Nigeria: Increased instability in Niger Delta

The release of four foreign oil workers on January 30 by a previously unknown militia group underscores the chronic instability in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The oil workers were kidnapped by militants at Shell's offshore EA oil rig on January 11. While the group that claimed responsibility for the kidnappings - the Movement for the Emancipation of the People of the Niger Delta - is previously unknown, it has links to prominent local leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the imprisoned leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (N.D.P.V.F.). Indeed, the kidnappers initially demanded the release of Dokubo-Asari in exchange for the hostages' freedom; the kidnappers also demanded that Shell pay local communities US$1.5 billion to compensate them for the environmental pollution caused by the oil company.