About 500 people have been killed during a month of escalating gang violence in Nigeria's oil-rich delta region, human rights group Amnesty International has said. Rival gangs involved in stealing an estimated 100,000 barrels of crude oil a day from pipelines and wellheads have stepped up attacks in the eastern Niger delta in the state of Rivers. "This level of violence represents a serious threat to the region," said George Ngwa, an Amnesty International press officer for African Affairs, on Thursday. Security forces have already begun 24-hour patrols in and around the state capital and oil hub Port Harcourt after a surge of fighting in August. The gangs, which sell the oil to buy weapons, are often backed by local political and ethnic leaders.
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