Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Dr. William Ehwarieme
the table. In this case, 14 expatriates and 1 Nigerian were held, not in
return for ransom, but the release of one militant arrested in Port
Harcourt by agents of the Nigerian state. One important implication of
this case and similar cases is that it draws attention to the role of
state actions and responses in the emergence and perpetuation of
violence and kidnapping.
Conclusion
Kidnapping in the oil rich but impoverished Niger Delta region
of Nigeria is a product of political and economic factors and forces
deeply rooted in the country’s history. From being a source of slaves
and industrial raw materials and a market for products of European
industries since around the fourteenth century, the Niger Delta
became part of a British colonial entity in Africa called Nigeria in the
second decade of the twentieth century. Both this economic
incorporation into the global economy and forced political marriage in
a poly ethnic nation, have had tremendous negative impact on the
region that have been accentuated by half a century of rapacious
exploration, drilling, refining and marketing of crude oil as well as by
the intense political struggles associated with the allocation and
utilization of the huge revenues from oil among the ruling class across
the various ethno-geographic regions in the country.
Specifically, three areas of severe impact are the local economy,
the physical environment and power relations which have translated
into underdevelopment, manifested in unemployment, poverty,
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