Nigerian police said today they had deployed officers to protect US-owned oil facilities in part of the Niger Delta region from attack by local youths.
The government of Akwa Ibom state, in Nigeria's far southeast, condemned the federal action, which it said would stoke tension, and called for political talks on sharing out oil wealth.
Some 300 federal police have been deployed to the towns of Eket and Ibuno, near the coast of Akwa Ibom, where the US oil giant ExxonMobil has production facilities, a police spokesman said.
"The local youths are notoriously restive and at the slightest opportunity they would hijack facilities," a police spokesman said.
Oil facilities in Nigeria are often targeted by youths from local communities who have occupied facilities and kidnapped foreign oil workers to press their demands for jobs and cash.
A national police spokesman has denied reports that about 3,000 police had been deployed.
AFP