Warri, Nigeria
Ijaw tribesmen burned several villages in southern Nigeria and threatened to blow up oil wells unless the government stopped backing their rivals. They said the army had sided with the Itshekiri tribe in a dispute over electoral-district boundaries and had attacked several Ijaw communities, forcing thousands to flee. In retaliation, Ijaw leader Dan Ekpebide said, the Ijaw seized wells belonging to Royal/Dutch Shell, Chevron Texaco, and TotalFinaElf. If the government continues the attacks, “we’ll have no alternative but to blow up all these facilities under our control,” Ekpebide told the U.N. news service IRIN.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gandhi arrests: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's oppositionThe Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
-
How the woke right gained power in the USUnder the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
