http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4315126.stm
Nigeria oil rebel treason charge

Asari says he wants Ijaws to benefit more from Nigeria's oil wealth
Nigerian separatist militia leader Mujahid Dokubo Asari has been charged with treason for which he could face the death penalty.
Mr Asari denied that charge and several others including unlawful assembly and conspiracy in a court in the capital.

He shouted "Freedom to my people!" before being led from the courtroom.

He was detained two weeks ago following a newspaper interview in which he was quoted as calling for the dissolution of Nigeria.

His arrest sparked protests in the oil-producing Niger Delta region in southern Nigeria.

Mr Asari says he is fighting for the self-determination of the Ijaw people and greater local control of the profits from the oil and gas industries.

Threats

The BBC's Mannir Dan Ali in Abuja says that if convicted by the court for treason, Mr Asari could be sentenced to death or face life imprisonment.




In pictures: Fighting for oil

It is not clear how his Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) will react to these charges that carry such steep penalties, our correspondent says.

Hundreds of armed police blocked roads surrounding the Abuja court.

After his detention two weeks ago, Mr Asari's supporters threatened oil production in the Niger Delta if he was not released and at one point US oil company Chevron was forced to shut down one of its facilities in the area.

The NDPVF also told expatriate oil workers to leave the area, but later withdrew the threat.

The Niger Delta remains one of Nigeria's poorest and least developed regions, although it accounts for most of the 2.4 million barrels of oil produced by Nigeria, Africa's largest oil-producer, each year.

Last year, the NDPVF contributed to a sharp rise in world oil prices when it threatened war against oil companies

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....Perception Is Everything....

Pa

Na wa o....would love to follow this case and see if he would eventually get a death penalty! Not that I really want him to.

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Wife from NR

....would U risk your life in the hopes of a better life for your people?I commend what these guys are fighting for...though I'm not too sure if their sacrifice would yield the needed results given the way Naija is..I remember reading how some of these guys were heavily armed with firearms and charms a few months ago...all of a sudden he's facing the death penalty....
..read on...
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New rebellion

Nigeria's Delta region is home to vast oil reserves, which make the country one of the world's biggest oil exporters.
But it remains poor, undeveloped and prone to violence.

Now local ethnic Ijaw leader Muhahid Dokubu-Asari says he has moved on from stealing oil to fighting for the region's independence.

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On the run

Muhahid Dokubu-Asari used to be president of the influential Ijaw Youth Council - the ethnic group which makes up the bulk of the Delta's population.
He lives in the region's swamps and creeks and says the police only started hunting him after he accused the Rivers State governor of rigging last year's elections.

The authorities say his group has fought a bitter turf war with a rival militia, known as "The Icelanders".


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Ransom

A recent report commissioned by the oil giant Shell compared the level of conflict in the region to Colombia and Chechnya.
Much of the fighting is caused by armed gangs of militant youths who roam the swamps and creeks.

Sometimes these youths kidnap oil workers and hold them to ransom for money.

But most of the time they are involved in the lucrative business of stealing

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Siphoning oil

Mr Dokubu-Asari admits to stealing oil.
But he claims that the oil belongs to the Delta people in the first place.

He says his followers easily take oil from the pipelines, because some of them used to work with oil companies.

He says they siphon off, "as much as they can".

Some of it, he claims, they refine locally, and then sell to villagers at a subsidised price.

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Magic charms

Mr Dokubu-Asari's supporters do not just rely on weapons - they also claim to have supernatural powers.
This man says that the leaf tied to his head protects him from machetes and bullets. Others carry their leaves in their pockets, or hidden under their hats.

The Ijaw strongly believe in their god of war - Egbisu.

If a person is killed despite carrying a charm, it is blamed on their having committed "impure deeds".


http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl..._oil/img/6.jpg
Church destroyed

Mr Dokubu-Asari claims to control three local government areas - including Tombia which has been torn apart by fighting in the last year.
He says the town - and its church pictured here - was destroyed by a rival gang, the police and the army. But the authorities blame the devastation on a clash between The Icelanders and Mr Dokubu-Asari's men.

Last month, the police and the army attacked another local village in the area in a vain attempt to capture Mr Dokubu-Asari and his men.


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Deep problems

Mr Dokubu-Asari says he has 2,000 followers, although the BBC saw no more than 30 or 40 men.
They are armed with automatic rifles, which they proudly display. They also claim to have heavier weapons.

It is not clear what Mr Dokubu-Asari is really fighting for.

But the fact that he is able to claim ownership of towns, head a militia and evade capture shows the extent of the Delta's problems



......your take?

Pa

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....Perception Is Everything....

Pa

My take is that is a real man standing up for his people something that is not very common in Nigeria these days !!!!!!!

**yvonne steps in, sees really long post, remembers work that needs to be done, quietly steps out**

..todays quota of 1500 fried chinchin by 2pm way off course eh?

PA

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....Perception Is Everything....

Pa

....granted...but if one has to stand up..is it better done boldly or tactfully?It can be argued that Politics is the most dangerous job in naija right now...how much power would these guys have against the powers that be?
Pa

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....Perception Is Everything....

Pa

What the Nigerian are doing to the Niger-delta are so wicked. I think that Nigeria will seperate if they don't put their acts together. The people of Niger-delta are sick and tired of other majority ethnics groups treating them like they don't know anything. The Niger-delta people are ready to fight and i don't think that Nigeria will beable to stop this time when the real war starts.