Nigeria

News of huge forest fires -as the ones that affected Indonesia and those that are spreading in Roraima in the Brazilian Amazon- are disseminated worldwide. Nevertheless, fires at a smaller scale have also terrible consequences for local communities. This is the case of the fire that has affected the forest of Aleibiri, a village of 6,000 inhabitants in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. The carelessness of the Shell contractor was the cause for this desaster.

As a response to a fax sent by the WRM International Secretariat requesting information about Baton Mittee, Nigerian activist arrested in connection with the Ogoni Day, we received the following letter from the Embassy of Nigeria in Buenos Aires: "Mr. Ricardo Carrere World Rain Forest Movement Re: Arrest of Baton Mittee in connection with Ogoni Day. 1. I am directed to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 28th January '98 on the above subject matter, and to inform you that its contents have been forwarded to appropriate authorities in Nigeria.

As a response to our fax dated 31/10/97 requesting information on the arrest of Nnimmo Bassey, the International Secretariat of the WRM received on 15/12/97 the following answer from the Embassy of Nigeria in Buenos Aires, Argentina: “Arrest and detention of Mr. Nnimmo Bassey I am directed to acknowledge receipt of your faxed letter dated 31st october 1997 on the above mentioned subject matter and to request you to please check your facts properly as we are not aware of the arrest and detention of Mr. Bassey as stated in your letter under reference.

Nnimmo Bassey, President of Oilwatch Africa, was detained on Sunday 26 October, when returning to Nigeria from the meeting of the International Committee of Oilwatch in Ecuador.