Nigerian Workers Strike; Soliders Step In

LAGOS, NIGERIA -- Soldiers began replacing striking workers at Nigeria's oil depots as the government tried to break a crippling walkout called to protest the military dictatorship.

The government of Gen. Sani Abacha said late Wednesday that anybody who tried to interfere with the military's effort to revive the oil industry would face the death penalty.

The effects of the walkout by the 50,000-member Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers continued to spread. Seventeen other industrial unions also threatened to go on strike in sympathy with the oil workers, who are demanding an immediate return to democracy and $800 million in diverted oil revenues.

Nigeria's latest crisis began when the military voided the results of the June 12, 1993, presidential election that was to return the nation to democracy. The apparent winner of the election, businessman Moshood Abiola, was arrested and charged with treason when he tried to mark the first anniversary of the election by declaring himself president.