NIGERIA. EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLINGS PERSIST IN NIGER DELTA - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

ten years after the hanging of Ogoni- born environmentalist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa by the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, injustices are still being carried out towards a lot of people in the Niger Delta, indicating high levels of neglect and inequality carried out by the Nigerian government, said Amnesty International (AI) in its latest report on the country. The report entitled Ten Years On: injustice and violence haunt the oil Delta, which was posted on AI's website, said that in spite of oil windfall, people of the Niger Delta counted among the world's poorest as over 70 percent of them lived on less that $1 per day, adding that security forces killed people of the region with impunity in order to protect oil companies and encourage continued rape of the area.
"The military government which executed Ken Saro-Wiwa and his companions was replaced in 1999 by a civilian government. Yet government security forces continue to kill people in the Niger Delta with impunity. Excessive force is used to protect the oil industry and restore law and order, and the human rights of communities are regularly violated," the report stated.