In This Article
Subscribe to International UpdatesBritish 3-Year-Old Released by Nigerian Kidnappers
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Militants in the Niger Delta free a British toddler in a kidnapping that pushed up oil prices the world over; the incident drew the international media's attention to the worsening violence in Nigeria.
30 Second Summary
Three-year-old Margaret Hill was back with her parents on July 8 after three days’ imprisonment at a hideout in the Niger Delta.
The gunmen holding the little girl had threatened to kill her, but she was returned to her parents unharmed and in good spirits. Her only physical complaint was a rash of mosquito bites.
Margaret was abducted by militiamen who attacked the car taking her to school when it was stuck in traffic on July 5.
Kidnappings are common in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where militants often take hostages to achieve political goals.
However, the targeting of children is a new development. Three local children have been abducted in the past six weeks.
This was the first child of foreign nationality to be kidnapped, and news of Margaret’s abduction had international repercussions. Her plight drew worldwide attention to the growing violence in Nigeria, diminishing confidence in the Nigerian oil industry—the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to the United States.
In the wake of Margaret’s abduction, oil prices surged past $76 a barrel, approaching the record level of $78.30.
The gunmen holding the little girl had threatened to kill her, but she was returned to her parents unharmed and in good spirits. Her only physical complaint was a rash of mosquito bites.
Margaret was abducted by militiamen who attacked the car taking her to school when it was stuck in traffic on July 5.
Kidnappings are common in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where militants often take hostages to achieve political goals.
However, the targeting of children is a new development. Three local children have been abducted in the past six weeks.
This was the first child of foreign nationality to be kidnapped, and news of Margaret’s abduction had international repercussions. Her plight drew worldwide attention to the growing violence in Nigeria, diminishing confidence in the Nigerian oil industry—the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to the United States.
In the wake of Margaret’s abduction, oil prices surged past $76 a barrel, approaching the record level of $78.30.
Headline
The kidnappers initially offered to exchange the girl for her British-born father, Mike Hill, a long-time resident of the oil-rich Nigerian region. In a BBC interview, Oluchi Hill, the girl’s mother and a native Nigerian, said that her husband “wanted to go down for his baby but the police commander told him not to.”
Source: The Guardian
Because Nigeria is the fifth largest producer of oil for the United States, the violence around the oil rigs affects the U.S. economy. By advertising the dangers facing Nigerian refineries, Margaret’s kidnapping has had a direct impact on U.S. gas prices.
Source: The BBC
Background
Five expatriate oil rig workers were kidnapped by gunmen in the Niger Delta on July 4. This Reuters story provides a chronology of recent kidnappings in the last few months. The prevalence of these attacks is a serious obstacle in the peace process.
Source: Reuters
Conflict in the Niger Delta
The Niger River Delta on the western coast of Nigeria sits atop one of the world’s richest oil reserves. Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer. However, a year of armed conflict between the government and militant rebel groups has cut the area’s oil production by a third, contributing to record high gas prices in America.
The Niger Delta has become a war zone in which armed rebel militias, such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, intermittently attack the holdings of foreign oil companies. The militants are frustrated by persistent local poverty and say they are fighting to force the government to direct oil revenues back to the delta region.
Source: Time magazine
“Could a bunch of Nigerian militants in speedboats bring about a U.S. recession?” asks this Vanity Fair article. Given that rising oil prices have triggered the nation’s last two major recessions, the United States ought to be concerned about instability in the Niger Delta.
Source: Vanity Fair
On May 29, 2007 Nigeria’s newly elected president, Umaru Yar’Adua, used his inaugural address to appeal for peace among Nigeria’s militant groups.
Source: ABC News
Thanks in large part to the conciliatory tone of Yar’Adua’s speech, crude oil futures dropped more than $2 to close just above $63 a barrel the day after his inauguration. The price tumble illustrates the far-reaching influence that Nigeria’s politics has on worldwide oil prices.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
On May 31, 2007 four American oil workers were released by Nigerian militants after 22 days in captivity in the Niger Delta. One of the kidnappers said that he feared for his life most during a botched rescue attempt.
Source: Vanguard
Reference Material
Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria sits on the Gulf of Guinea between Cameroon and Benin on the west coast of the continent. The BBC offers a brief, comprehensive profile of Africa’s largest oil producer with maps, pictures, and profiles of the nation’s leaders.
Source: The BBC
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