Protesters stop oil clean-up - Nigeria

Nigerian protesters are preventing oil workers from clearing up a spill 11 days after an explosion wrecked a disused pipeline in the troubled Ogoni region, says oil giant Shell.

The Anglo-Dutch major pulled out of Ogoniland in 1993 amid protests and bad publicity about pollution and the Nigerian government's treatment of the minority Ogoni community, which was demanding a share of oil revenues.

But the region is still dotted with capped-off oil facilities, which are often the target of vandals and oil thieves.

A Shell spokesman said that on August 22 an explosion on a pipeline near the village of Gio had caused a major oil spill that had polluted farmland and killed fish in rivers and streams.

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