Nigeria - Militant Ijaws (Federated Niger-Delta Izon Communities)

The Niger Delta's largest ethnic community is the Ijaw people. In October 1998, Ijaw militants seized 20 fuel pipeline flow stations and closed the taps, shutting off a third of Nigeria's 2 million barrels-a-day exports. They control large swaths of the swamp south of Warri, patrolling their soggy surf & turf in speedboats and left unmolested by government troops for the most part. Like rock hounds, the Ijaws chisel away at the pipelines, hacking holes and disrupting the flow of billions of dollars worth of oil. They say they're not pissed at the oil companies, but at the government, instead. Dan Ekpebide, the movement's leader summed up the Ijaw's objectives: "If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach him to fish, he will eat for life." (He meant to say: "If you fill a man's fuel tank up, he will drive for a day. If you teach him to drive, he'll get better gas mileage.") We're not sure what that means in the context of commandeering oil pipeline pump stations, but it's a good sound bite. On April 19, 1999, at least two ethnic Ijaw activists (followers of the Egbesu cult of the Ijaw god of war) were killed by security forces at Ikebiri as they attacked an oil pipeline operated by Italy's Agip oil company with guns, machetes, spears, rocks-whatever they could get their hands on. In early June 1999, at least 50 people were killed in an Ijaw speedboat attack against ethnic Itsekiris near Chevron's tank farm at Arunton. But rather than sticks and stones, the Ijaws were packing automatic weapons. These guys are taking cues from Sri Lanka's Sea Tigers and are becoming the Navy SEALS of Nigerian clan clashes.

http://www.nigerianext.com/Ijawupdate.html