The Nigerian army has enlisted 500 recruits from the volatile oil-rich Niger Delta as part of measures to douse restiveness in the region, state-run media said on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria quoted Minister of State for Defence Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi as saying that the recruitment was a response to growing unemployment in the region.
He said 100 soldiers were recruited from the southern oil-rich states of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers, while 50 each came from Ondo, Akwa-Ibom, Edo and Cross River.
The Niger Delta, home to Nigeria’s multibillion-dollar oil and gas industry, has seen a resurgence of unrest in recent months.
Dozens of local and expatriate workers have been kidnapped. Although most have been released, 60 Nigerian security personnel were killed in the past 10 months when separatist fighters seeking local control of the country’s oil wealth stepped up their campaigns against oil firms. — AFP
