June 15, 2016

On June 10, 2016, in the oil hub city of Warri in Nigeria’s Delta State, a billboard asks for citizens’ help against the Niger Delta Avengers’ campaign of oil industry disruption. © Stefan Heunis, AFP/Getty Images

On Monday, June 13, Nigeria’s Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) announced they were ready to talk with the west African nation’s federal government. The NDA—a militant group that has attacked petroleum and natural gas installations in the Niger River Delta—has strict preconditions, however, before a dialogue can be arranged. The NDA insists that damaged pipelines and facilities remain out of service, and that the selling of crude oil be suspended. The group wants international oil companies at the talks and a commitment from the government to improve conditions in the impoverished and badly polluted delta. The government, desperate to stop the attacks and regain the delta’s fossil fuel wealth, has recently called off military efforts against the NDA. The government, however, may be unwilling or unable to comply with the militant group’s pretalk conditions.

The NDA grabbed the government’s attention earlier this year by launching “Operation Red Economy,” systematic attacks meant to cripple the Niger Delta’s rich oil and gas industry. NDA sabotage has destroyed or forced the closures of pipelines, terminals, and wells belonging to such oil giants as Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, and Italy’s ENI. Nigeria’s oil production has since been reduced to its lowest level in 20 years.

The NDA emerged from the remains of previous militant groups in the Niger Delta that fought for control of the region’s oil wealth as well as independence from the Nigerian government. The NDA’s crusade, however, has largely centered on the economic well-being of delta citizens and the restoration of land and water contaminated by spills and irresponsible oil and gas exploration. The NDA has thus far avoided open warfare with Nigerian troops and has followed self-imposed rules against kidnapping or killing. The NDA has ominously warned, however, that these rules could change.

The Niger Delta forms the southernmost region of Nigeria, along the Gulf of Guinea. It consists of deposits of clay, mud, and sand at the mouth of the Niger River. Lagoons and mangrove swamps cover much of the region. Large-scale oil and gas extraction in the delta began in the 1950′s.