SDN staff are in the Niger Delta working directly with communities affected by the conflict and the social and environmental issues related to the extraction of Oil and Gas.

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latest EXXON oil spill: Group calls for sanctions against ExxonMobil - Fri, 2 Jul 2010

Oilwatch Africa, an environmental group, has described ExxonMobil’s poor reaction to calls on it to mend its ruptured oil pipeline in some communities in Akwa Ibom State, as worrisome. The group asked the Nigerian government to immediately impose appropriate sanctions on the oil multinational.

Civil Society Coalition Calls for a New Compensation Body to Address Oil Spills in the Niger Delta - Fri, 2 Jul 2010

BP’s Gulf of Mexico disaster has heightened international concerns about the environmental dangers of offshore drilling around the world and led to President Obama declaring it America’s “environmental 9/11”. This oil spill has been correctly identified as a massive emergency and it is time to recognise that the ongoing oil spills, conflict and human rights abuses in the Niger Delta should also be acknowledged as an emergency demanding a concerted international response.

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expresses concern for effects of oil pollution on Children's health - Thu, 17 Jun 2010

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expresses concern for effects of oil pollution on Children's health in a report to the Nigerian Federal Government.

First Post: Nigeria is the world’s forgotten oil tragedy - Thu, 17 Jun 2010

As US President Barack Obama extracts his pound of flesh from BP in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill, a little acknowledged but equally catastrophic oil disaster continues to plague Nigeria.

Al Jazeera: Nigeria's forgotten oil spills - Thu, 17 Jun 2010

BP has said again and again that it will cover the costs of cleaning up its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

But away from the cameras, thousands of Nigerians in the Niger Delta, continue to battle for any compensation from numerous oil spills.

Yvonne Ndege reports on the legal battle against foreign oil companies from the southern state of Bayelsa.

BBC: Nigeria must shake off the 'curse of oil', says minister - Thu, 17 Jun 2010

Nigeria's finance minister has told the BBC that the country needs to start moving its economy away from a dependence on oil.

Nigerian womens activist exposes Chevron’s crimes - Thu, 17 Jun 2010

Emem Okon traveled halfway around the world from Nigeria to Houston to attend the annual stockholders meeting of Chevron Oil Company on May 27. But she and 13 others were denied entry despite having legal proxy credentials.

BBC: Nigeria- 'World oil pollution capital' - Thu, 17 Jun 2010

Visitors to the Nigerian village of Kpor, deep in the Niger Delta, are greeted by strange sights: silver frogs blink from gleaming puddles, sunlight bounces from an eerie black lake, and dragonflies hover over cauldrons of tar.

NYT: Half a World From Gulf, a Spill Scourge 5 Decades Old - Wed, 16 Jun 2010

BODO, Nigeria — Big oil spills are no longer news in this vast, tropical land. The Niger Delta, where the wealth underground is out of all proportion with the poverty on the surface, has endured the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years by some estimates. The oil pours out nearly every week, and some swamps are long since lifeless.

Chatham House: Profile - Nigeria's New President: Jonathan's Goodluck - Fri, 4 Jun 2010

For many Nigerians, relief has followed months of uncertainty, they can afford to be hopeful again for the first time in a long while. Goodluck Jonathan, who has become President after the death of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, has made every effort to present himself as a self-assured reformer, capable of quick-decisions and tactical thinking. But it is early days and important to be cautious on what the President can and will achieve. However nimble an operator, he may well be tripped-up by the scale and complexity of Nigeria's challenges, or eventually have to bow to pressure to protect a vested interest.

FrontLine: Ill-treatment of human rights defender Mr Justine Ijeomah - Tue, 1 Jun 2010

On 26 May 2010, human rights defender Mr Justine Ijeomah was assaulted by a police officer while in detention at Mile One Police Station in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Justine Ijeomah is the Secretary of the Rivers State branch of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), a non-governmental human rights organisation which aims to enhance human rights awareness in Nigeria.

Guardian: Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it - Sun, 30 May 2010

The Deepwater Horizon disaster caused headlines around the world, yet the people who live in the Niger delta have had to live with environmental catastrophes for decades.

Reuters: Nigeria president pledges better security in delta - Fri, 28 May 2010

Nigeria's president pledged on Friday to develop the impoverished, oil-producing Niger Delta and improve security in the region. Skip related content.

FT: Nigeria eyes sale of power system - Fri, 28 May 2010

Nigerian officials have begun preparing a plan to sell the crippled state electricity system.

Telegraph: Shell to cut Nigeria gas flaring - Thu, 20 May 2010

Royal Dutch Shell has pledged to put $700m (£486m) towards phasing out the controversial practice of gas flaring at up to 75pc of its Nigerian operations.

AFP: Shell oil project nears completion in Nigeria - Wed, 19 May 2010

LAGOS — A major Royal Dutch Shell oil and gas project nearing completion in oil-rich Niger Delta is set to produce more than 70,000 barrels per day of oil, the company said on Tuesday.

Amnesty: Spread the word about Shell’s embarrassing gas problem - Tue, 18 May 2010

Gas flaring happens when oil is pumped out of the ground, producing gas. The gas is separated out and, in Nigeria, is usually burnt as waste. This practice, combined with numerous oil spills, has left communities in the Niger Delta with little option but to drink polluted water, eat contaminated fish, farm on spoiled land and breathe in air that smells of oil and gas.

Chatham House: The Legacy of Yar'Adua - Tue, 18 May 2010

The announcement of the death of Nigeria's President, Umaru Yar'Adua, should not have come as a surprise. His poor health has been a major feature of his short-lived presidency. His three month absence after he travelled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment in November 2009 left Nigeria without a leader as he failed to hand over executive powers to his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan. A political and legal struggle ensued until Jonathan was eventually given clearance to assume the role of Acting President in February 2010.

Guardian: Why did the Financial Times pull an anti-Shell advert? - Tue, 18 May 2010

A late decision by the Financial Times to refuse to publish an advert hostile to the oil company Shell has outraged the UK branch of Amnesty International.

Guardian: Nigerian police kill and torture suspects, claims report - Mon, 17 May 2010

Many members of the Nigerian police are more likely to commit crimes than prevent them, a report claimed today.

Telegraph: Nigerian politician faces extradition to Britain on money laundering charges - Fri, 14 May 2010

A leading Nigerian politician faces extradition to Britain on money laundering charges after he was arrested in Dubai just days after evading arrest in his home country.

BBC: Nigeria's young people pray for fair elections - Fri, 7 May 2010

The death of Umaru Yar'Adua and the swearing in of Goodluck Jonathan as Nigerian president has prompted speculation about who will run the country after next year's elections.

234NEXT: Nigerian justice minister sets 90-day deadline for prison decongestion - Fri, 7 May 2010

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), has set a July, 2010 deadline for the decongestion of inmates in Nigeria's 227 prisons.

BBC: Supporters of Nigeria ex-governor Ibori attack police - Thu, 6 May 2010

Police trying to arrest a former state governor in Nigeria charged with corruption have been attacked by his supporters, police say.

City AM: Shell blames militants for spilling 14,000 tons of crude in Nigeria - Thu, 6 May 2010

OIL giant Royal Dutch Shell admitted yesterday that it spilt almost 14,000 tons of crude oil into the Niger delta last year, blaming most of the damage on two attacks by thieves and militants.

Sahara Reporters: Legal Trouble For US Oil Giant, Chevron, as Nigerian Villagers Get New Appeal Date - Thu, 6 May 2010

AP: Nigeria President Yar'Adua dies after long illness - Thu, 6 May 2010

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, whose election marked the country's first peaceful transition of power from one civilian to another, has died following a debilitating illness that sparked a leadership crisis in Africa's most populous country. He was 58.

BBC: Nigerians welcome sacking of election head Maurice Iwu - Fri, 30 Apr 2010

Nigerians have welcomed acting President Goodluck Jonathan's decision to remove the much criticised election chief Maurice Iwu.

Opposition Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora told the BBC that his removal was "the beginning of electoral reform".

Independent: Visible from space, deadly on Earth: the gas flares of Nigeria - Wed, 28 Apr 2010

Shell's Opolo-Epie facility is the newest gas flare in the Niger Delta. And it gives the lie to claims from oil multinationals and the Nigerian government that they are close to bringing an end to the destructive and wasteful practice of gas flaring.

Sahara Reporters: Legal Trouble For US Oil Giant, Chevron, as Nigerian Villagers Get New Appeal Date in San Francisco - Thu, 22 Apr 2010

The legal trouble for US oil giant, Chevron, is far from over in a case in which the company is accused of grave human rights abuses in its Nigerian operations. Saharareporters just learned that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has fixed June 14, 2010 to open appeal hearings. The hearing will be in courtroom 1. According to the court schedule, lawyers on both sides would have 20 minutes each to present arguments in an appeal meant to re-open a case earlier dismissed by a San Francisco jury.

Amnesty: Federal Minister of Justice must urgently investigate disappearance of six from police custody - Thu, 22 Apr 2010

April 14 2010: The disappearance of six men from police custody in Port Harcourt one year ago must be independently and impartially investigated by the Federal Minister of Justice and their whereabouts revealed to their families, Amnesty International said today.

Independent: The curse of oil still stalks Nigeria delta - Thu, 22 Apr 2010

Independent newspaper: Plans to share petroleum wealth were meant to bring peace to Nigeria's troubled oil province. But Daniel Howden finds that an arms amnesty is failing and the Delta remains a powder keg.

Activists assaulted and illegally detained by Nigerian police - Fri, 9 Apr 2010

Amnesty International today called on the Nigerian authorities to launch immediate investigations into the assault and detention of three human rights activists by police in the city of Port Harcourt.

SDN in the news: Group to Site Radio Station in Ogbia - Thu, 11 Mar 2010

Yenagoa — In a bid to build transparency and accountability at the grassroots, Stakeholders Democracy Network (SDN), a civil advocacy group in the Niger Delta has concluded plans to site a community radio station in Ogbia, Bayelsa State.

BBC: Police minister condemns Nigeria police 'killings' - Thu, 11 Mar 2010

Nigeria's police minister has launched a scathing attack on the force, accusing officers of killings, robbery and other abuses.

BBC: Nigerian army 'ignored warning of massacres' in Jos - Thu, 11 Mar 2010

The governor of Nigeria's Plateau state has accused military commanders of ignoring warnings of an attack on Sunday near the city of Jos.

Statement by Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs on Political Situation in Nigeria - Tue, 9 Mar 2010

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s concern over the present political situation in Nigeria:

"On behalf of the Canadian people, I would like to join Nigerians in welcoming President Umaru Yar’Adua back to Nigeria. We wish him a prompt recovery, and hope he will soon be well enough to return to his official duties."

Niger Delta Peace Consolidation Conference a resounding success - Thu, 4 Mar 2010

Over 100 participants drawn from various non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society groups and the media from across Europe and Nigeria as well as representatives of ethnic nationalities, the Dutch government (Parliament), the Nigerian legislature and the Nigerian Embassy in The Netherlands converged on the Novotel Hotel, The Hague, for the Niger Delta Peace Consolidation Conference.

SDN in the news: Capacity Building in Governance Through ICT - Thu, 4 Mar 2010

The coming of a United Kingdom (UK)-based advocacy group, 'Stakeholders Democracy Network (SDN) to the Niger Delta region is the pivot of the increasing awareness for community people in the region...

Book: A Swamp Full of Dollars: Pipelines and Paramilitaries at Nigeria's Oil Frontier - Wed, 3 Mar 2010

Nominated for the Guardian first book award, A Swamp Full of Dollars tells the murky and revealing story of the relationship between Africa’s most populous nation and oil that pumps through western cities.

Al Jazeera: Police arrested in Nigeria killings - Mon, 1 Mar 2010

Seventeen Nigerian security officers are reported to have been arrested in the country's north in connection with a series of extra-judicial killings caught on video obtained by Al Jazeera earlier this month.

BBC: President Yar'Adua unexpectedly returns to Nigeria - Fri, 26 Feb 2010

Nigeria's deputy leader Goodluck Jonathan is still the country's acting president while Umaru Yar'Adua is sick, the information minister has said.

Dora Akunyili was speaking amid confusion about who wields power in Nigeria after President Yar'Adua unexpectedly returned home.

>> Read the full article on the BBC website

London Event - Curse of The Black Gold - Tue, 23 Feb 2010

50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta
A week of exhibitions and events in London - March 2010

BBC: Goodluck Jonathan becomes acting president - Thu, 11 Feb 2010

Nigeria's Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan has become acting president, after weeks of political turmoil caused by the absence of its ailing leader.

BBC: Nigeria Anambra state election 'gravely flawed' - Tue, 9 Feb 2010

An election for governor of Nigeria's Anambra state has been condemned amid reports of vote-buying and ballot-box theft.

Group flays poor revenue generation in states - Fri, 29 Jan 2010

Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platforms, a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) has flayed the heavy dependence on monthly federal allocations by state governments across the country, saying it has resulted to a lack luster attitude in exploring internally generated revenue in the respective states.

>> Read the full article on the Champion website

Video: Protests in Abuja at president Yar'Adua's absence - Thu, 14 Jan 2010

January 2010 video news report: There were protests in Abuja, Nigeria concerning the ailing President Yar'Adua.

>> Watch the full news report

Nigeria: Amnesty International - Police 'Kill At Will' - Thu, 10 Dec 2009

Amnesty International exposed the shocking level of unlawful police killings in Nigeria, in a new report released today.

Federal Government: Our hands are tied on as Flaring - Thu, 10 Dec 2009

The Federal Government has said that any attempt at stopping gas flaring through legislation now will lead to very unpleasant circumstances, which the nation can hardly cope with.

Such action, it said, would lead to the loss of billions of dollars derivable from carbon credit.

Minister of State for Petroleum, Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja while fielding questions from some State House correspondents.

>> Read the full article

Nigerian victims take Shell to court - Thu, 3 Dec 2009

On Thursday, 3 December 2009, the unique legal action taken by four Nigerian victims of Shell oil leaks, in conjunction with Milieudefensie, will begin at the court in The Hague. This is the first time in history that a Dutch company has been brought to trial in a Dutch court for damages occurring abroad.

Amnesty International - Oil can be a filthy business - Thu, 12 Nov 2009

Amnesty International - A catastrophe is unfolding in the Niger Delta. Entire communities are devastated. The land they have lived on for generations is poisoned.

International Criminal Court - Summary of recommendations for the African Union - Tue, 27 Oct 2009

The African Union (AU) is to meet on November 3-6 to review the setting up the International Criminal Court (ICC).

More than 160 African civil society groups have called on African ICC states parties to reaffirm their support for the ICC.

Waterfront leaders allege threats to lives - Mon, 19 Oct 2009

The leaders of Bundu-Ama community have raised the alarm over threats to their lives. This followed the alleged killing of eight persons by soldiers and riot policemen on Monday in a bloody clash over enumeration and demolition.

>> Waterfront leaders allege threats to lives - full article on The Nation
>> Troops, ex-militants in bloody clash - full article on The Nation

Waterfront dwellers arrested in Rivers’ community - Mon, 19 Oct 2009

PORT HARCOURT— SCORES of youths resident in Bundu-Ama, a waterfront area of Port Harcourt were yesterday arrested by security operatives on charges yet to be ascertained.

Amnesty Int’l condemns use of force by security operatives in Bundu waterfront

Amnesty International has condemned what it described as excessive use of force by some members of the security forces in Bundu waterfront community, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Security operatives, Rivers’ residents clash claims 8

EIGHT residents of Bundu waterfront have so far been confirmed dead in the shooting Monday morning by security operatives who were in the area to pave way for the enumeration of houses for demolition.

>> Read more at Vanguardngr.com

Spilling the blood of protesters in Garden City - Mon, 19 Oct 2009

They lived in a vast shanty town, but the ramshackle community was built on valuable waterfront land coveted by the powerful. In their continuing protest against forcible removal by the state government to make way for a new private development, the residents of this Port Harcourt slum are now paying for their resistance in blood.

>> Read the full article on 234next.com
>> List of missing and injured
>> My life is in danger say's Bundu-Ama Cheif

Njemanze waterfront demolished leaving thousands displaced - Sun, 11 Oct 2009

On Friday 28 August 2009 the government bulldozers finally came to Njemanze Waterfront in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

The roads to this sprawling and busy part of the city were barricaded by a large number of heavily armed security personnel from the police, the army and apparently from the Joint Task Force.

Thousands attend World Habitat Day celebrations - Thu, 8 Oct 2009

5 October 2009: Thousands of people took to the streets of Port Harcourt today at World Habitat Day celebrations organised by SDN, Amnesty International, Social Action and UN HABITIAT.

Witch children scandal: Akwa Ibom govt wades into crisis - Fri, 2 Oct 2009 By TUNDE OYELEYE

THE Executive Governor of Akwa-Ibom state, Gov Goodswill Akpabio have set machineries in motion to arrest the crisis currently trailing the attacks on Child Right Rehabilitation Network Centre in Eket.

Humanists to organise an anti-witchcraft conference in Uyo - Fri, 2 Oct 2009

In October(21-22) humanists will be meeting in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State for yet another conference on witch hunt and child abuse.

UN World Habitat Day - 5th October - Thu, 1 Oct 2009

The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day. The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

234Next.com: Paying the price of urban renewal - Tue, 8 Sep 2009

It starts to drizzle and Obinna Davidson finally lets his tears fall, probably relieved that his siblings and the journalist poking a recorder in his face, will be unable to distinguish between his tears and the rain. The Rivers State government began a demolition of structures at Njemanze, Port Harcourt, where Mr. Davidson has lived since birth, on August 27, and will proceed to neighbouring Abonnema Wharf community after that.

>> Read the full article and watch the slideshow at 123Next.com

BBC: Hope and rusty guns in Niger Delta - Mon, 7 Sep 2009

After years of fighting in the Niger Delta, some militants have begun to hand in weapons as part of a government amnesty programme. But as Caroline Duffield discovers the outbreak of peace might not be all that it seems.

>> Read the full article on the BBC's website

Amnesty International - Urgent Appeal on forced evictions in Port Harcourt - Fri, 4 Sep 2009

The government of a southern Nigerian state has begun forcibly evicting people to make way for a commercial development: thousands of people are at risk of forced eviction and destitution.

Residents revolt as UN HABITAT says 200,000 to be evicted or displaced - Thu, 27 Aug 2009

Thursday 27 August - Residents of the Njemanze Waterfront area of Port Harcourt today stopped a government buldozer in its tracks as it tried to demolish homes and businesses as part of the Rivers State Government 'urban renewal' plan.

The direct acion came as UN HABITAT released a new report about the ongoing forced evictions that have left tens of thousands of people in Port Harcourt living in fear of loosing their homes.

Video report: Another day, another oil spill from Shell - Wed, 26 Aug 2009

August 2009: A video of an oil spill by SHELL in the Edagberi community in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria.

>> Watch the video from Sahara Reporters

'Courts halt demolitions of Waterfront' - Unconfirmed report - Wed, 19 Aug 2009

The Okrika chiefs, who's communities are under threat of imminent demolition by the Port Harcourt Governor, have apparently sued the state government and its agencies to halt the destruction of thousands of homes in Port-Harcourt.

Governor Amaechi has proposed the demolition of 35 waterfronts in Port-Harcourt which are home to thousands of impoverished residents.

Independent UN expert sounds alarm on mass forced evictions in Nigeria - Fri, 14 Aug 2009

13 August 2009 – An independent United Nations human rights expert today voiced her concerns at the mass evictions planned by the River State Government in Nigeria which could leave hundreds of thousands of people homeless over the coming year.

Nigerian conference on witchcraft and child rights stormed - Thu, 30 Jul 2009

A conference on witchcraft and child rights in Calabar, Nigeria, was yesterday stormed by supporters a religious group who believe that some children of AIDS victims, orphans or those with learning disabilities are child witches.

Listen - BBC: Could Nigeria's volatile Delta region be headed for peace? - Mon, 27 Jul 2009 One of the main rebel leaders, Henry Okah, has been released thanks to a government amnesty.

So what do people in the Niger delta itself think of the move?

Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar has been speaking to some people in Port Harcourt and filed this report for BBC Network Africa.

>> Listen to this on the BBC World Service

Listen - BBC: Could peace be about to break out in Nigeria's Niger Delta? - Mon, 27 Jul 2009

Militants in the troubled oil-producing region have been waging a violent campaign for the past ten years, demanding that the region keep a greater share of the wealth it produces. Focus on Africa's Peter Okwoche spoke to the BBC's Ibrahim Dosara.

>> Listen to this on the BBC World Service

Police deny attacking charity home - Wed, 8 Jul 2009

The Police and civic groups working on children's rights are trading blames in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, on who ordered the Friday 3 July police attack on the 202 children in the charity home of the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN).

Campaign of Terror unleashed on Nigeria's 'Witch Children' - Tue, 7 Jul 2009

A coalition of Nigerian and International civil society organisations and churches have strongly condemned the recent campaign of terror that has been inflicted upon the so-called 'child witches' at the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network Centre (CRARN) in Eket, Akwa Ibom State by Lagos-based police officers. The work of CRARN, and the children they care for, was shown on Channel 4's Dispatches Programme on 'Saving Africa's Witch Children' in November 2008.

>> Download the full press release from Stepping Stones Nigeria

Nigerian senate passes gas flaring bill - Sun, 5 Jul 2009

The Senate on Thursday passed the gas flaring bill that bars oil companies operating in the country from flaring gas after December 31 2010. The Gas Flaring (Prohibition and Punishment) Bill 2009, scaled through third reading yesterday on the floor of the Senate at the conclusion of consideration of the 18 clauses of the bill.

>> Read the full article from the Nigerian Sun newspaper

Amnesty International says pollution has created human rights tragedy in the Niger Delta - Fri, 3 Jul 2009

(Abuja) Amnesty International today called the situation in the Niger Delta a "human rights tragedy," saying that the people of the Niger Delta have seen their human rights abused by oil companies that their government cannot or will not hold to account.

FT: Interactive map - Nigeria's oil heartland - Thu, 2 Jul 2009

Interactive map from the Financial Times of recent evets in the Delta including video links.

>> Visit the interactive map on the FT website

Shell on trial - Tue, 26 May 2009

Oil giant in the dock over 1995 murder of activist who opposed environmental degradation of Niger Delta.

>> Read the full article from the Independent

Nigeria hopes to learn from Shell 'mistakes' in oil-rich region - Tue, 26 May 2009

Squelching across the ooze in orange Wellington boots, Christian Kpandei cuts a lonely figure as he resumes digging a new home for his precious periwinkles.

Like many here in Kozo Creek, he says an oil slick that washed up late last year painted his dugout canoe black, stained mangroves with a waist-high sheen of sludge and smothered thousands of his spiral shellfish.

>> Read the full article at the FT

Militants resume delta pipeline attacks - Tue, 26 May 2009

Nigerian militants launched their first major strike against the oil industry since the start of a 10-day military offensive on Monday, blowing up a significant Chevron pipeline.

>> Read the full atricle in the FT

Press statement on clashes in Delta State - Fri, 22 May 2009

Organisations supporting the STAND (Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in the Niger Delta) project in the Niger Delta have called for urgent action to address the impact on communities of recent raids by the JTF against militant camps in the region.

Niger Delta army offensive killing civilians, says Amnesty - Fri, 22 May 2009

Hundreds of people, including many civilians, may have been killed in a Nigerian military offensive in the oil-rich Niger Delta over the past week, according to Amnesty International.

Civil Society Groups Call on ICC Prosecutor to Investigate Military Violence in the Niger Delta - Fri, 22 May 2009

THE HAGUE - As military attacks continue in the Niger Delta's oil producing Gbaramatu Kingdom, environmental and human rights groups call for an immediate investigation by the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor of those responsible.

>> Read the full article on Sahara ReportersÂ

Nigerian Crackdown Helps Lift Oil Prices - Fri, 22 May 2009

A week-long offensive by the Nigerian army to destroy militant camps in the oil-rich Niger Delta continued Wednesday, a day after Italian oil major Eni SpA declared force majeure on 52,000 barrels per day of crude production from the country.

>> Read the full aricle at Sahara Reporters

Heaps of Weapons Recovered from Raids in Creeks - Fri, 22 May 2009

As the Joint Task Force (JTF) continued its war against militants in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, the military yesterday displayed a mountain of weapons, ammunition and other sundry items it said were recovered from Tompolo's Camp 5, Iroko and Okerenkoko camps.

>> Read the full article in the Niger Delta Standard

Return Captured Soldiers, JTF Tells Ijaw Leaders - Fri, 22 May 2009

The Joint Task Force (JTF) has given insight into the genesis of the current campaign in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local council, Delta State, just as it vowed to continue the "Search and Rescue" mission until the officer and 11 soldiers who were believed to have been captured near the defunct Camp 5 were returned, dead or alive.

>> Read the full article in the Niger Delta StandardÂ

Offensive in Niger Delta continues - Fri, 22 May 2009

THE military authorities yesterday confirmed that troops deployed in the Niger Delta to fish out gunmen in the region have carried out successful operations in two more communities in Delta State.

>> Read the full article at oyibosonline

Joint Task Force establishes hotlines - Fri, 22 May 2009

The Joint Task Force has established a hotline to facilitate information flow between the JTF high command and patriotic Nigerians living in the Niger Delta region and beyond. Also the Senate yesterday waded into the war in the Niger Delta creeks with a directive to its Committee on Defence to investigate the crisis in the oil producing region of the country.

>> Read the full article at oyibosonlineÂ

Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold on the Nigerian military's ongoing offensive in the Niger Delta - Fri, 22 May 2009

"I am very concerned by reports that hundreds of civilians have been killed and potentially thousands displaced by the Nigerian military's ongoing offensive in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta region..."

Amnesty International - Unlawful killings/displacement/access to medical care - Thu, 21 May 2009

Since 13 May 2009, thousands of villagers have been displaced and thousands more are trapped in the cross fire between the Joint Task Force (JTF), which is composed from troops of the army, navy, air force and the mobile police set up in 2004 to restore order in the Niger Delta and armed groups in Delta State, South West Nigeria.

Military Threats: Refugees Desert Ogbeh-Ijoh Hospital - Wed, 20 May 2009

By Omafume Amarun - Niger Delta Standard - 20 May 2008

The Humanitarian Crisis in Warri South West Local Government area following the displacement of Ijaw indigenes and others from villages bombed by the Joint Task Force (JTF) is being compounded by the alleged visit by some JTF soldiers to the Ogbe-Ijoh General Hospital where the refugees took temporary shelter. When the Niger Delta STANDARD visited the hospital, it was abandoned.

Excerpts from Rosiji Olarenwaju's story of the Oporoza attack - Tue, 19 May 2009

Told to the Nigerian Tribune May 18... "It was around 12.00 noon on May 15, 2009. I was at the library at Oporoza, I happened to be one of the corpers posted there...

Press release issued by Dr. Chris Ekiyor, President of the Ijaw Youth Council, May 18 - Tue, 19 May 2009

The IYC has watched with disdain and chagrin the recent bombardment of Ijaw communities by members of the JTF of the federal republic of Nigeria in the pretence of cleansing our communities off militants.

Statement from a member of MEND, received May 18 - Tue, 19 May 2009

It all started on wednesday 13th may 2009 when five gunboats of the Joint military Task Force (JTF) came to camp five and started shooting....

Stop the Attacks on Niger Delta Civilians by Nigerian Military - Tue, 19 May 2009

Call For Immediate Action to Stop the Attacks on Niger Delta Civilians by Nigerian Military

MOSOP, others task UN on N'Delta demilitarisation - Mon, 16 Mar 2009

From Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt) and Willie Etim (Yenagoa)

INDIGENOUS rights groups led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) have urged the United Nations (UN) to prevail on the Nigerian government to demilitarise the Niger Delta.

Nigerians file suit against Shell in Dutch court - Mon, 10 Nov 2008

An environmentalist group and four Nigerians filed suit against Royal Dutch Shell PLC in the Netherlands on Friday, claiming the company was negligent in cleaning up oil spills in Nigeria.