Nigeria: A New Threat in the Delta

Officials in southern Nigeria blamed Peak Petroleum Industries Nigeria Ltd. for the June 2 kidnapping of eight foreign oil workers from an oil rig operated by Peak off the Nigerian coast. The two officials, a state governor and a traditional monarch, said Peak triggered the raid — which ended with the hostages' June 4 release — by failing to provide the nearby Bilabiri community with jobs and other benefits. These calls raise major concerns regarding the vulnerability of oil companies operating in Nigeria to ever-widening political and economic manipulation from local leaders.