2007年VOA标准英语-Nigerian Army Continues Sweep of Restive Niger

By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
26 August 2007

Nicaragua with Port Harcourt eng 210

The Nigerian army has launched raids on several suspected criminal hideouts in Port Harcourt and elsewhere in the Niger Delta¹ in a bid to flush out gangs blamed for violence in the main oil city. Security officials say several suspected gangsters² are being interrogated³. Gilbert da Costa has more in this report from Abuja.

 

The army spokesman in the region, Major Sagir Musa, confirmed the arrest of suspected gang leaders in Port Harcourt.

 

"Appreciable⁴ progress has been made in the areas of arms recovery and arrest of some leaders of the militants⁵," he said. "As it is now, most of them are being interrogated with the aim of getting useful information from them. Thereafter, we hand them over to appropriate quarters for prosecution⁶."

 

Ateke Tom, one of the two gang leaders held responsible for several days of inter-gang-violence in Port Harcourt has reportedly offered to surrender to state authorities. Indications are that Tom, the head of the Niger Delta Vigilante Movement, may have struck a deal with the authorities.

 

Criminal gangs in the Niger Delta have grown rich and powerful by stealing oil from the region's network of pipelines⁷.

 

Rebels have attacked oil facilities and pipelines, killed dozens of government soldiers and kidnapped more than 200 foreign oil workers since last year.

 

The government has extended a curfew in Port Harcourt for a second week and troops are to remain on the streets for six months.

 

Major Musa says cracking down on armed groups and protecting Nigeria's oil assets would shape the nature of military operations in the region.

 

"Those areas that are notorious or regarded as flashpoints, we usually go there on patrol with the view to arresting the militants and getting their arms and ammunition," added Musa.  "In addition, most of our national assets located in the state, like multinational⁸ oil companies like Shell, Chevron⁹ and others, we deploy¹⁰ soldiers there on guard duty. They are to remain there permanently¹¹."

 

Violence in Nigeria's oil heartland increased sharply last year when armed groups started blowing up pipelines and oil wells and kidnapping foreign workers to protest what they called neglect and corruption¹² in the impoverished¹³ delta .

1 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

2 gangsters   

匪徒，歹徒( gangster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings. 歹徒提出要给他一笔相当于他一年收入的钱。
• One of the gangsters was caught by the police. 歹徒之一被警察逮捕。

3 interrogated   

v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• He was interrogated by the police for over 12 hours. 他被警察审问了12个多小时。
• Two suspects are now being interrogated in connection with the killing. 与杀人案有关的两名嫌疑犯正在接受审讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 appreciable   

adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的

参考例句：

• There is no appreciable distinction between the twins.在这对孪生子之间看不出有什么明显的差别。
• We bought an appreciable piece of property.我们买下的资产有增值的潜力。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

7 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

8 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

9 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

10 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

11 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》