A combined team of security men on Thursday struck at the National Agip Oil Company (NAOC) platform, killing 12 militant youths and releasing 11 oil workers held hostage by them.
The whereabouts of the soldiers held hostage during a reprisal attack launched by the militants were unknown at the time of this report, though soldiers had taken over the platform occupied by the militants.
The soldiers arrived on the NAOC platform in Ogboinbiri, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, in six gunboats and engaged the militants in a firefight which lasted about six hours.
Though both sides were said to have suffered casualties with the militants recording the higher number, military sources stated that none of their men was felled by the militants’ bullets.
The sources said no military hostage was seen at the flow station. Also, navy divers were said to be combing the creeks and the surrounding forest for them.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Joint Military task Force on the Niger Delta, Major Omale Ochagwuba, confirmed the killings of the 12 militants as well as the release of 11 oil workers, but was silent on the number of casualties on the part of his men.
Also, the coordinator of the state security outfit, Bayelsa Volunteers, Joshua Benamaisia, confirmed the shoot-out between the soldiers and the militants, but could not give the specific number of the people killed.
One of the youth leaders in the state, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the shoot-out, but added that both sides suffered casualties.
However, the state police command could not confirm the shoot-out, as its Public Relations Officer, DSP Iniobong Ibokete, told the Nigerian Tribune to give him time to find out what happened.
Meanwhile, there are conflicting reports on the number of soldiers being held hostage. While the Agip is claiming that 16 of its workers and 11 soldiers are in the custody of the militants, the JTF said 11 workers were found.
Nigerian troops stormed an Italian-operated oil facility Thursday and said they killed 12 militants to free 10 Nigerian hostages who had been held for five days.But the whereabouts of another 17 hostages was unknown after the operation in the Niger Delta state of Bayelsa, Major Omale Ochaguba told AFP.
Twelve militants were killed and four soldiers wounded in the early morning raid on the flow station run by the Italian firm Agip, the major said. Nine civilians and one soldier among the hostages were rescued.
The major denied reports by local residents that a number of soldiers were killed as the plant was stormed.
A resident of Imiringi on the outskirts of the Bayelsa capital Yenagoa reported fighting there early Thursday evening.
"It looks as if the boys (militants) tried to come in through Imiringi and met a detatchment of soldiers there," the resident said, asking not to be identified.
No further details were available.
Residents of Yenagoa had earlier reported troops were deployed in the town on Thursday, leading people to believe state authorities expected a reprisal attack.
Militants attacked the flow station at Ogbainbiri on Sunday, seizing 16 oil workers and 11 soldiers guarding the facility.
Kidnappings and armed attacks have intensified in Nigeria's oil-rich south where some 200 foreigners and scores of local workers have been abducted since the start of 2006.
The attackers mainly belong to militant groups calling for a greater share of oil wealth for the provinces where it is produced. The bulk of the revenues go to the federal government.
The release last week of one prominent militant leader, Mujahid Asari Dokubo of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVD), had increased hopes that violence in the delta region would abate.
Dokubo had been detained for two years on treason charges, and most of the armed groups in the region have cited his release as their number one condition for stopping the violence.
But one oil and gas analyst told AFP his release may not have an immediate effect.
"I think Dokubo's going to have a hard time of it ending the violence. Since he went to jail a lot of these local commanders have got used to doing things their own way," the analyst said.
The unrest has forced Nigeria to cut crude oil production in the Niger Delta by around 25 percent.
The military often maintain an ambiguous relationship with the armed groups they are theoretically meant to be fighting.
Analysts cite cases of military commanders involved in the illegal sale offshore of stolen crude oil and using boys from armed groups as guides in the delta creeks.
Ill-paid soldiers are reluctant to risk their lives fighting the militants and very often remove their uniforms and run at the first sign of an attack, analysts and industry sources say.
Eni reported that 40 soldiers and eight civilians "escaped" during Sunday's attack on the flow station.
Negotiations Break Down, Strike Continues (DPA)
The first negotiations held between the Nigerian government and labour groups over a two-day strike called over a 9-cent increase in the pump price of a litre of petrol hit a brick wall Friday in Abuja after nine hours of talks.
'We have not made sufficient progress to end the strike,' Babagana Kingibe, the top negotiator for the Nigerian government, said after the meeting ended early Friday.
He expressed regret that in spite of concessions made by the government, such as reducing the petrol price hike, 'labour is intransigent and ... insisted that the strike must continue.'
Speaking for labour, Abdulwaheed Omar, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, said government must return to the 50-cents-a-litre pump price of petrol before any meaningful negotiations could be made.
Labour groups in Nigeria have called workers out on strike since Wednesday to protest the petrol increase as well as a doubling of the value-added tax to 10 per cent and a demand for a 15-per-cent wage increase.
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo imposed the petrol and tax increases a few days before he left office on May 29. He also announced the wage increase but did not implement it.
The strike was also called to demand the reversal of the sale of two of the country's refineries also made by the former president before he vacated office.
On the eve of the strike Tuesday, new President Umaru Yar'Adua conceded to a reversal of the value-added tax to the original 5 per cent; promised to pay the 15-per-cent wage increase, effective from January; and reduced the petrol price hike.
Yar'Adua offered to set the cost of petrol at 54 cents a litre, 4 cents higher than before Obasanjo raised the price, but labour would not hear of the proposal and began the strike.
At the end of the second day of the strike, the government called a meeting and made a fresh proposal of 52 cents for a litre of petrol, but labour was adamant and insisted on 50 cents a litre.
'They are not ready to see reason with us,' Omar said. 'Government is insensitive to the plight of Nigerians, and this is the time to ask for our due.'
Kingibe argued, likewise, that the unions should take into account the hardships the strike has caused for Nigerians and call it off, adding that the government was short of cash and couldn't afford to meet all of labour's demands.
'All these hardships that Nigeria and Nigerians are made to face are over a few cents increase in the price of petrol,' Kingibe lamented.
'If government meets all the demands in one fell swoop, it will not have enough funds to run other businesses,' he argued. 'The 15-per-cent wage increase, for instance, means we have enough money to run government business till August, and after that, what happens?'
Oil-rich Nigeria imports all of its petroleum products because its four refineries are not functional.
Its vast oil wealth also does not percolate down to the man on the street as a majority of Nigerians live on less than a dollar a day.
No comments:
Post a Comment