Nigeria: Niger delta insurgency - timeline
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Timeline
- April 2007. Umaru Yar’Adua is elected president in elections tainted by widespread allegations of fraud.
- February 2007. Several foreign workers are kidnapped in the Southern Niger Delta.
- December 2006. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) selects Yar’Adua as presidential candidate; 265 people are killed in an oil pipeline explosion.
- November 2006. A UK oil worker who had been taken hostage is killed during a rescue attempt.
- October 2006. The Sultan of Sokoto, spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslim population, is killed in a plane crash. Further kidnappings and attacks by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) are reported.
- May 2006. The Nigerian Senate (the upper house) rejects a constitutional amendment that would have allowed President Obasanjo to run for a third term in 2007. A huge explosion kills hundreds of civilians who were in the middle of siphoning gas from a ruptured pipeline.
- April 2006. Nigeria becomes the first African country to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of rich lenders, thanks to rising oil prices. MEND threatens China, which recently signed a US$4 billion infrastructure investment in Nigeria, saying that Chinese companies launching operations in the Niger Delta would be attacked.
- February 2006. Spurred by the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in Europe, religious violence flares in Muslim towns and in the southern city of Onitsha. More than 100 people are killed. MEND operations lead the Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell to suspend production; a federal court affirms a Senate order that Shell pay US$1.5 billion as compensation for environmental damage.
- January 2006. Militants in the Niger Delta attack pipelines and oil facilities, and kidnap foreign oil workers. The rebels demand more control over the region's oil wealth.
- September 2005. Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) leader Mujahid Dokubu-Asari is arrested on treason charges.
- February 2005. A Swiss court restores to Nigeria US$500 million in funds allegedly embezzled by former dictator Abacha.
- September 2004. A separatist militia threatens "all-out war" unless the government grants "self-determination" for the Ijaw people in the Niger Delta region.
- August 2004. The Senate orders Shell to pay US$1.5 billion in environmental cleanup costs.
- April 2003. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo is elected to a second term as President with more than 60 per cent of the vote. Gen. Obasanjo’s PDP also wins majorities in both legislative chambers. International observers cite irregularities in the conduct of the elections. Obasanjo brushes off opposition party calls for a recount.
- November 2002. Rioting breaks out in Kaduna by Muslims enraged over a Miss World beauty contest, which was to be held in Nigeria. The contest is withdrawn from Nigeria and moved to the UK.
- February 2002. Some 100 people are killed in Lagos in clashes between Muslim Hausas and Christian Yorubas.
- October 2001. An army massacre of civilians in the eastern state of Benue is reported; religious clashes occur.
- March 2001. US Supreme Court rules that the family of Ken Saro-Wiwa, writer and campaigner against oil industry damage in the Ogoni homeland, may sue Shell.
- July 2000. 250 civilians are killed in a pipeline explosion allegedly caused by vandalism and theft.
- June 2000. Fuel price increases incite strikes and riots; Swiss courts charge former military leader Abacha with corruption and money laundering.
- April 2000. Five people are killed in the Niger Delta as Ogoni activists try to prevent Shell from building a road.
- March 2000. A federal ban on sharia (Islamic law) is rejected by northern states.
- January 2000. Sharia law is formally introduced in Zamfara state.
- November 1999. The federal government deploys 2,000 troops to the Niger Delta after serious clashes with armed Ijaw activists.
- May 1999. Obasanjo is sworn in as President; reports surface of massive looting of Nigeria’s foreign reserves by the outgoing leadership.
- February 1999. Obsanjo and the PDP win presidential and legislative elections.
- October 1998. Dissidents return to Nigeria as the country gears up for democratic transition.
- June 1998. Gen. Sani Abacha, military leader of Nigeria, dies.
- October 1998. The Commonwealth extends by one year Nigeria’s suspension.
- April 1996. The Commonwealth institutes an arms embargo on Nigeria.
- November 1995. Ken Saro-Wiwa is hanged with eight other Ogoni activists. The EU suspends development co-operation. Commonwealth heads of state vote to suspend Nigeria's membership.
- May 1995. Chief Moshood Abiola refuses terms that would allow him to be released from prison.
- March 1995. Abacha alleges the discovery of a plot to overthrow the government; hundreds of arrests are made.
- July 1994. Abiola is imprisoned on treason charges.
- November 1993. Abacha assumes the presidency; he forces the resignation of the interim national government of Chief Adegunle Ernest Shonekan and dissolves parliament.
- June 1993. The military annuls elections after preliminary results show victory by Abiola.
- November 1985. Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Babangida seizes power in a bloodless coup.
- May 1984. Maj.-Gen. Muhammad Buhari is named head of state after the military overthrow of the civilian-elected government.
- December 1980. Elections bring Alhaji Shehu Shagari to power.
- July 1976. The head of state Brig. Murtala Ramat Mohammed is assassinated in failed coup attempt. He is replaced by his deputy, Obasanjo, who helps install a presidential constitution.
- August 1975. Gen. Yakubu Gowon is overthrown as head of state and flees to the UK. He is replaced by Brig. Mohammed.
- August 1971. Nigeria is admitted to Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
- March 1970. Biafran resistance collapses and the Biafran regions are reintegrated into the country.
- January 1969. War continues in Biafra; there are reports of federal attacks on civilian targets in Biafra.
- 1968. Efforts are made to negotiate a peace settlement in Biafra.
- 1967. The War of Biafran secession breaks out. Lt-Col Ojukwu declares the region an independent state with its capital at Enugu.
- September 1966. A military revolt against the Aguiyi-Ironsi regime is successful; Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi is kidnapped and disappears.
- February 1966. Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi leads a successful coup, in which the previous leader is killed, and installs a military regime.
- December 1960. An agreement to build the first oil refinery in the country, near Port Harcourt, is made between the Nigerian government and the British Petroleum and Shell oil companies.
- October 1960. Nigeria gains independence from the UK.
