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Wednesday, July 17, 2002 - Web posted at 11:45:17 am GMT

ESCRAVOS - An oil company has agreed to build schools and electrical and water systems to satisfy a group of women who had taken 700 workers hostage in a southeast Nigeria oil terminal.

Monday's deal signaled an end to the week-long takeover, which featured a typical tactic with a new twist: Young men frequently resort to kidnapping in the oil-rich Niger Delta, but the peaceful, all-women protest was unprecedented.

The unarmed women, some with babies bound to their backs, sang and danced on the docks at the ChevronTexaco facility when they learned the company had offered to hire at least 25 villagers and to build schools and other amenities.

But they said they would wait until the verbal agreement was put in writing and signed before leaving the Escravos facility.

"It is settled. We stay today, but once the paper is signed, we will leave," said Anunu Uwawah, a protest leader.

ChevronTexaco executive Dick Filgate told the women: "We have to do a much better job of having communities involved in our business. We now have a different philosophy, and that is do more with communities."

The takeover began last week and trapped hundreds of American, Canadian, British and Nigerian oil workers inside the facility.

About 200 were allowed to leave on Sunday. It also shut down the terminal, which exports half a million barrels of oil daily and accounts for the bulk of the company's Nigeria production.

The women used a traditional and powerful shaming gesture to maintain control over the facility and the hostages - they threatened to remove their own clothing.

Most Nigerian tribes consider the unwanted display of nudity by women as an extremely damning protest measure that can inspire a collective source of shame for those at whom the action is directed.

About 600 women took part in the protest, ranging in age from 30 to 90 - with the core group being married women aged 40 or older.

The women want the oil giant to hire their sons and use some of the region's oil riches to develop their remote and run-down villages - most of which lack even electricity.

The people in the Niger Delta are among the poorest in Nigeria, despite living on the oil-rich land.

Oil site takeovers are common in this country, the world's sixth-largest exporter of oil and the fifth-largest supplier to the United States.

But the women's protest was a departure for Nigeria, where armed men frequently use kidnapping and sabotage to pressure oil multinationals into giving them jobs, protection money or compensation for alleged environmental damage. Hostages generally are released unharmed.

The women accepted the deal only after Filgate agreed it could be reviewed and renewed after five years.

During the intense negotiations, village values often clashed with corporate realities. For example, the women wanted a promise of jobs for their children for as long as the company stays in Nigeria.

ChevronTexaco refused to go so far. But it did agree to hire at least five people a year over the next five years. It also said 15 villagers already employed on a contract basis would be given full-time staff status.

Terms of Monday's deal also included a promise by the company to build a town hall in Ugborodo, the largest of six villages with women taking part in the protest, Filgate said.

Schools, electrical and water systems will be built, with construction beginning in three weeks time, he said. The company will also help the women establish poultry and fish farms to supply the terminal's cafeteria.

The struggle between international oil firms and local communities in Nigeria drew international attention in the mid-1990s, when violent protests by the tiny Ogoni tribe forced Shell to abandon its wells on their land.

The late dictator General Sani Abacha responded in 1995 by hanging nine Ogoni leaders, including writer Ken Saro Wiwa - triggering international outrage and Nigeria's expulsion from the British Commonwealth. - AP