Nigeria Oil Incident Caused Unnecessary Deaths

Nigeria made the press headlines once again because of recent deaths. The nation has been known to appear in headlines revolving around kidnappings, deaths, hostages being held, and of course, oil.

A recent article posted on CNN gave insight to the cause and reasoning of these brutal and tragic occurrences.

The latest involved one murder and three Italians being held hostage.

In the town of Brass, an oil export terminal was attacked by gunmen. Brass typically exports 200,000 barrels of oil each day. Gunmen attacked the terminal which belonged to division of Italy's Eni SpA in the early morning of the Thursday following Thanksgiving. While there was one death and three Italians kidnapped and held hostage, the amount of oil exported was not affected. The attackers arrived at the oil terminal via boat and dressed in camouflage.

They came in a group of 7 boats and made a dramatic exit involving the burning of several vehicles and boats, killing one person.

The death was not identified; however, it was most likely an innocent bystander rather than an employee or attacker.

The death was also confirmed as a youth of the group of locals who tried to stop the attack. The gunmen shot the youth and then burned all the boats left on anchor as they escaped. These attacks are not only brutal, they are common.

So what does Nigeria have to offer that is worth brutal attacks, kidnappings and death? Oil. Nigeria is actually the greatest producer of oil in all of Africa, and while the nation itself could be greatly benefiting from the natural resource, much of the revenue is going elsewhere.

The coast of Nigeria and the southern delta are rich in oil. Unfortunately for Nigerian citizens, much of the revenue from the precious commodity is put into foreign hands. Attackers typically take foreign hostages in order to trade them for ransom or political influence.

The year of 2006 has involved several militant groups attacking pipelines and taking workers hostage from Nigeria and other foreign countries. In fact, the attacks on Nigeria's oil companies have led to an approximate reduction of 25% of Nigeria's oil export over the past year. Nigeria is the greatest export and producer of oil in all of Africa. It is also typical for Nigeria to produce approximately 2.5 million barrels of oil each day.

Due to the attacks and conflicts, oil prices have surged in the nation of Nigeria. The terminal attack most likely reduced exports as have the other recent attacks on Nigeria's oil production factories. The Niger delta has also been attacked in several separate incidents due to their oil export. An earlier attack on the Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Forcados export terminal shut down more than 450,000 barrels of oil.

The attack on oil facilities has also come from civilians and citizens. The attackers are protesting the lack of jobs and development for Nigeria as a nation and her citizens. They are also furious over the lack of revenue that is coming back into Nigeria's hands.

It is also a highly political situation. Militants are taking a stand because they feel that Nigeria is not profiting from the oil as it should be. Due to the small amount of revenue being sent to Nigeria; militants attack in hopes to sway producers to allow more of the revenue to be put back into Nigeria. This includes revenue which would improve the lives of Nigeria's own citizens, rather than the revenue being directly sent to the foreign nations from which the producers have arrived. They also attack for political reasons, hoping for changes as well as a better government.

In other words, militant Nigerians want what their land has to offer, and they no longer want to see so much of the revenue being put into the hands of non-Nigerians.

The majority of the oil workers which have been taken hostage over the past year have been released without harm.

One British hostage was killed during a rescue attempt. Plenty of Nigerian citizens have been killed during the militant attacks. Foreigners are typically released upon ransom. The militants are typically linked to local politicians. The attacks have also been said to coincide with the ruling party's primaries which occur later this month. Next year, presidential elections will occur in Nigeria which is also another source of tension across the nation.