Militant youths have seized control of two oil-pumping stations operated by the Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell in southern Nigeria, trapping 75 workers in their quarters, the firm said on Monday.
”About 200 youths occupied two flow stations, Ekulama I and Ekulama II, some time yesterday [Sunday],” a Shell spokesperson said.
Production equivalent to 70 000 barrels of crude per day has been halted and 75 workers from Ekulama II, which is near the Atlantic coast in the Niger Delta swamps south-west of Port Harcourt, have been trapped by the protest, he said.
”We are not calling them hostages. They are being prevented from leaving the flow station,” he said, explaining that both Shell staff and contractors are involved. He could not say if any foreign workers are among those being held.
Shell and the other international majors operating in the Niger Delta are regularly the target of community protests and hostage takings.
Local villagers accuse the companies of taking huge profits from Nigeria’s oil industry, which is the biggest in Africa with exports of about 2,5-million barrels per day, while putting next to nothing back into the community. — Sapa-AFP