The Observer ran an excellent piece on the detriorating security situation in the Niger Delta, placing the conflict between the Ijaw MEND movement, the Nigerian state and the oil companies firmly in the context of world depletion. A fascinating element of the movement is how magic charm wearing rebel fighters are linked by the mobile phone network to internet activists - a rebel army in one of the poorest parts of the world fronted by a mysterious online entity. If the journalists contacts are to be believed the rebels are preparing a full scale shut down of Niger Delta’s oil exports. Once again the world economy is ransomed by a handfull of committed, armed men.

“For decades, the oil-rich delta of the Niger river has been plundered by western companies and rampant political corruption. But now a small group of ruthless Ijaw tribesmen are threatening to sabotage production unless their demands for compensation are met. Sebastian Junger heads into the secretive mangrove swamps to meet the waterborne warriors who are prepared to trigger a global meltdown
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