BULIISA, Uganda—One of Africa’s biggest nature parks has turned into a battleground over oil, pitting foreign energy companies and the government of Uganda against environmentalists eager to shed light on their venture.

Oil companies led by London-listed Tullow Oil PLC have found oil reserves estimated to hold up to two billion barrels in the Albertine Rift Valley, which contains Murchison Falls National Park. The park is one of Uganda’s biggest tourism draws and home to elephants, giraffes, lions and rare birds.

Tullow’s project, which contains one of Africa’s biggest onshore oil finds in decades, is seen as crucial to the Central African nation’s economy as the government attempts to diversify away from tourism and rely less on foreign aid. The government has given a Tullow consortium the green light to explore and drill in the park.

“As much as we need to protect the environment, oil is an important resource for the country if properly managed,” said Aryamanya Mugisha, the executive director of Uganda’s state-run National Environmental Management Authority, or NEMA.

That stance has irked environmentalists and villagers who benefit from park tourism. Protected areas support over 80% of Uganda’s tourism industry and bring in about $600 million a year in revenue, according to official estimates.

Big oil and environmentalists have never had an easy relationship, but tensions in Uganda run especially high. Civil society groups say that many of the government’s decisions surrounding oil have been shrouded in secrecy and that details of Tullow project, including any clear plan to minimize its environmental impact, haven’t been disclosed.

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Camp of Ailing President Says Vice President Will Rule for Now

By WILL CONNORS

ABUJA, Nigeria—The return of Nigeria’s ailing president after a three-month medical absence sets the stage for a showdown over who will ultimately call the shots in Africa’s most-populous nation.

President Umaru Yar’Adua, who had been receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia, returned home early Wednesday but remains too ill to govern, according to a presidential spokesman.

Mr. Yar’Adua, who didn’t make a public appearance, offered a message of support for his vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, who was appointed acting president earlier this month by the Nigerian National Assembly, to serve until the return of the president.

“President Yar’Adua wishes to reassure all Nigerians that on account of their unceasing prayers and by the special grace of God, his health has greatly improved,” presidential spokesman Segun Adeniyi said. “However, while the president completes his recuperation, Vice President Jonathan will continue to oversee the affairs of state.”

That statement appears to start a clock toward the return of Mr. Yar’Adua, 58, whose absence with kidney and heart problems left the country in political limbo. Stepping into the president’s role earlier this month, Mr. Jonathan has reshuffled the cabinet, made long-delayed government appointments and has held meetings with foreign oil companies to calm international investors and the public.

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One of the most-wanted suspects accused of instigating genocide in Rwanda was arrested by police in Uganda, officials there told reporters Tuesday, marking a significant victory in efforts to bring alleged perpetrators of the violence to justice.

Idelphonse Nizeyimana was arrested in Kampala, the capital, this week and will be transported to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in neighboring Tanzania, the Associated Press reported, citing government officials.

Mr. Nizeyimana was indicted by the United Nations-backed tribunal in 2000, charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.

Mr. Nizeyimana was the head of ethnic Hutu intelligence and military operations during the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. He is accused of organizing hit squads against Tutsis, including the traditional Tutsi queen, and of participating in at least one killing.

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