Remember the Ijaw - we're creating the next Al Quaeda

BBC NEWS | Africa | Shell told to pay Nigeria $1.5bn: "A Nigerian court has ordered oil multinational Shell to pay $1.5bn to the Ijaw people of the Delta region.

The Ijaw have been fighting since 2000 for compensation for environmental degradation in the oil-rich region.

They took the case to court after Shell refused to make the payment ordered by Nigeria's parliament.

Ijaw militants have staged a spate of attacks against Shell facilities recently and are holding seven foreign oil workers hostage.

Shell intends to appeal against the judgement.

Shell's lawyers argued in the federal court in Port Harcourt that the joint committee of the National Assembly that made the order in 2000 did not have the power to compel the oil company to make the payment.

But Judge Okechukwu Okeke ruled that since both sides had agreed to go before the National Assembly, the order was binding on both sides.

Nigeria is one of the world's biggest oil exporters but despite its oil wealth, many Nigerians live in abject poverty. "