Nigerian women occupy oil terminal.

When a group of unarmed women protesters occupied ChevronTexaco's main oil export terminal in Nigeria last month, they not only disrupted operations in a key oil facility, but also altered the rules of engagement in the longstanding conflict in the Niger Delta oil region.

Over the past decade, armed youths from impoverished villages in the region, located in the south of the country, have often taken oil workers hostage, sabotaged pipelines and disrupted oil operations to back demands for amenities and access to more of the wealth produced in their backyards.

After President Olusegun Obasanjo increased the military presence at key installations, soldiers have on a number of occasions opened fire on militant youths attempting to invade oil facilities, killing or wounding a significant number.

Despite this intimidation, some 150 women aged between 30 and 90 seized a ChevronTexaco boat and made it to the company's Escravos export terminal in July this year, marking the first time women were entering the oil fray as a group.

Their demands were the same as the militant young men have always made: jobs and amenities, including potable water and electricity for their villages. Their tactic was to occupy the airstrip, helicopter pad and docks, denying aircraft and sea vessels access to the facility, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and crocodile-infested swamps and creeks.

Invoking a very effective local taboo, they threatened to take off their clothes if the security forces attacked them. Some 700 people, including Nigerian, American, Canadian and British employees of Chevron Texaco, were trapped at the Escravos facility for the 10 days the siege lasted. As the effectiveness of their action became obvious, more women joined them, swelling the number to about 2,000. Hundreds of other women from neighboring villages, copying their move, invaded other swamp facilities operated by Chevron Texaco and shut them down, making similar demands as their counterparts at Escravos.

The occupations only ended after the oil company proposed agreements which the communities considered acceptable. While the siege lasted, the security forces assigned to the facilities could only look on, apparently with strict instructions from the authorities not to attack unarmed women with the world watching.

With the success of the women's action, several other communities in the oil region threatened to take similar action. Oil industry sources have indicated anxiety among oil transnationals in Nigeria as to who will be next. ChevronTexaco is only one of six major oil companies operating six joint ventures in which the Nigerian government has an average 57-percent take. Together the six companies account for more than 95 percent of Nigeria's daily capacity of some two million barrels.

The uncertainties surrounding oil operations in Nigeria appear to have become a matter for serious concern in the United States, which buys about half of the daily exports of Africa's biggest oil producer. With violence raging in the Middle East, which has the world's largest reserves of crude oil, and the talk of the US attacking Iraq, the Gulf of Guinea, where Nigeria and Angola are the major producers, is an obvious alternative source of oil.

Moreover, Nigeria is dependent on oil exports for more than 95 percent of its foreign income. With disruptions sometimes cutting exports by up to a third, the question that arises is how long will the government remain patient in dealing with the women protesters?

An indication emerged following another protest march on 8 August by women in the oil town of Warri. They besieged the headquarters of ChevronTexaco and Shell with placards accusing the companies of polluting their environment.

According to newspaper reports, a woman was shot dead after a soldier fired into the crowd to disperse the protesters. However, it appears that a high-handed response from the federal government would not be enough to extinguish the zeal of the highly mobilised inhabitants of the Niger Delta to continue their campaign for a higher share of Nigeria's oil wealth.

Source: UN Office for/he Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2002