A third outbreak of tribal fighting has cost lives and hit revenue streams in the oil town of Warri in the troubled Niger Delta.
A heavy troop presence is maintaining an uneasy calm. But this is not enough to create confidence in the oil industry.
Authorities said more than a dozen people died in the fighting last week.
This comes after about 100 people were killed in August and a similar number of fatalities in March.
At that time several multinational oil companies halted their operations and evacuated staff from one of Nigeria’s most productive regions.
Thousands of people are displaced each time by the fighting between Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo tribes.
The Ijaw perceive themselves to have drawn the short straw in dealings with the government and the oil companies.
Observers maintain, however, that ethnic differences and Ijaw fears of favouritism are eclipsed by the fighting for control of the illegal trade in stolen crude oil.
Industry sources estimate that more than 100 000 barrels are diverted onto the illegal market daily.
Ijaw militant leader Bello Oboko told reporters last week that Itsekiri militia attacked a boatload of Ijaw women and children, killing four of them. The victims were travelling on the river between Ogulagha and Burutup. Oboko described it “an unprovoked attack targeting innocent women and children”.
Itsekiri Youth Council leader Daniel Iremiji denied that any premeditated attack had occurred, claiming that Itsekiris were retaliating for an attack by Ijaws.
“Our people were attacked by Ijaws who killed more than 18 people. Another 20 are still missing after escaping into the bush,” he said.
The Ijaws also reportedly attacked Urhobo villages, killing a number of people. This is a relatively new phenomenon, as Ijaws previously sided with Urhobos against the Itsekiris.
The alliance is understood to have broken down over a land dispute.
Major General Elias Zamani, who heads the special military task force established earlier this year by President Olusegun Obasanjo, has been in urgent talks with the Delta State Governor James Ibori.
The repeated breakdowns of order in what amounts to the economic heart of Africa’s most populous country has led to calls in the United States for marines to be deployed to protect US oil interests.
Nigeria is central to US long-term energy plans, which stipulate that within the next six years, sub-Saharan Africa will provide a fifth of US oil needs.
As far-fetched as this notion would be in Washington, local politicians latched onto the calls for intervention, saying it insulted Nigerians.
They argue that the Western oil parent companies do not have Nigeria’s long-term interests at heart and are looking, instead, to protect their immediate plans to optimise their exploitation of this strategic mineral.
Obasanjo is under pressure to address the root cause of the region’s unrest, which is a sense of alienation among those who believe they are excluded from oil wealth, particularly the youth.
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) this week protested the federal government’s underfunding of development plans for the area. Fingers are also being pointed at the oil companies for not coming to the party.
The Senate this week unanimously approved Emmanuel Aguariavwodo as the new managing director of the NDDC. Aguariavwodo vowed to eradicate “youth restiveness” in the Delta to create the right climate for extracting oil and increasing revenue for the nation. Colleagues say Aguariavwodo has the experience and the ability to do the job.