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Economy: Shell cuts Nigeria production

Royal Dutch Shell has suspended operations at three pumping stations in the oil-rich Niger Delta following sabotage of an oil pipeline on 30 January.

The act of sabotage came just after Nigeria’s main militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), called off a fragile truce in the Delta area. However, the group has said it was not directly responsible for the sabotage.

MEND declared a unilateral ceasefire in October 2009 to allow for dialogue with the government over the control of Nigeria’s oil wealth, a greater share of which it says should go to local communities. Now the group claims this dialogue has not been forthcoming and is threatening an “all-out onslaught” against oil industry installations and personnel in the area.

The suspension of the ceasefire only adds to the feeling of uncertainly in the country resulting from the prolonged absence of president Umaru Yar’Adua for health reasons and the recent violence in and around the central city of Jos. AFP news agency cites an unnamed government official as saying the change of heart may actually be an attempt by MEND to force the government to appoint an interim president, a move which many consider to be long overdue.

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