BREAKING STORIES
Six Oilfield workers kidnapped in Bayelsa State today
At least six oil workers were kidnapped in southern Nigeria's oil-rich delta, reports said Friday.
Gunmen attacked the boat of the six workers, whose nationalities were not known, as they were laying pipelines off the coast of Bayelsa State, the BBC reported.
Hostage takings have become increasingly common in the West African nation's Niger Delta, where militants seeking a greater say over their region's oil wealth have staged kidnappings and attacks on oil facilities to draw attention to their cause.
Hostages are usually released unharmed after a ransom has been paid and more than 100 foreigners and Nigerians have been seized this year.
Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer and derives some 90 per cent of its annual income from the resource.
Discrepancy in hostage totals(AP) Gunmen on Friday kidnapped foreign oil workers, including three Americans and four Britons, in Nigeria's unruly southern petroleum-producing region, officials said.
Security forces in the region said only six people were kidnapped, including an Indian, but details released by U.S. and British embassy officials put the number at at least seven. The discrepancy couldn't be immediately reconciled.
Kidnap - Nun river - UPDATED
Nationalites have now been announced by industry sources:
KIDNAPPED OIL WORKERS IN NIGERIA ARE THREE AMERICANS, TWO BRITONS AND ONE S.AFRICAN-INDUSTRY SOURCES
(Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped six oil workers, possibly including foreign nationals, from a pipelaying vessel off the coast of Nigeria on Friday, oil industry sources said.
Shots were fired during the abduction by suspected militants in two speed boats, which took place off the coast of the southern state of Bayelsa near the town of Sangana, the sources said.
"Six people, nationalities not confirmed, were abducted by militants on two speed boats," one of the sources said, asking not to be named.
They were taken from a pipelaying vessel contracted to Nigerian oil company Conoil , the sources added.
It came a day after gunmen kidnapped a Polish engineer near the oil city of Warri, which took the number of foreign workers being held by armed groups in the anarchic delta to 16.
Abductions for ransom or to press political demands are frequent in the impoverished Niger Delta, home to Africa' biggest oil industry.
Oil production from Nigeria, the world's eighth biggest exporter, is down by about 700,000 barrels per day or almost a quarter because of an 18-month surge in violence.
Unrest has peaked in the weeks running up to a change of government due to take place on Tuesday, when President Olusegun Obasanjo hands over to President-elect Umaru Yar'Adua.
Militants demanding regional control over oil revenues, compensation for oil spills and freedom for two jailed leaders from the region, see the handover as an opportunity to extract concessions from the central government.
But crime flourishes in the lawless delta and most abductions are motivated by money. About 100 foreigners have been kidnapped this year and released unharmed after their employers paid ransoms.
Uproar Over FG's Last Minute Privatization
By Okey Ndiribe, The Vanguard
THE entire nation may soon be plunged into another nation-wide energy crisis if the feelers from workers in the sector is to be relied on. For instance, workers at NNPC have threatened to put down tools while their counterparts in Power Holding Company of Nigeria ( PHCN) are said to be ready for a showdown with BPE over the sale of the Port-Harcourt Refinery and the sale of the Egbin Power Station in Lagos.
The privatization of these two Federal Government owned companies and several others by BPE has generated uproar in some parts of the country. The BPE had, penultimate Thursday, sold 51 percent of the equity holding of the Port-Harcourt Refinery to Bluestar Oil Services Ltd.- a consortium jointly owned by a group which includes business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and Femi Otedola's Zenon Oil, for $561 million. The announcement was made by the Chairman of the Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatization (NCP), Mr. Patrick Akintokun, who said the sale was subject to the approval of the council.
Also privatized by BPE was the Ajaokuta Steel Company, which was sold to Global Infrastructure Nig. Ltd for the sum of $525m, representing the Federal Government's 60 percent shares in the company. The Federal Government had invested over six billion dollars in the company before it was privatized. The Egbin Power Station, which was also privatised, was sold to Korea Electric Power Corporation Energy Resources Ltd. (KEPCO) for $280m, representing the government's 51 percent equity holding in the company. The National Arts Theatre, Tafawa Balewa Square and International Trade Fair Complex, all in Lagos, were sold for N5.84b, N9.56b and N40b, respectively and were bought by Infrastructica, BHS International and Aulic Nig. Ltd. in that order.
However, only the sale of the Port-Harcourt Refinery and the Egbin Power Station have, so far, generated sharp reactions from workers in the power and energy sector. Militant youths of the Niger Delta region have also expressed their anger over the sale of the refinery.
Already, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers of Nigeria (NUPENG) and its senior staff counterpart - the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have issued strong warnings that their members would embark on a nation-wide strike, which would involve all the affiliates of the two unions, if the Federal Government refuses to reverse its sale of the Port-Harcourt Refinery. The leadership of both unions insist that the sale of the refinery runs contrary to the agreement earlier on reached with them on the sale of the Port-Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.
Last Monday, members of both unions embarked on what they called shadow strike ahead of a full strike which was scheduled to begin yesterday if the dialog the leadership of both unions was having with the Federal Government failed to reach an agreement. The unions had warned that the planned strike would surely lead to the closure of petroleum products depots and this is likely to lead to scarcity of petrol and aviation fuel across the country. The workers' plan was confirmed by the Group Chairman of NNPC's branch of NUPENG, Mr. Williams Ibiba Inko.
He said both unions will down tools between 8 and 10 a.m. during the days of the shadow strike and proceed to offer prayers. During the period of the shadow strike, all NNPC workers were expected to wear red-crimson dresses to work as an exhibition of their anger over the sale of the refinery. Workers at the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) would also cut gas supply to strategic investments such as power plants during the period of the industrial action.
Apart from NUPENG and PENGASSAN, militant youths of the Niger Delta have also threatened fire and brimstone over the sale of the refinery. Already, one of the most dreaded militant groups in the region- Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta ( MEND)- has threatened to blow up the refinery if the sale is not reversed. An official of MEND, who identified himself as Joshua Minisagha, said what Alhaji Dangote and Femi Otedola had bought was 'dust'.
Other groups in the region who also condemned the transaction are Initiative for Non-violent Change and Publish What You Pay Campaign Group (PWYP).
Weapons of War in the Niger Delta - An Analysis
by Bestman Wellington
The Niger Delta region of Nigeria, home to large oil and gas operations, is awash with dangerous Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). The explosion in activities of non-state armed groups poses a serious threat to residents, the security of the Nigerian state and the booming petro-business in the region. Prominent among the armed groups operating in the oil- and gas-rich, but poverty stricken and under-developed enclave, are the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), the Bush Boys and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). Some of these groups are political militant groups, demanding an equitable distribution of oil resources, justice and development of the Niger Delta region, while others are gangs and criminal syndicate groups, also called cults or confraternities in Nigeria. All of them tap into the vibrant gun and gang culture in the delta.
Weapons Flood the Delta
From various police and military raids of the groups' armories and hideouts, or the government initiated disarmament or cash-for-arms programs, weapons have been uncovered in droves. The weapons vary from AK-47s, Czech SAs, light machine guns, Czech Model 26s, Sten MK 2s, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG), MAT-49s, MG 36s, Berettas, HK G3s, FN-FALs, home-made guns, pump-action shot guns, G3s, among others [1]. The sophisticated European-made assault rifles and explosives are in the hands of the militant groups like MEND and the Martyrs Brigade. The groups also possess a few M-16s, which are made in the United States. Russia, Germany, Belgium, Serbia, Czechoslovakia, the United States and China are all sources for Nigerian arms (Niger Delta Standard, March 5, 2006).
These weapons—so called SALWs—are brought into the delta from various locations. Most of the assault rifles—such as the Russian AK-47, the German G3, the Belgian FN-FAL, the Czech machine-guns and the Serbian RPGs—are supplied by illegal dealers and sellers. Some of the illegal gun dealers are Nigerians. In October 2006, for example, the Rivers State police command arrested Chris Ndudi Njoku, a 45 year-old businessman who specialized in importing prohibited firearms into Nigeria. In his possession were hundreds of G3s, AK-47s and Beretta automatic rifles [2]. There are also European dealers involved in the trade, but, unlike their Nigerian counterparts, they almost always escape the arm of the law, in some cases due to their connections with powerful figures in various governments (This Day, February 18, 2003).
Nigeria has porous borders on both its land and sea edges, allowing gun smuggling from a variety of African countries. Many of the weapons also come from war-torn countries in Africa. Additionally, poorly paid Nigerian soldiers who have served in peacekeeping missions in other African countries, such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, often return home and sell their weapons to combatants or gun dealers [3]. According to one arms researcher, Babafemi Ojudu, many of the arms smuggling rings operate out of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroon and Nigeria (IRIN, May 2006). The smugglers use speed boats to connect with ships on the high seas, and then ferry the arms back to shore. Jailed militant leader Alhaji Dokubo-Asari confirmed this method to reporters in 2005, stating, "We are very close to international waters, and it's very easy to get weapons from ships" (IRIN, May 2006).
Some of the weapons in the armed groups' stockpiles are acquired after attacks on police and military outposts. During such attacks, the militant groups break into the police or military armories and cart away arms. There are many cases in which armed groups conduct well-coordinated attacks and kill Nigerian security officials, carting away their weapons. On July 12, 2006, for example, MEND combatants killed four naval personnel and injured three soldiers who were escorting a Chevron oil tanker along Chonomi creeks in the Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State and in turn confiscated their weapons (The Punch, July 13, 2006). Just this year, in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, on the eve of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections on April 14, armed militants attacked the Mini-Okoro Elelenwo police stations and carted away recently-arrived AK-47s, killing many police officers during the attack (The Midweek Telegraph, April 18-24). Corrupt security officials also sell weapons to militants. Before the April elections, for example, politicians in Niger State imported massive amounts of arms for their "security detachments" (which also likely went to thugs hired to help rig the elections) (Vanguard, April 13).
Additionally, armed groups thrive on the local oil boom. They carry out oil bunkering (theft) operations, often exchanging bunkered oil for weapons or selling oil and then purchasing guns. Oil money is a significant force behind the proliferation of weapons in the region. Major bunkering groups also supply gangs with weapons and have them act as armed guards while they travel along the waterways and bunkering routes looking for pipelines from which to pilfer oil. Politicians also hire gangs and criminal groups to have them provide security and, during election season, to help intimidate voters to vote a certain way. Many of the politicians purchase their weapons from illegal dealers, helping to fuel the trade.
Apart from the above weapons sources, there are local underground arms manufacturing industries in Awka, the capital of Anambra State in eastern Nigeria. There, local blacksmiths produce weapons popularly called, "Awka made." The Awka guns cannot be classified as automatic weapons because the quality of the weapons is so poor. Nevertheless, the gun can inflict serious injury or even death on its target at close range.
Attacks in the Delta
The armed groups of the Niger Delta have carried out deadly and paralyzing attacks on oil and gas facilities with their weapons. They have shut down oil production and massacred scores of security officials guarding the facilities and infrastructure. The groups are fighting in familiar terrain which, despite the fact that the security forces are armed, gives the armed groups the upper-hand. They have also taken foreign oil workers hostage—sometimes releasing them only after huge ransoms are paid. The groups often use the ransom money to support their insurrectionary campaigns. These latter activities are always associated with the political-militant groups like the NDPVF, MEND and the Martyrs Brigade.
The armed groups in the delta often conduct their attacks using outboard-engine motorized fiber boats. Some of the speed boats are imported, while some are locally crafted. Most locally-manufactured speed boats are smaller compared to the foreign-made, yet the former can also travel the rough seas. Despite the employment of sophisticated gunboats by the Nigerian military taskforce, insurrectionary campaigns by the militant groups are almost always successful. The success of the militant operations hinges on two factors: the ingenuity of the militant boat drivers who are familiar with the terrain of the creeks' complex web of streams, and the popular support among the people of the region that the many years of neglect and under-development of the Niger Delta area have fostered.
To reduce the number of weapons in the Niger Delta, there is a need to prevent the flow of weapons from other countries into illegal hands in Nigeria. The local police bureaus must also live up to their responsibility of curtailing the inflow of these illicit guns into the delta. The government should run a credible and transparent security system that, by providing residents with their basic security needs, will discourage them from forming or joining cults or militant formations that are proliferating dangerous SALWs throughout Nigeria.
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