Nigeria Security Update #1 210707

Port Harcourt Shootings Increase (Wire Reports)

A Lebanese businessman was shot dead in his home early Friday in oil-rich southern Nigeria, police said.

Armed men invaded the home of a Lebanese furniture maker in Ogbunabali area of Port Harcourt and shot him dead.

According to witnesses, the armed men raided the house of the Lebanese located on Ogbonda Street at 2.30am, after using explosives to blow up the gates. A source in the neighbourhood told our correspondent, who visited the area, that the attackers numbering over 20 were decked in military fatigue.

The source said, “It was so scaring when we started hearing shooting from heavy guns. It was as if a war had broken and the soldiers were pounding the enemies. We locked ourselves inside when we started hearing the shooting in the neighbourhood. Before long, the attackers had broken into the duplex and shot the man at close range.”

The armed men also wounded a relation of the Lebanese after they collected unspecified amount of money from him. Not long after, some gunmen also attacked a divisional police station at Elekahia and wounded three officers, who were on duty.

The police station is located a few metres to the Liberation Stadium in Port Harcourt. It was speculated that the attackers might have raided the station to secure the release of two physically-disadvantaged persons, who were earlier arrested and interrogated over alleged possession of firearms.

The suspects were arrested following a tip-off during the week and were later transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department. On arrival at the station, a police source who pleaded anonymity said that the suspected gunmen fired indiscriminately at the officers on duty.

The duty officers, it was learnt, responded with superior fire power against the invaders, although three of them were hit.

When contacted, the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, confirmed the death of the Lebanese but said that the command was yet to release his name to the public.

Police escorting the expatriates returned fire as scores of Nigerian civilians fled the scene, abandoning their vehicles in the middle of one of the city's busiest roads. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or who the expatriates worked for.

State police spokeswoman Irejua Barasua called attack on the Lebanese businessmen in central Port Harcourt an attempted kidnapping, but did not say why police believed the assailants were trying to abduct the man.

Barasua said a nearby police station was attacked shortly afterward, and three officers were wounded by gunfire. It was not immediately clear whether the incidents were related. Barasua did not provide further details.

A friend of the family, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, said the man initially had come to Nigeria to work as a carpenter for a large company, but had decided to set up a business of his own. The friend said he thought a kidnap attempt was unlikely.

Kidnappings and oil rig attacks have become common in the southern river delta region of Africa's largest crude producer, where oil giants like Royal Dutch Shell PLC (nyse: RDSA - news - people ), ExxonMobil (nyse: XOM - news - people ) and Eni SpA have large operations. The assailants range from militants demanding political concessions to criminal gangs seeking ransoms.

More than 150 foreigners have been seized in the region so far this year, as well as many Nigerians. About a dozen remain in captivity. Those taken hostage have typically been released unharmed, though some have reported being beaten, and a Belarusian woman was shot in the knee and held for more than a week without medical attention.

Police officers have been killed in a number of attacks or attempted kidnappings.

Arrests are rare, even though the kidnappings and bombings have cut production in Nigeria by about a quarter, helping to drive up oil prices worldwide.

Ogbaudu said the attack could have been triggered by a failed kidnap bid, armed robbery or assassination. He said that the slain Lebanese was a businessman engaged in the production and distribution of furniture in Nigeria.

On Friday evening, suspected gunmen also attempted to abduct an expatriate as he was being escorted by armed policemen. The gunmen emerged from Kaduna Street in B Line area of the street around 5.20 pm in an unmarked bus and opened fire on the car, which was being driven by the expatriate.

Pandemonium ensued while the unidentified expatriate’s escorts foiled the kidnap bid. Frustrated, the gunmen started shooting into the air as they made an escape bid.



Two Handicapped Men Suspected of Gun Running (Daily Champion)

Police in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, has paraded two alleged notorious cripples for illegal possession of fire arms and aiding of criminal activities across the state.

The suspects who were arrested by the police in an uncompleted building last Wednesday, along the waterlines axis of the state capital were said to be from the northern part of the country.

Speaking while parading the suspects in the city, the police public relations officer, Rivers state command, Mrs. Ireju Barasua, described the cripples as wicked and notorious persons who allegedly supply arms to the criminals across the state.

She also disclosed that the two cripples were arrested through a tip off by a patriotic citizen who had been trailing their acts, adding that they would be prosecuted despite their disability.

Barasua, who identified the suspects as Useni Musa from Maiduguru, Bornu state and his colleague whose name was not made public as at the time of filing in this report but was said to come from Kaduna state.

According to her, the suspects are assisting the command in fishing out the members of their gang in the state.

Barasua appealed to the public to always report criminals to the police for immediate arrest and prosecution.

She equally said the command was combat-ready to fish out criminals and sanitize the city for investors to strive.

Speaking to newsmen while on parade, one of the suspects, Mr. Useni Musa said he was given the guns by one Mr. Ebi who is now at large after several beatings by the criminal.

According to Musa, he was not a robber, even as he noted his colleague was innocent of the acts said to have been committed by the duo.

It would be recalled that, six arms made up of pistols, short guns and live ammunitions were recovered from the cripples in Port Harcourt city.

Time for Reality in the Delta - Opinion (Business Day)

It is time for the Federal government to come to terms with two central realities: the Niger Delta crisis is a historic, strategic and moral calamity; and only a strategy that is historically relevant rather than reminiscent of political tutelage can provide the framework for a tolerable resolution of both the crisis and the intensifying militants’ activities. If the country continues to stay bogged down by the intensity of the chaos in the area, the Niger Delta Master Plan may well turn out to be a waste of time and an empty document. A plausible scenario for a drastic rethink by the militants will be a dramatic presence of funds for immediate and long term development, a concrete commitment by the oil companies-not cosmetic-and a visible political will to engage in dialogue with the restive communities. All these have been suggested in the past but it is the challenge for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to make it stick this time. One impression gleaned from some of the community leaders in the area is that the with the Niger Delta Master Plan, the Federal Government is going to move in to the area with massive funds. But the more fundamental are the bewilderment on the ‘context’ within which the Master Plan was drawn and the ‘contents’ which still does exclude the now infamous revenue sharing formula. It has been suggested in some quarters that the context does exclude inputs from the affected people-they were not involved in the process and so may not be too enthusiastic about the document but rather more suspicious of its intentions. Besides, the document, for most of the people, does assume that the issue of the revenue sharing formula is closed and cannot be debated further. But, the mythical historical narrative to justify the case for such level of protracted violence in the area before now was articulated around the revenue sharing formula. The sharing formula is still unacceptable to the people. What was recommended in the heat of the debate on the issue in the early 2000s by the Niger Delta was 25 per cent, the consensus among those who were at the ‘famous’ National Conference of 2001 was 17 per cent. Both of these suggestions were considered by the federal government as unacceptable. It is still 13 per cent. "The issue has to be revisited" says a frontline political figure from Bayelsa State who wishes to be unnamed. "It will serve as one of the platforms for going forward, mending fences and calming the restiveness in the area". Initially justified by the revenue sharing formula, the agitations and violence is now been redefined as a "fight for the rights of the people". This time the energy is focused on the harm brought on the environment by the operations of the oil companies and in more recent times, the claim by the people that have been politically marginalized by rigged elections. It is obvious by now that the national interest with regards to the Niger Delta calls for a significant change of direction. There is a consensus in favour of change: Nigerian public opinion now holds that the escalation of the crisis is as a result of the double standards of the oil companies operating within the areas; that a more comprehensive process can be explored by the oil companies to douse the tension between them and the restive youths; and that a federal government-militants dialogue and accommodation is essential to the needed policy alteration. It is noteworthy that a number of leading figures in the area have voiced reservations regarding federal government’s policy and the Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) approach. In his maiden speech to the nation, President Umar Musa Yar’Adua appealed to the Niger Delta militants to stop their armed struggle and give him a chance to address the lingering problems in the oil-rich but impoverished region. The new president said resolving the crisis will be his priority. He said he would use every resource available to him to address the problem in the spirit of justice, fairness and cooperation. His quest for a solution would have to be more pro-active and selfless and more determined than that of his predecessor. Yar’Adua has to reaffirm unambiguously his administrations determination to make the Niger Delta a reasonably safe place in the shortest possible time. Such a declaration is need to strengthen confidence on his promise to resolve the crisis Again, he has to announce he is undertaking talks with all stakeholders in the area-including the leadership of the various militant groups-jointly to set and announce a deadline for full disengagement of the militants and when the first major development steps will begin. The first development steps will have to reflect people’s immediate needs. The federal government should compel the oil companies to issue an invitation to the leadership of all the militant groups, the politicians as well as local community leaders to engage in dialogue about how to enhance stability in the area, and to participate in the re-development of the area. Yar’Adua must insist on investigating the huge crude oil theft from the pipelines in the creaks, ascertain the gang leaders, the buyers of the stolen crude oil and the final destination of the stolen crude. If the government gets this right, then we may begin to talk of positive results. About 900 thousand barrels of oil is stolen every day. The militants control about 50 thousand of the stolen barrels. It is worthy to note that stolen crude oil helps militant groups buy arms. Above all, Yar’Adua should concurrently activate a credible effort to start a visible and sustainable implementation of the contents of the Master Plan, making clear in the process what the basic parameters and benchmarks of such an effort should involve. Without such moves, it will perpetually be difficult to restrain the wild-gun-totting restive youths of the area that have found joy in the abduction of expertrate oil workers, destruction of oil installations and stealing, along side other rouge cartels identified as politicians, bad eggs in the army and navy, crude oil from wells and pipelines.