[Imc-newsroom] Protester killed at Shell field in Niger Delta

[Molly Stentz]

                      Report: Protester killed at Shell field in
                      Niger Delta



Sunday, August 12, 2001

Breaking News Sections


                      (08-12) 07:42 PDT ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) --

                      Police shot and killed a protester during a
confrontation over an allegedly delayed oil-spill cleanup in Nigeria's
troubled Niger Delta, a newspaper reported Sunday.

                      Gabriel Ayoko, a 23-year-old student, died in the
weekend protest near a Shell oil field at the Num River, in southeastern
Bayelsa state, the independent newspaper ThisDay reported.

                      About 50 armed police were escorting a contractor
and team sent by Shell to clean up a spill, the daily said. Ayoko and
other local young men confronted the team, angry that Shell was only then
responding to a months-old spill.

                      "When an oil spill occurs in developed countries,
how many hours does it take Shell to start a cleanup exercise?" the
newspaper quoted a protester as saying.

                      Protesters said police opened fire on their group as
Ayoko argued with the contractor but police spokesman Benson Idemudia said
the man was shot as he reached for an officer's weapon.

                      There was no comment from Shell officials and
details about the spill were not immediately available.

                      Clashes between Shell teams and local residents are
regular occurrences in the oil-rich Niger Delta. The region is one of
Nigeria's poorest, despite bountiful oil deposits beneath its marshes and
forests.

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