New militia is potent force in Nigeria's oil-rich delta region

MEND is also demanding that Royal Dutch Shell, which produces close to half Nigeria's oil, pay the Ijaws $1.5 billion in environmental compensation (as demanded by the country's legislature) and that the delta be given greater control over oil revenues.

At present, 13 percent of Nigerian oil revenues flow back to regional state governments, which are renowned for corruption. Delta politicians and militants are demanding that, at a minimum, the region receive 50 percent.

Abel Oshevire, spokesman for the regional Delta state government, says constitutional amendments allocating greater control of the region's resources to local authorities are needed. "We are working seriously at this and we should be able to achieve our desire."

Observers are taking MEND seriously. They militiamen boast of an arsenal including heavy M-16 guns and more serious weaponry than any other Nigerian militias to date. Their 400-horsepower boats are faster than Nigerian Navy craft.

For now, authorities say they don't knows where the arms are coming from, but observers suspect that they are purchased with the proceeds of a lucrative trade in stolen oil, known in Nigeria as "bunkering."

A source close to government teams working for the hostages' release points to the group's discipline and professional bearing as signs that its members have probably undergone months of serious training by experienced soldiers or former soldiers. Mr. Gbomo says the militia includes "dismissed, retired, and serving military personnel."

This militia's actions are also different from other similar groups in the region. Before MEND, kidnappings of foreigners had not been carried out to push for national political reforms, but rather were a means of extracting ransom payments or forcing oil companies to help a given local community.

President Olusegun Obasanjo insists that he is doing what he can for the delta's development, including setting up a development agency for the region. Locals say the agency's projects, which include road-building and a computer-training center, don't see a real difference.

Demieari Von Kemedi, a human rights campaigner in the oil city of Port Harcourt, says Mr. Obasanjo's strategy is to "create the impression that he is not too worried about the issues and, secondly, that the issue may not be as important as people represent it to be."

By putting local governors in charge of negotiation attempts, Mr. Von Kemedi says, Obasanjo is "giving the issue a local appearance rather than an issue of national importance ... and by so doing not creating any forum at all for many fundamental questions" to be discussed.

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