Nigeria's first oil well is still source of woe

"The oil industry does not take time to find ways ... to support a consensus-building process under which all communities come together and agree," said Dimieari Von Kemedi, a local activist. The benefits they give are "laughable ... compared to the amount of money that comes out of these oil wells."

Shell didn't comment on the village conflict and doesn't publicly announce its operating plans. Oil industry workers vigorously defend the community payments, calling them charitable donations to needy people.

They also argue that oil companies can't take over the long-term responsibilities of the Nigerian government, which claims the majority of the proceeds stemming from the oil industry.

Critics acknowledge the oil firms have no legal obligation to provide services to Nigeria's people. But they say the outreach efforts ignore the realities of the people they're purportedly trying to help.

Schools are built, but no teachers hired. Health care facilities have no long-term access to drugs. So-called "security" teams, hired to protect oil installations, are little more than youths bribed not to vandalize the gear, the activists say.

Perhaps most damaging has been the tendency to dole out benefits to the inhabitants closest to sensitive oil machinery, which has undermined community leadership schemes and pitted people and communities against each other for the payments. Dozens of violent flare-ups can be attributed to conflict over oil company payments in recent years.

The feud over Nigeria's first oil well is a typical illustration.

Already, scuffles and heated arguments have been reported near the well, an omen of worse violence to come. Villagers say they don't feel welcome among their neighbors, even though they share farmlands and river waters used for drinking and cleaning.

The villagers of Oloibiri and Otabagi have little money to launch a court battle. Any successful outcome would likely be through mediation by a headman of the traditional Ogbia kingdom, of which both towns are part, said Von Dimieari.

"They say that oil was found in Oloibiri whereas the land belongs to Otabagi, that has been the story," said Ikpesu, the village chieftain. "But anybody who tells you that may be deliberately telling lies in order to confuse."