Off the coast of the Delta oil region, fifty local tribesmen, armed with clubs, knives and guns, seized control of an oil platform, and the 40 men working on it. 

The government has ordered the destruction of several illegal oil refineries in the Delta region. The previous government has prohibited the construction of legal refineries, so that government officials could profit by skimming money spent on gasoline imports. The country is still spending over two billion dollars a year on gasoline imports, and the illegal refineries are turning stolen oil into gasoline for sale on the black market.