Nigeria deploys troops in oil region

LAGOS – Hundreds of Nigerian troops were deployed yesterday to the capital of the country’s biggest oil producing region after militant youths rallied around a state governor accused of embezzling millions of dollars, the military said.

“We have troops deployed in Yenagoa. They went in this morning.Their numbers are in the hundreds,” Major Said Hamed, spokesman for a joint military task force set up to protect Nigeria’s massive oil industry, told AFP by telephone from the region.Yenagoa is the capital of Bayelsa State and the headquarters of Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who last week skipped bail in Britain to escape money-laundering charges and escaped to Nigeria, where he enjoys immunity from prosecution.His flight angered President Olusegun Obasanjo and, with the governor now facing a threat of impeachment by Bayelsa lawmakers, he has reportedly surrounded himself with armed supporters drawn from the ethnic Ijaw militant groups which operate in the wetlands of the Niger Delta.”Some of the youths protect the governor and some others are against him.They are on both sides.Some are known to be dressed in military uniforms.Our own troops are now there and they will soon get the information they need about those in uniform,” Major Hamed said.Bayelsa is the heartland of Nigeria’s oil industry, which is the world’s biggest exporter of crude and produces more than 2,5 million barrels per day.But, despite accounting for more than a quarter of production and receiving more oil revenue than any other state, Alamieyeseigha’s domain and its two million citizens remain mired in poverty.- Nampa-AFPThey went in this morning.Their numbers are in the hundreds,” Major Said Hamed, spokesman for a joint military task force set up to protect Nigeria’s massive oil industry, told AFP by telephone from the region.Yenagoa is the capital of Bayelsa State and the headquarters of Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who last week skipped bail in Britain to escape money-laundering charges and escaped to Nigeria, where he enjoys immunity from prosecution.His flight angered President Olusegun Obasanjo and, with the governor now facing a threat of impeachment by Bayelsa lawmakers, he has reportedly surrounded himself with armed supporters drawn from the ethnic Ijaw militant groups which operate in the wetlands of the Niger Delta.”Some of the youths protect the governor and some others are against him.They are on both sides.Some are known to be dressed in military uniforms.Our own troops are now there and they will soon get the information they need about those in uniform,” Major Hamed said.Bayelsa is the heartland of Nigeria’s oil industry, which is the world’s biggest exporter of crude and produces more than 2,5 million barrels per day.But, despite accounting for more than a quarter of production and receiving more oil revenue than any other state, Alamieyeseigha’s domain and its two million citizens remain mired in poverty.- Nampa-AFP