Militants Hit Oil Field in Sunday Attack (AFP)
Gunmen attacked an oilfield on Sunday in Nigeria's southern Bayelsa State being guarded by soldiers after nine militants were killed by the army in the same area recently, an official said.
"The fighting is still raging in the afternoon," a spokesman for the paramilitary Joint Task Force said, adding there were no reports of casualties thus far.
A navy spokesman told AFP there were no foreigners at the site at the time of the attack.
Kidnappings and armed attacks have intensified in Nigeria's oil-rich south since 2006 in which nearly 200 foreigners have been abducted. Most have been released unharmed after a few days or weeks in captivity.
The abductors or attackers mainly belong to groups calling for a greater share of the oil wealth for the provinces where oil is found. The bulk of the revenues go to the federal government.
These attacks, coupled with acts of vandalism and sabotage, have cost Nigeria -- the world's sixth largest oil exporter -- dear, translating into an annual revenue loss of 4.4 billion dollars (3.2 billion euros).
Bayelsa State Oil Field Attack Update (Daily Sun)
Barely 24 hours after the detained Ijaw activist, Alhaji Mujadid Asari-Dokubo arrived Port Harcourt from Abuja after being released on bail, dare-devil militants attacked the Ogboinbiri flow station in Southern Ijaw local government Sunday morning sacking soldiers on duty.
The attack is believed to be a reprisal attack against the killing of nine militants by men of the Joint Military Task Force on Tuesday.
The men of JTF had killed the nine militants and arrested one when they failed to stop at the military check point located in the area
Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that several of the militants were spotted moving in several speed boats loaded with sophisticated weapons, including cluster bombs.
Eye-witness account said when the militants stormed the flow station at about 5 a.m, the soldiers tried to resist their attempt to take over the place but the superior fire power of the militants overwhelmed the soldiers who had to succumb.
As at the time of filing this report, the militants are still in full control of the flow station and have cordoned off the entire waterways leading to the flow station.
The spokesman of JTF, Major Omale Ochagwuba, confirmed the attack, but could not confirm the number of casualties as he said he was still expecting details.
The coordinator of the Bayelsa Volunteer, the security outfit charged with arresting youth restiveness in the state, Mr. Joshua Benasmaisa, also confirmed the incident and said they were waiting for the tension to go down before they would establish contact with the boys.
“Yes, at about 5 am the militants attacked the Ogboinbiri flow station and overpowered the soldiers there before they took control of the flow station. As I speak, they are still in control of the place. And there is nothing we can to talk to them now because we cannot go there when shooting is on. We wait until there is less tension, then we can move in,” Benamaisa added.
The incident might have collapsed the bridge of confidence built by Governor Timipre Sylva with the militants after his inauguration
Sylva had gone to the militant’s camp twice to secure the release of hostages and has expressed willingness to go back to conclude discussions on how to end the instability in the state.
Security was on Saturday tightened around strategic oil installations in the Niger Delta region ahead of the strike action planned by the Nigerian Labour Congress and the oil workers’ unions.
The workers are pressing for the reversal of some decisions taken by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the twilight of his administration.
Specifically, the NLC, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, are demanding the reversal of the pump prices of petroleum products, the new Value Added Tax, and the sale of Port-Harcourt and Kaduna refineries. The strike begins on Wednesday.
Our correspondent learnt that the Joint Task Force in the Niger-Delta (Operation Restore Hope), had initiated measures to ensure the safety of oil workers and installations while the strike lasted.
Also, the JTF was being repositioned to enhance its efficiency.
Findings by our correspondent revealed that the action of the JTF, headed by Brig.-Gen. Lawrence Ngubane, was informed by the failure of the meeting held on Friday between the representatives of the Federal Government and labour to resolve the issue.
A source at 93 Battalion, Effurun, Headquarters of the JTF, told Sunday Punch that the Federal Government subsequently directed Ngubane to provide a security web around major oil facilities to prevent wilful damage by hoodlums.
Sunday Punch gathered that the security measures were borne out of fear by the government that the action of the labour unions could be hijacked by the Niger Delta militants to perpetrate fresh criminal activities in the oil industry in the region.
Consequently, the authorities of the JTF deployed fresh troops and equipment in the major facilities belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and oil majors, especially the Shell Petroleum Development Company and Chevron Nigeria Limited in the region in the early hours of Saturday.
Our source said enough personnel and military equipment, especially naval patrol boats and crafts provided by the NNS Delta, Warri Naval Base, headed by Navy Capt. Mufutau Ajibade, had been stationed at SPDC’s Forcados Terminal and CNL’s Escravos Terminal and Tank Farm to ward- off untoward activities.
“We have told our men in various places to be on the alert. We have also deployed adequate troops and materials to handle any exigency. It is the duty of JTF to ensure safety of lives and property in the Niger Delta and we are not ready to compromise on that mandate,” said a source, who craved anonymity.
It was learnt that the Navy task group of the JTF, headed by Ajibade, had deployed warships, NNS Nwanba and NNS Obula, to embark on a regular patrol of the waterways, apparently to keep the militants at bay during the period.
In another development, the JTF was being repositioned to make it result-oriented. To this end, Ngubane has initiated mass transfer and rotation of the officers and men of the command.
Mean while. as workers gear up for a nationwide strike over new fuel price regime, economic activities were at their lowest ebb in some cities as filling stations had run short of fuel supply.
There, were indications that the strike could begin at midnight on Wednesday following the seeming collapse of the talks held between representatives of the organised labour and the Federal Government on Friday.
The workers, under the aegis of the trade Union Congress and the Nigerian Labour Congress are also protesting the 100 per cent increase in Value Added Tax.
Representatives of labour and government agencies on the current dispute over the fuel price hike failed to reach a consensus on the matter at a meeting held in Abuja.
The meeting was at the instance of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe.
Reports from our correspondents on Saturday showed that the few filling stations that were still selling the commodity witnessed multiple queues of vehicles.
The situation was most chaotic in Lagos as people stepped up panic-buying of fuel and food items ahead of the strike.
In Lagos, the country’s commercial capital, bug queues of cars waiting to buy fuel formed at major fillinf stations, while several others were not selling.
Already, touts are taking advantage of the scarcity to sell in jerry cans at astronomical prices across the metropolis.
Many filling stations in Lagos did not have fuel on Saturday because of the strike by oil workers.
Socio-economic activities have slowed down in Enugu State.
Most of the petrol stations in the metropolis, in compliance with the decision of the unions oil workers refused to dispense diesel and Premium Motor Spirit otherwise known as petrol to motorists, preferring to sell to black marketers.
As at Saturday, a four-litre gallon of fuel was being sold at N2,500 by the black marketers operators.
A bus trip from the town to suburban areas like Abakpa, which hitherto cost N30 is now N150, while a short trip on Okada goes for between N100 to N150.
To prevent the filling stations from resuming services and breaching the strike, the oil unions‘ officials took to visiting the stations to enforce compliance.
Freed Militant Arrives Home to Hero's Welcome (Vanguard)
NIGER Delta youths, particularly from the Ijaw extraction, brought Port Harcourt to a standstill for over four hours yesterday, as they came out in their thousands to welcome the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.
As early as 7.00am, Ijaw youths waving the blue, red and green Ijaw flag started arriving at the Airforce base, on Aba Road, Port Harcourt to receive Dokubo-Asari, who promised to work out modality to stop hostage-taking and banditry in the region.
The youths, numbering over eight thousand, though prevented from entering the airport by security operatives, besieged the New Olusegun Obasanjo Road for several hours, and thereby disrupting the free flow of traffic during the period.
Dokubo-Asari arrived at the Airforce base on board a chartered Associated Airline flight, accompanied by the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate and son of the Amayanabo of Kalabari, Prince Tonye Princewill and other prominent Ijaws at about 11.10am.
As soon as he alighted from the aircraft, thousands of his kinsmen burst into jubilation and besieged him, making it absolutely difficult for him to even walk to a Hummer Jeep that was to convey him out of the airport.
Addressing journalists, Dokubo-Asari, who said he was elated and humbled by the multitude that came out to accord him a warn reception, praised the masses for putting up with the protracted hardship in the land.
"I thank the people of the Niger Delta and all the oppressed persons, who have suffered for a long time and who have taken time to be here to welcome me. I feel humbled and elated by this singular act of support," he said.
Dokubo-Asari, who wore a black dress embossed with the photograph of the Ijaw hero, Isaac Adaka-Boro, promised that he would collaborate with other stakeholders in the Niger Delta area to work out ways to stop all acts of hostage taking.
"We will try and work out ways to stop this act of criminality and banditry," he pledged. "We are not going to be something we are not. We are fighting for justice. We should not do injustice to other people. We are fighting for justice. We cannot be seen to be doing injustice to other people."
On the Niger Delta struggle, he noted that the people of the region had explicitly stated their demands and wishes in the Kaiama and Akalaka Declarations as well as the Ogoni Bill of Rights.
He iterated that the only feasible way to resolve the Niger Delta crisis was through the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference where the various ethnic nationalities in the country would determine the terms of participating in the Nigerian project.
On terms of his release, Dokubo-Asari said he was not aware of them since he was not in court the day his bail was granted.
The president of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Billy Harry, who was also at the airport, described the release of the militant leader as a big relief to the business community in the Niger Delta.
Harry said: "We are expecting that business will get back to normal. The resolution must be done with absolute carefulness.
"The youths of the Niger Delta have expressed their displeasure. What are they fighting for? They said the people are not participating in the oil sector. You cannot set up an NDDC that is controlled from Abuja. The Niger Delta should be given priority."
An Ijaw scholar, Dr. Youpele Banigo, said the historic conjuncture of the Vice-President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, from the Niger Delta, the release of a Master Plan by the NDDC, and the release of Dokubo-Asari "are serious invitation to the Federal Government, and all stakeholders to critically and comprehensively work towards peace and development in the Niger Delta region, and the country."
Shortly after leaving the airport, Dokubo-Asari proceeded to the residence of the former Minister for Culture and Tourism, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas where he addressed prominent Ijaw leaders.
After narrating his ordeal to them, he demanded that the Federal Government should reserve the position of Minister of Energy and Power to the people of the Niger Delta.
A convoy of over 500 cars and thousands of motorbikes later escorted him to his native Buguma in Asari Toru local government area of Rivers State.
Delta Militant Coalition Announces Cease Fire (The Sun)
Following Thursday's release of Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo by an Abuja High Court, militants in the Niger Delta have announced a complete ceasation of hostilities in the area.
In an online statement yesterday signed by one Cynthia Whyte, the militants who spoke under the aegis of Joint Revolutionary Council said they would allign themselves with the new strategy that would be evolved by Asari on how they should go about the struggle for the region .
"We also wish to announce a complete cessation of hostilities against the Nigerian state and her perceived collaborators. We will work in line with the emerging and evolving process."
Continuing, the online statement urged President Umaru Yar 'Adua to be wary of leaders in the region they tagged betrayers and spoilers of the Niger Delta cause just as they hailed the media and other groups for standing doggedly behind the region in her crusade against injustice.
"On behalf of the Joint Revolutionary Council and its alliance members, we wish to commend all men of goodwill who stood the course and faced the tide in the two years of the travails and persecutions that was visited on our patriotic and esteemed leader, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari."
"We commend the resilience and dogged determination of key Ijaw elders whose timely support, encouragement and progressive advice helped paved the way for this release. "
"We cannot fail to commend the exceptional courage and leadership shown by the Governor of the Bantustans of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva-Sam. One of the biggest challenges in the achievement of a developed Niger Delta has been the absence of governors and political leaders who have the ability to move our people forward. If he continues in this path of honour, Chief Sylva-Sam may just be the best thing to happen to the Niger Delta in a very long time."
"He should therefore stay his course. We will work closely with leaders who show true commitment to improving the quality of lives of their people. We will listen to leaders who understand the anguish of our people and feel the intenseness of the pain inflicted on our consciousness by the oppressive and occupation forces of the dubious Nigerian state."
"We will not fail to commend in very strong terms, the exceptional and tremendous support of the media of the Nigerian state as well as international media groups who stood by us to spread the gospel of the new Ijaw and Niger Delta consciousness."
Fire Guts Port Harcourt High Rise (The Tide)
Fire fighters yesterday battled for hours to control a fire outbreak at one of Port Harcourt’s oldest privately-owned high-rise buildings, Orosi House, along Forces Avenues in Old GRA, Port Harcourt.
The Rivers State Fire Service, the first to respond to the emergency call raced to the scene and were later joined by firemen and trucks from Oil companies including Agip, Shell and Elf who all battled the raging fire for over two hours.
An eyewitness at the scene indicated that the fire started at about 3.30pm from an office on the fifth floor of the building which houses a number of lawyers chambers, the Argus Newspaper office, and other private offices.
The special adviser to the Rivers State Governor on Emergency, Chief Bebe Okpabi who was on ground to co-ordinate the fire fighters said the first task was to put the fire under control after which the building would be accessed to see if there were any casualties.
However, a lawyer whose chamber was gotten by the fire blamed the incident on fluctuating electricity adding that apart from the over 20 lawyers offices which may have been reduced to ashes, his alone was worth over N25million, the value of documents of cases spanning over 15 years not inclusive.
The lawyer who craved anonymity, however, urged government to update the fire fighting equipment of the state fire service.
He said this has become necessary as the state fire fighters were unable to cope with the inferno until the arrival of fire fighters from the oil companies who put the fire under control at about 6.00pm.
Three Found Dead After Building Collapse in Lagos (Nigerian Tribune)
It was a sorrowful time for the residents of Egerton, Lagos neighbourhood on Sunday as a pregnant woman, her daughter and a man who were trapped in the rubble of a five-storey building which collapsed on Saturday were found dead.
The woman, Mrs. Mariam Ahmed, her daughter, Sophia, and the man, Bolaji Popoola, and some people were trapped in the building. Neighbours said the building initially had three floors, but was later raised to five floors.
A man, who did not disclose his name, said his wife and his son were trapped in the building, saying he had been trying her GSM number since Saturday but to no avail.
According to him, he went to work only to come back to find that the building had collapsed.
He wanted the rescue workers to intensify their efforts in the search for his wife and son.
Mariam’s sister, Taibat, stated that her sister was a trader and that they had promised to meet around 4.p.m on Saturday only for the incident to happen.
She described her sister as nice and caring and had always advised her to face her business.
The rescue work, which commenced manually yesterday, was later aided by a Julius Berger caterpillar.
Many people, according to eyewitnesses, were still trapped in the building, saying the incident caught the residents unawares and that efforts to rescue them immediately were a bit delayed due to indiscriminate physical development in the area that left no space for rescue equipment to move in.
Some of those whose loved ones were trapped under the rubble were still making frantic efforts to call their GSM numbers.
Rapid response from nearby residents and official of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency saved the lives of about five men immediately the incident happened and were given medical treatment.
The General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed that a pregnant woman, her daughter and another man were found dead.
He told the Nigeria Tribune that his men would not leave the scene of the building until they were able to bring out all survivors.
General Manager, Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Authority, Alhaji Sulaimon Yusuf, expressed regret over the incident, describing it as “unfortunate.”
He stated that by his findings, the building was constructed about 12 years ago, and that there was no evidence of development permit.
According to him, the building caved in due to substandard materials and poor foundation.
“Samples of the materials show that they are substandard and the workmanship was poor.”
He said investigation would continue on the structure, disclosing that the authority would commence integrity test on all other buildings within the neighbourhood before the end of this week.
He appealed to residents in the area not to wait until their building collapsed before informing the authority whenever they found any faulty building around them.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who had earlier visited the site, regretted the incident, but commended the rescue team for responding on time.
He promised to enhance the operations of the team to handle future emergencies.
The ground floor was devoted to shops while the other floors had residential flats.
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