Oil Station 'Blown Up' In Nigeria, 09/15/08

MEND Militant Fighters

According to the New York Times Interactive World Oil Map, Nigeria is the 12th largest producer of oil in the world. This past weekend, MEND militants, (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta), began what they called an "oil war." They began their fight against multinational oil corporations by attacking multiple work stations in the Niger Delta and effectively reducing the area's oil output by as much as twenty percent. The militant force has claimed responsibility for kidnappings of oil contractors and blowing up oil pipelines. The Nigerian government depends heavily on income from oil revenues from the Niger Delta region, but the Niger Delta remains stricken by severe poverty and corruption. The MEND militants seek to rid their homeland of "oppression and exploitation" from large oil magnates such as Exxon Mobil.

See the article here. -S