Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said the government was committed to developing the Niger Delta, which he conceded had been neglected. The oil-producing area remains tense as the army continues its operation against youths of the Ijaw ethnic group blamed for the killing of 12 policemen. A spokesman for President Olusegun Obasanjo said the level of poverty in the area made it essential that the government act quickly. The approved projects include technical training for youths, road building and an improved power supply to the region. May. The army was sent in as part of what the Nigerian Government said was an attempt to avert a complete breakdown of law and order in the region.
Eyewitnesses say hundreds of people have fled the military operation.
BBC correspondent Barnaby Phillips says the announcement of new development projects for the area is a recognition by the government that it needs to urgently improve the lives of the people of the Delta if its credibility there is not to slip further. Army account Talking publicly for the first time about the recent military operations, an army spokesman told the BBC that troops had initially encountered well-armed resistance and had suffered casualties, but he said the army was respecting the lives of innocent civilians. He denied accounts from refugees that indiscriminate force had been used. He said reports that the army had used artillery were not true. Soldiers have barred journalists from entering the area close to the fighting, making it difficult to obtain independent information.