A federal appeals court…upheld a San Francisco jury's verdict clearing Chevron Corp. of wrongdoing for the shootings of Nigerian villagers who occupied an offshore barge in 1998 to protest the company's hiring and environmental policies. Government security forces summoned by Chevron killed two men and wounded two on a barge tethered to a company platform nine miles off the oil-rich Niger Delta after three days of negotiations with leaders of about 150 tribesmen. Villagers…testified at the trial in 2008 that the protest was unarmed and peaceful, but Chevron's witnesses said the protesters threatened violence, held crew members captive and demanded ransom. In a lawsuit by 19 plaintiffs…the jury rejected their claims that California-based Chevron was responsible for assault, inhumane treatment and wrongful death.