I am not aware of any cease-fire,” he said. “We are a military people. We are not at war. It is only when you are at war that you begin to ask for cease-fire. You are just conducting an operation which will assist you in recovery or rescuing some of the foreign nationals who were taken hostage by the militants. The operation is only targeting the militants, not any other person - the militants and their hideouts.”
(more…)

A Nigerian navy patrol has intercepted an attempted attack on an offshore oil facility in the Niger Delta. It is the latest in an ongoing battle which is said to have nearly halved the country’s vital oil production. On Monday, rebel fighters successfully put a major oil storage facility out of action. But in addition to the economic cost, Amnesty International says hundreds of civilians are being killed in the violence. Al Jazeera’s Tarek Bazley reports.

At the petrol station with its attractive, beckoning red and yellow icon, a diverse group gathers to witness.
We recite the narrative of the Niger Delta.
Like supplicants before a mystical altar, we chant one by one—giving evidence of what we have learned.
Like a mantra, like a prayer committed to memory and spoken for generations.
We chant lest we allow ourselves to forget.

In 1956 oil was discovered in the Niger Delta,
an area rich with oil and natural gas,
so rich that Nigeria is now the fifth largest supplier of oil to the
United States.

In 1995, the Ogoni 9, including writer/activist Ken Saro-Wiwa,
were hung for their protest,
hung at dawn by men in red robes,
hung for challenging the corruption of governments and oil companies.

Shell, Chevron, and British Petroleum…
make billions from the area,
billions… while polluting the waters,
billions… while ravaging the land.

The fishermen have nothing,
the farmers have nothing,
the people have nothing…
but sickness and poverty.

Thanks to Linda Kunik and Jon Beau Aeon for edits.

Edward Said describes Orientalism as “the manufacture of the other” mainly done for purposes of domination. He locates orientalism within the history of military and ideological imperialism . It is an attempt to acquire information in a way that is neither innocent nor objective, but driven by special interests (such as the control of resources like oil.)

The wanton, irresponsible actions of oil companies, governments and media regarding the Niger Delta, are classic examples of domination for purposes of exploitation. Although the communities of the Niger Delta are not located in “the Orient,” Said’s theories still apply.

Wherever people are fetishisized and considered less than human, marginalization, rape and theft are easily carried out.

Planet in Peril 6:16
Lisa Ling travels to the Niger Delta, where the thirst for oil has created a deadly situation.