Oil Industry Nigeria

Troops were told to shoot curfew breakers in Nigeria's oil industry hub of Warri after a fourth day of arson and killing blamed on ethnic rivalries brought the death toll to 10. State authorities imposed a 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew and troops were told to shoot anybody caught breaking it. Barely a week after taking office to end 15 years of military rule, elected President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would visit the area this week and then come up with policies to bring lasting peace.

Human rights activists Tuesday accused multinational oil companies of complicity in human rights abuses carried out by this country's military regime in the oil-rich Niger Delta, charging that the firms have made no effort to condemn or intervene in the atrocities.

The military government deployed more troops in the oil-producing Niger River Delta, where youth protests are threatening the nation's revenue base.

At least 19 people have been shot dead in ethnic Ijaw areas since the expiration of an ultimatum to oil firms to leave, witnesses said Friday. Militant Ijaw youths alleging pollution and deprivation of wealth demanded that oil company workers leave by Dec.

An upsurge of trouble in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta has been testing the new military rulers' tolerance of dissent, forcing them to deal with the aspirations of impoverished ethnic groups and further endangering an already weak economy.

Reuben Onyewikpe Loveday, a farmer in the depressed swamplands of the Niger River Delta, nostalgically remembers the days when he could make a healthy living off his three acres of land.

Hoping to use his moral authority and global prestige, President Nelson Mandela said Wednesday that he will lead a campaign for an international oil embargo against the military regime in Nigeria in a push for immediate democratic reforms.