October 6, 2005: Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo Asari, leader of the NDPVF ( Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force), was charged with treason. The NDPVF is a wealthy oil theft gang that has gotten into tribal politics. This has brought down the wrath of the central government, in form of more military and police forces in the delta region, and prosecution of the gang leaders.
October 5, 2005: The navy has bought some high speed boats to help go after the gangsters in the Niger River delta region, who use similar high speed boats to move about and escape the navy and police.
October 4, 2005: Nine people died when police tried to extort a bribe from an off-duty soldier at a checkpoint. Both sides called in reinforcements (including some 200 soldiers), and a battle ensured. Nine people were killed and a police station was burned down, along with several dozen vehicles. Such incidents between soldiers and police have happened before, and the two forces are usually wary of each other.
September 29, 2005: In the delta region, police freed two foreign oil workers who had been kidnapped the day before. A gang of seven Nigerians had planned to hold the men for ransom. This is another indicator of the increasing lawlessness in the Niger river delta oil region.
September 28, 2005: Eleven policemen have been arrested for sexual crimes while serving as peacekeepers in Congo, while another six were arrested for belonging to an oil stealing gang in the Niger River delta area. Police corruption has long been a problem and has not responded to several reform efforts.
