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Reports from Ogoniland in Nigeria's troubled Niger Delta region say there have been violent clashes involving the police and local communities.
Security sources say several people have been killed.
A police spokesman said eight policemen were kidnapped and injured, but were later rescued.
The police say they were attempting to restore order after fighting broke out between local gangs.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, or Mosop, founded by the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, is accusing the police of widespread brutality.
Tension
These are the first serious confrontations in Ogoniland since the end of military rule in Nigeria.
General Sani Abacha, the military ruler in the mid-1990s, was ruthless in his suppression of dissent amongst the Ogoni people, who are one of the smaller ethnic groups in the Niger Delta.
 The role of oil companies has provoked dissent in the Delta
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Tension has been growing once again in Ogoniland for several weeks now. Mosop has accused the oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, of fomenting new divisions within Ogoni society - a charge which Shell vehemently denies.
Complicated politics
Today's violence was sparked off by a dispute over a road-building project which Mosop says a firm of contractors were attempting to implement without local consent.
The police say they moved in to restore order because of fighting between gangs of thugs.
A Mosop spokesman said police had burnt down many houses in one village, including that of the Mosop leader, Ledum Mitee.
But politics within Ogoniland are extremely complicated and murky.
The surviving family of Mr Saro-Wiwa has fallen out with Mr Mitee and the present Mosop leadership, whom they accuse of betraying Ogoni interests.
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