WARRI, Nigeria -- The soldiers ensconced behind sandbags near End of Conflict road are looking noticeably more relaxed than they did a few months ago, but the rows of destroyed houses behind them are a reminder of how fragile the peace is in Nigeria's oil city of Warri.

More than 20 people have been killed in clashes in the creeks of the Niger Delta in the past month, marking the greatest resurgence of violence there since March, when a rebellion by ethnic Ijaws led to dozens of deaths and forced multinationals to shut off around 40 percent of Nigeria's oil production.

The violence often comes to this ethnically divided city itself, forcing inhabitants to flee affected areas in their thousands and creating more bitterness waiting for the next opportunity to explode.

Despite incipient peace talks led by the federal and local governments, community leaders do not expect the situation to get any better. -----------Spread of Weapons---------

"The arms and ammunitions being used are becoming more sophisticated and wider spread, for all parties," said Edwin Clarke, the main Ijaw representative in the area.

"This was caused by the politicians, who acquired ammunition for their thugs. The elections are over and they have not recovered all their guns from the youths," said Clarke, referring to Nigeria's general election in April and May. The problems run deep into history, exacerbated by an oil boom which began in the 1970s and sharpened the competition for resources.

One group, the Itsekiris, insists on its right to continue to dominate political power in Warri and surrounding areas, saying that it is the only truly indigenous group there and that other people are "settlers" -- even if their families have been there for 100 years or more.

The other two groups involved in the violence -- the Ijaws and Urhobos -- rubbish Itsekiri claims. They say that elections are rigged and boundaries gerrymandered so the Itsekiris can maintain political power and grab funds from the oil sector and federal government. Most of OPEC member Nigeria's oil production comes from the Niger Delta.

Johnson Ayomike, an Itsekiri historian, says the Itsekiris are by far the majority in Warri and, as the only indigenous people, the rightful owners of all of its land. The Ijaws and Urhobos settled there in the mid-19th century, some having been freed when the slave trade was abolished.

"People settled in subordinate positions," mainly as workers on Itsekiri farms, Ayomike said.

The traditional hierarchy should be respected and demands by Ijaws and Urhobos to have their own local government areas, carved out of the three Itsekiri-controlled ones currently in existence, should be resisted, according to Ayomike.

"Local government is based on homelands, and so you cannot create a local government for non-natives or non-indigenes." The Urhobo chief of Warri, Benjamin Okumagba, said the Itsekiris were inviting rebellion by holding onto these ideas.

"They (the Itsekiris) have a funny belief that...because they had the advantage of being in contact with Western civilization earlier than the other group, that they are a superior people and should be regarded as special," he said.

The exterior of Okumagba's house is marked with bullet holes, which he says were made by soldiers who raided his house in February, while he was in Lagos.

As far as Okumagba, and many other Urhobos and Ijaws are concerned, the security forces are working with the Itsekiris. He warned of a generalized Urhobo uprising. "When you allow any group of human beings to oppress any other group, it comes to a point when the oppressed can no longer tolerate any more oppression," he said. "That is the point we are at now."