UP TO 200 people are feared to have been killed in intercommunal fighting in southern Nigeria’s oil-producing Delta region. Reports in most newspapers on Wednesday put the toll of the clashes, which began on Saturday with an attack on the town of Arunton, at around 200, the worst in the area for some time. The independent newspaper The Guardian said a squad of 150 soldiers have been dispatched to the area of the fighting, around Escravos, south of the major oil town of Warri in an attempt to deter further violence. Delta State’s new governor, James Obori, was reported on Tuesday night to be consulting with leaders of the local communities on ways of stopping the violence.