NIGERIA: Woman killed outside oil company offices

LAGOS — One woman was shot dead on August 8 in Nigeria's southern oil
town of Warri when groups of women protesters besieged the premises of
oil transnationals Royal-Dutch Shell and ChevronTexaco, witnesses said.

They said two groups of women numbering about 2000 each from the nearby
Itsekiri and Ijaw communities arrived at the entrances of the regional
offices of both companies early in the morning, denying employees access.
They carried placards denouncing environmental pollution which they blamed
on the companies.

“At the entrance to Shell's office a policeman shot dead one woman as
they were driving us away”, said Teresa Ginibo, one of the protesters.

Shell said in a statement that the protesters at its premises were wives
of the company's contract employees who demanded improved conditions of
service.

“The picketing, it is believed, follows from one held last month by
contractor-staff drivers over welfare demands”, a statement signed by Shell
spokesperson Donald Boham said. It added that efforts were on to resolve
the dispute.

There was no official comment from ChevronTexaco on the presence of
the protesters at its premises.

[From Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), <http://www.irinnews.org>.]

From Green Left Weekly, August 21, 2002.

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From GLW issue 505