Nigeria Security Update #1 010807

Oil Workers Face Increasing Security Problems (LRP)

Kidnappings, crimes, political upheaval, piracy and labor-relations disruptions are some of the security issues facing expatriates in Nigeria. The situation is exacerbating the shortage of trained personnel and offering HR leaders and security companies problems in protecting workers.

By Anne Freedman

The deteriorating security situation in Nigeria is prompting some oil and gas companies to think twice about continuing operations in the country.

"Nigeria is just notorious for a lot of bad stuff," says William Sheridan, senior director of global human resource services for the National Foreign Trade Council in New York. "It's been going on for a period of time."

According to strategypage.com, an online military-affairs research and reporting organization, nearly 150 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped this year, as of June, yielding "at least $100,000 per captive in ransom."

The problem has become so common, according to the report, that negotiations "now usually take days instead of weeks."

The "flow of ransom money has attracted more kidnappers, and attacks on foreigners working at non-oil-company firms," according to strategypage.com

Kevin Rosser, oil and gas practice leader in the London headquarters of Control Risks Group, a security and risk consultancy, says the security issues are exacerbating the "real shortage of technical personnel" needed by oil companies in the exploration and production business as well as oil-services companies that focus on work such as drilling or construction.

"The security problems come from a number of different sources. You have militant groups. You have organized criminal groups. You have communities who have -- may have -- some involvement. Some of these overlap," he says.

The difficulty of managing sometimes disruptive labor unions adds another level of complexity, he says, as does increasing piracy affecting offshore locations, which once were "reasonably insulated" from security problems.

"Kidnapping may be a militant phenomenon insofar as it has a political language and a criminal one insofar as the people behind it are looking for a ransom," Rosser says, adding that the situation in the country has been deteriorating for the past two to three years.

The combination of criminality and political radicalization has generated "chronic insecurity verging on an unmanageable security problem," he says.

Last year, the country saw the highest number of kidnappings on record -- about 27 incidents. This year, he says, that number was passed in the first quarter. Rosser says he hasn't seen the strategypage.com report, which puts the number of kidnappings at 150.

The HR implications of such a situation, he says, are that companies need to determine "their duty of care toward staff who they want to send into high-risk environments and what that means in practice from a security-management program."

It means HR must train workers to identify risks and "come up with a program for managing them effectively," Rosser says.

Workers need to know how to conduct themselves in a hostile environment, what to do if they hear gunfire, if they are in a traffic accident, if they are kidnapped, he says.

Sheridan notes the security risks "certainly inhibit" companies in their in-country activities "and it's going to inhibit people from taking the assignment."

While the oil industry is providing a great deal of gross national revenue to the government, he says, "the money doesn't tend to get very far. It doesn't benefit the community."

Most of the security problems are in the Niger Delta, an area filled with swamps and jungle, where the oil is located and where the government, Rosser says, has never fulfilled its promises to develop the region.

He says some companies have shut production sites or "mothballed" operations. "About 20 percent of Nigeria's total productive capacity is simply unavailable because certain producing areas are off limits right now," he says.

To recruit and retain workers, some companies are offering up to 1.8 times the normal salaries, he says.

Whether families of workers remain in the country depends on the area, he says. In an area such as Port Harcourt, which is in the delta and serves as headquarters for many oil companies, companies generally prefer that families do not accompany workers. In early July, a 3-year-old British girl, who was kidnapped on her way to school, was released after being held for four days.

In Lagos, the commercial capital -- where there are security issues but not at the same level as in the delta -- it's a little different, Rosser says. "I think the preference increasingly is not to have dependents."

Other than Iraq -- which now has very few foreign oil workers as the national oil company is handling the work -- Nigeria offers the highest risk to oil and gas expats.

Other countries with security risks, but nowhere in the same league, he says, include Colombia, Algeria, Pakistan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

"The Niger delta," says Bill Daly, senior vice president and head of the New York office of Control Risks, "I would say, is one of the most risky areas to do business in these days."

But, he notes, "there's a tremendous amount of interest in the area because of the resources in the area."


Nigerian Oil Worker Seized (The Hindi)

A Nigerian oil worker was seized in the country's restive southern region, a colleague said on Wednesday.

Gunmen seized the employee of Elf, a subsidiary of French firm Total, from outside his church on Tuesday evening in the oil city of Port Harcourt, the colleague said who requested anonymity due to company restrictions on speaking to the media.

Kidnapping rings have seized over 150 foreigners this year. Victims are not usually hurt, and released after the payment of a cash ransom.

The practice began when disaffected communities began to seize foreign oil workers to protest unemployment or pollution, but gradually more organized militant groups demanding more political rights for their impoverished region began to carry out attacks.

Police say most of the current spate of kidnappings are carried out by criminal gangs only interested in cash. Recently, they have also begun to seek rich Nigerians as targets.

The police were not immediately available for comment on the latest kidnapping.

The attacks, and a string of bombings, have cut production in Africa's largest oil producer by around a quarter.

Bizarre Stories from the Niger Delta (This Day)

It is not funny at all when a man tells kidnappers that they can hold on to his mother as he could not afford the ransom demanded. Yet that is precisely what the Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Werinipre Seibarugu, has done. He simply asked the hostage-takers holding her 70-year old mother to keep her, as he has no N50 million to give them.

In a manner that proves that the descent into anarchy in the Niger Delta has assumed a bizarre proportion, the septuagenarian was kidnapped last Tuesday. This is a woman who goes by the sobriquet, "Mama Yenagoa". What point on earth would the kidnappers want to make by visiting the poor woman with so much trauma? In response to the outrage expressed by the public to this criminal act, the kidnappers have demanded a N50 million ransom from her son.

The son is certainly not alone in protesting this crime. The other members of the House of Assembly have embarked on hunger strike to demonstrate their disgust at the phenomenon of hostage taking in the troubled region. On Monday, they all wore black suits to draw national and international attention to this heinous practice. In solidarity with the embattled speaker, the House has adjourned sittings for a week. Informed sources have explained the latest act as a fall-out of local politics. However, nothing can justify this act of brigandage. It cannot be rationalised on any ground. Whatever the motivation, it is as criminal as the kidnapping of babies, toddlers, oil workers and innocent expatriates that some other gangs perpetrated. At one time the victim was a girl, whose father is British and mother, Nigerian. She was taken on her way to school. Few days later it was a son of a chief. In some instances lives were lost in the efforts to rescue hostages.

t began as kidnapping of expatriate oil-workers; now fellow citizens of Niger Delta origin are becoming victims regardless of age and circumstance. Hostage taking has become a fast-growing industry with different criminal groups competing for turf in the region. The violence and other criminal activities are taking enormous socio-economic tolls. In a region in which some reports put the unemployment rate as being above the national average, companies are either scaling down activities or closing shops. It is no only the activities of oil companies that are affected. The economy of the already impoverished region is in serious jeopardy.

That is why while all decent people should join in calling for the release of Madam Hansel Seibarugu, this incident should be seen by the federal government as a chilling reminder that the Niger Delta debacle should be resolved as quickly as possible. This is more so that the federal government is reportedly attempting a fresh look at the problem.

Significantly, President Umaru Yar'Adua listed Niger Delta, as an issue of priority is his inaugural address on May 29. The problem is also an item in his seven-point agenda on which his campaign was hinged. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, who incidentally is from the area, is reportedly given the special assignment of closely engaging the forces at play in the crisis. Soon after inauguration, the federal government had scheduled a summit on the Niger Delta.

The summit had to be rescheduled for a thorough preparation. It is good enough that the summit would not be taking place in a vacuum of ideas. There are documents that could illuminate serious discussions of the problem. Some of these documents arose from sober studies of the developmental and security dimensions of the Niger Delta condition. Attention should, therefore, be continuously drawn to these reports begging for action.

First is the Master Plan "facilitated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in partnership with state governments, Local Government Areas (LGAs), oil companies civil society and communities" in the region? The document could as well be termed the Niger Delta Manifesto of Development. The process of putting together the report has been essentially inclusive of the views of the various interests in the region. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who received the report, acknowledged that much. According to him: "What we have is not an NDDC plan, but a people's plan, one that one that all can claim ownership. The collective vision of the stakeholders captured in this Master Plan is the accelerated development of this hitherto turbulent and underdeveloped region into Africa's most peaceful, most prosperous and most pleasant region."

The summit may have to deliberate on how the implementation of the plan has not been funded to achieve optimal objectives. The Master Plan and the agency saddled with the task of its implementation cannot, of course, be immune from the dynamics of the politics of the region within context of the crisis of the Nigerian distorted federalism.

The second document that is worth referring to be the NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT prepared last year by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The report recommends a seven-point action plan, described as a "new development paradigm".

The elements of this plan are promotion of " peace as the foundation for development"; making "local governance effective and responsive to the needs of the people"; improvement and diversification of the economy; promotion of " social inclusion and improved access to social services"; promotion of environmental sustainability to preserve the means of people's sustainable livelihood"; taking "an integrated approach to HIV&AIDS"; and building "sustainable partnerships for the advancement of human development".

These recommendations arose from the question posed by the study: "The delta's human development dilemma raises the question of why abundant human and natural resources have had so little impact on poverty.

There is also the report of the committee headed by former Chief of Defence Staff, General Alex Ogomudia, on the security situation in oil -communities. This report was prepared in 2002 and submitted to the government. What was remarkable about the report is that it was signed by all the then incumbent service chiefs, heads of all security agencies, chief executives of all the companies operating in the upstream sector of the oil industry and secretaries to the governments of the oil-producing states. The committee recommended short term, medium term and long-term solutions to the problem. It is also instructive that this committee, which included Generals and security chiefs, reasoned that the there is no military solution to the problem. According to the committee, the answer to the crushing poverty of the region is development. And the method to resolve the conflict should be political. Nothing was done about that report in the lifetime of the administration that set up the committee and received the report. The report only became a subject of attention last year following the upsurge in hostage taking. Those who are preparing for the summit should study this report as a working document.

The three reports cited above are, of course, just a few among existing serious studies and suggestions on how to resolve the Niger Delta debacle. What is common to them all is the theme that what we are witnessing in the region is primarily a crisis of underdevelopment. This has been exacerbated by an irresponsible form of exploitation of a natural resource and gross inequities in the distribution of the wealth. The security and criminal issues are only derivatives of the development question

The Yar'Adua administration has to move fast to rein in the anarchy that is enveloping the region. It is good to be methodical in going about it and taking a holistic view of the issues as the administration is reportedly doing. However, this government does not have all the time to restore normalcy in the region. Before more damage is done, the government should come up with its own workable approach to check those who have turned hostage taking, oil bunkering, violent cultist activities and other crimes into a burgeoning industry in the region. The first thing to do is to isolate the criminals from the legitimate struggle of the people of the region for justice and equity. The most potent weapon the government could employ is embarking on a massive anti-poverty programme. The summit will be meaningful if it could come up with such a programme achievable within a time frame. It would be easier for government to confront the criminals if the issues of development are seen to be tackled seriously.

It is also important that those groups legitimately agitating in the region should join in the efforts to isolate the criminals who are defaming the struggle of the people of Niger Delta. For instance, it was salutary that militant groups such as the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) and the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) have openly condemned some of the criminal activities. They even issued ultimatums to the criminals in some instances. It will also be productive if the militants could also adopt a more political approach in their struggle. The way they respond to the consultations for the summit will show how politically transformed they could possibly be in the coming years. If generals say that the government cannot solve the problems militarily, the militants too should be told that they wouldn't achieve their objectives employing violent tactics.

Death Toll Increases in Warri (Vanguard)

The death toll keeps increasing with each passing day. Although about 17 persons have been confirmed dead, the lives of many others are hanging on the cliff as a result of severe burns from kerosine explosions which rocked several parts of Warri, the oil-rich city in Delta State.

Explosions from killer kerosine have become a recurring decimal in the country and each time such incidents occur, blames are traded between the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) on the one hand and marketers on the other hand as to the source of the adulterated product.

This time, DPR sources explained that the killer kerosine might have been scooped from a vandalised pipeline. The source claimed that what people thought was kerosine is actually condensate, a lighter variant of crude oil but which looks very much like kerosine.

The disastrous incident which occurred in Warri is already having negative effects on kerosine dealers in Lagos. Palpable fears have gripped residents of Lagos that the killer product may find its way into the city. Some apprehensive residents of the city said they would rather queue at petrol filling stations to buy their household kerosine than buy from open tanks whose sources they cannot guaranteed.

Royal fathers visit victims

Some royal fathers in Delta State, led by the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, Major-General Felix Mujakperuo (rtd), yesterday, visited the victims of the kerosine blasts on admission at the Central Hospital, Warri on condolence visit.

The royal fathers, including the Obi of Issele-Uku, the Ughelli monarch and an Ijaw traditional ruler donated N100,000 to the victims to augment their medical treatment.

They asked those adulterating kerosine to stop the dangerous practice and commended the state government for its intervention.

Chief Consultant-Surgeon in the hospital, Dr. Peter Oside, conducted the royal fathers round the wards to see the victims.

Nigeria Security Update #1 310707

Pakistani Construction Manager Kidnapped (VOA)

Seven gunmen abducted a Pakistani construction manager in southern Nigeria on Tuesday and demanded a ransom, a local rights activist said citing sources at the man's company and witnesses.

The attack takes to at least 12 the number of foreigners being held hostage by armed groups in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where crime and militancy have surged since early 2006.

The gunmen, dressed in red, arrived by boat at a road construction site run by Italian firm Gitto near Bodo community in the Ogoni area of Rivers state, said Patrick Naagbanton, coordinator of the local Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development.

Bodo has been plagued by deadly fights between two rival "cults" or youth gangs and the gunmen's red clothes suggested they may be members of Deebam, one of the cults.

"They held everyone at gunpoint before seizing the Pakistani manager and taking him away by boat," Naagbanton said by telephone from Rivers.

The abducted man was in charge of dredging for Gitto's road project, which is financed by the federal government. The road will cross several creeks and rivers.

Contacts at Gitto said the kidnappers called demanding a ransom but they did not disclose the amount, Naagbanton said.

Militants who criticised the neglect of the impoverished delta and demanded local control over oil revenues launched a violent campaign against the oil industry in early 2006.

They have forced the closure of several oilfields and oil output from Nigeria, the world's eighth-biggest exporter, is down by about a fifth.

But violence has spiralled out of control with numerous criminal gangs using the militancy as a cover to carry out abductions for ransom and armed robberies.

Over 200 expatriates have been kidnapped since the start of last year and almost all have been freed in exchange for money.

Chronology of Recent Abductions

Below is a chronology of some major attacks and kidnappings involving the Nigerian oil industry since President Umaru Yar'Adua was sworn in on May 29.

• June 3 - Gunmen kidnap six staff of United Company RUSAL, the Russian aluminium giant, in Ikot Abasi in the southeast. The men were working at the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria.

• June 15 - Gunmen kidnap two Lebanese men, working for Italian firm Stabilini, near Ogara in Delta state.
  
• June 16 - Militants release 10 Indian hostages held since June 1. The hostages included at least three senior executives of Indonesian petrochemical company Indorama.
  
• June 23 - Four hostages, from Britain, France, the Netherlands and Pakistan, employed by oil services giant Schlumberger are released unharmed. The men were abducted on June 1 from Port Harcourt.
• June 25 - Two Indian construction workers, kidnapped near Sapele in Delta State on June 15, are freed.
  
• July 4 - Armed men attack a Shell facility at Soku and abduct five expatriates, two from New Zealand, one Australian, one Venezuelan and one from Lebanon. They are released on July 11.
  
• July 5 - A 3-year-old British child, Margaret Hill, is abducted in Port Harcourt. She is released on July 8.
  
• July 7 - Oil major Royal Dutch Shell said one of its teams had been attacked in Rivers state in the delta and two Nigerian workers taken hostage. The Nigerians are released on July 11.
  
• July 8 - A Briton was among two foreign workers kidnapped from a production barge near Calabar in Cross River state.
  
• July 12 - Francis Samuel Amadi, the 3-year-old son of a traditional ruler in the community of Iriebe, is kidnapped near Port Harcourt. He is released the next day.
  
• July 31 - A Pakaistani man, a manager in charge of dredging on a construction site run by Italian firm Gitto, is kidnapped near Bodo community in the Ogoni area of Rivers state.

Predicted Peace May Make Oil Flow Again (Reuters)

Nigeria's new government and militant groups in the oil-producing Niger Delta are moving towards talks that could restore lost output from the world's eighth-largest oil exporter.

An 18-month campaign of guerrilla attacks on Western oil facilities has prompted thousands of foreigners to leave Africa's top producer, reduced output by a fifth and helped oil prices rise to record highs.

But since taking office two months ago, President Umaru Yar'Adua has moved swiftly to engage the militants. He has met two of their demands by freeing two jailed leaders of the Ijaw ethnic group, the most populous in the Niger Delta.

In response, 25 armed groups have joined into a united front for talks with the government. The two sides are now working on preconditions for formal talks to address militant demands for more regional control over the delta's oil.

"I am very optimistic. The militias are ready to cease fire and give negotiations a chance," said Dimieari Von Kemedi, an Ijaw activist involved in the talks.

A truce called by several armed groups has held since Yar'Adua's inauguration on May 29. However, a crime wave continues to sweep the delta's largest city of Port Harcourt, posing a threat to the peace drive, he added.

Armed groups protesting against neglect and poverty in the vast wetlands region have stepped up violence against oil workers and industry facilities since the 1990s.

But the line between militancy and crime is blurred and dozens of criminal gangs use militant rhetoric as a cover to kidnap foreigners for ransom or steal oil from pipelines.

BLIP?

Security consultants working for international oil companies are split over the significance of the peace moves. Some see them as a temporary respite in a long-term decline in the vast region of swamps and mangrove-lined creeks.

"Though violence has eased in the last few weeks, the perception of companies is still negative," said one security consultant working for Western multinationals.

"Companies see a long-term deterioration in security. It may not be linear, but each cycle of violence is worse than before," added the consultant, who is not allowed to talk to the media.

There are still good reasons to be worried.

One powerful militant who leads a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has so far refused to take part. His fighters have been responsible for some of the fiercest attacks over the past 18 months.

"The government is attempting to resolve the unrest in the delta through selective appeasement. This will secure a cease fire but how long this 'peace' will last, I cannot tell," said the leader, who uses the pseudonym Jomo Gbomo, in an e-mail.

"They will attempt to stall and pacify dissenting voices financially. Let's watch and see where things go. We will attack without further warning if there is a need to," he said, adding that he saw no prospect of better use of resources in the delta.

Despite these concerns, some projects and investments that had been on hold because of a surge in attacks in the first half of the year are now going ahead.

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has moved some workers back to its western delta oilfields, where 500,000 barrels per day has been shut since they were evacuated in February 2006.

It has resumed pumping 36,000 barrels per day from one oilfield and two tankers are expected to load from the Forcados terminal in August, the first shipments in 18 months.

U.S. oil giant Chevron has lifted a ban imposed in May on non-essential staff in offshore operations, industry sources say. And construction workers have begun setting up work sites to start building a new $1.8 billion highway across the delta, which had previously been frozen by security concerns.

Nigerian Army Retires 40 Top Officers (AP)

The Nigerian Defense Ministry has asked 40 top army officials to retire, a Nigerian defense spokesman said on Tuesday, two months after the country swore in a new president.

"There's no big deal about it. It's a continuous process," said Col. Mohammed Yusuf, who said the process was routine.

He said that under new Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, the armed forces would be sticking strictly to rules that said members must retire at the age of 60, or after 35 years of service.

"They will now try to follow the process very properly, like it did not happen before. Once it is time, there is nothing you can do," he said.

Yusuf said the retirements had no political motive.

"There is nothing like mass retirement," he said, pointing out that classes of officers often graduate over 100 at a time.

He refused, citing national security concerns, to say how many generals were in the Nigerian armed forces or how many generals were among the 40 top officers being retired.

Nigeria has undergone several tumultuous decades of military rule and seven coups since wresting independence from Britain in 1960, but last April's elections that marked the country's first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power.

The elections were widely condemned as rigged by domestic and international observers, but some Nigerians were simply grateful that there was a peaceful transfer of power at all. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had also previously been a military ruler of the country in 1975. He returned to power in 1999 on the back of a popular vote and also proceeded to retire a number of generals shortly afterward.

Most Nigerians do not believe that a coup is currently likely.

Before he promoted current President Yar'Adua as his protege, several of Obasanjo's supporters tried to force through a constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to run for a third term.

Although the country receives tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues annually and is rated as one of the most corrupt in the world by Berlin-based Transparency International.

Bank Manager, 3 More Killed By Armed Robbers in Lagos (Daily Champion)

ONITSHA branch manager of a second generation bank (name withheld), Nnamdi Obi and two policemen were killed by yet-to-be identified gunmen in separate incidents Sunday in Onitsha and Enugu, respectively.

Similarly, armed robbers yesterday stormed the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, (MMIA), Lagos, leaving an unidentified man dead, and several others wounded after their operation.

Daily Champion gathered that Obi who hailed from Nawfia in Njikoka local government area of Anambra State, was shot dead inside his car near the abattoir in Onitsha where he had accompanied his wife to.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Anambra command, Mr Felix Agbo, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) confirmed the killing.

He told our correspondent on telephone that investigation was on-going to unmask the killers.

Other gang of armed robbers Sunday night shot and killed two policemen in what appeared to be a planned attack on a police check point along Ogui Road, Enugu and about a 100metres from the police station on the same road.

The hoodlums also snatched the service rifles of the slain cops after, as eyewitnesses recounted, hurling abuse on and kicking their corpses.

The police check point had been mounted near two popular fast food shops and restaurants that are the favourite haunts of Enugu's rich and famous and had been targets of armed robbery attacks in the past.

The permanent police presence there had helped to keep the hoodlums at bay. The weekend's attack on the check point is widely viewed as an act of vengeance by the criminals against the men who had prevented them from operating freely in the area.

Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred at about 8.30 pm when the robbers who were travelling in a flashy car whose make could not be ascertained suddenly opened fire on the unsuspecting policemen as they approached their checkpoint. The hoodlums were said to have climbed down from their cars and after molesting the corpses of the cops, took their service firearms.

"It all happened in a flash, we suddenly heard gunshots and the next thing we saw were some people climbing down from a car and rushing at the policemen who were already lying on the ground. They kicked at the bodies and shouted insults at them before taking their guns and escaping in the car", said one witness, who pleaded anonymity.

Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Mike Abattam, who confirmed the incident, said the bodies of the two dead cops had been recovered, adding that a massive man-hunt for the hoodlums had commenced.

"We have alerted all units to hunt down those hoodlums and I can assure you, we will get them in no distant time. They cannot escape", he said.

The hoodlums are also suspected to have been behind several robbery incidents in different parts of the city on Sunday night shortly after the attack on the policemen.

It also came barely a week after robbers killed a policeman and wounded another in a failed attempt to rob a bank at Nsukka.

Daily Champion learnt that the robbers, who started their operation at about 2am, tied up the six security operatives on duty and the three plain clothed caps seizing the gun of one of the victims.

According to some of the workers the alleged mad man was also shot dead on the spot. It is not the bureau de change office when he accosted the armed robbers.

What the rampaging hoodlums carted away, extensive damage to most of the offices and the vehicles that were parked there.

The chairman of the bureau de change, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, who spoke with Daily Champion confirmed the incident and stated that there have been strict orders to everyone at the bureau de change not to keep money overnight.

"We have a very strict order that nobody should keep his money overnight in the compound, so that order has been very helpful; because nobody kept money and the robbers did not find any money in the safe that were forced open," he said.

According to him, three safes opened and almost all the offices in the bureau de change were broken into by the bandits who went on a rampage riddling bullets on vehicles and windows when they found nothing to steal.

Airport Command police authority are yet to comment on the incident not reacted to it.

It is recalled that a similar incident took place early in January at the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) where over N120 million was carted away and the suspects not been captured.

Unlike Sunday afternoon's robbery in Isolo, Lagos where the robbers allegedly trailed the bullion vans, yesterday's robbery in Lagos witnessed the raiding of some bureau de change offices at MMIA.

A police officer's rifle was allegedly snatched during the operation.

Nigeria Security Update #1 290707

Changing Tactics in the Niger Delta -- Analysis

Nigeria’s well endowed oil and gas basin, the Niger Delta, has been on the front burner of national and international discourse in recent years. The reason for this is not far-fetched.

For the country’s treasure trove, it has been a sordid tale of squalor, neglect and underdevelopment in the midst of wealth and plenty. Successive governments and the oil exploring multinational firms in the last five decades have only made half-hearted efforts to tackle the endemic and mind-boggling poverty in the region.

Courtesy of the Niger Delta, Nigeria today exports about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil per day; it is Africa’s biggest oil industry, the second largest exporter of oil to the United States, sixth oil producer in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the 10th among oil producing countries in the world.

But this statistics appear insignificant against the backdrop of recent anarchic developments in the region, which resulted in the country losing at least $13 billion monthly on oil exports, besides cutting oil production by a quarter. In the last 18 months or so, several armed groups have emerged to lay claim to greater control of the region’s resources and revenue. Oil platforms and installations have often been attacked and destroyed by such groups, whose members usually abduct foreigners to draw attention to their demands.

Other criminal-minded groups have also joined the kidnapping fray. These insurgents have extended their nefarious acts beyond abduction of only foreigners to women and toddlers and in return demand huge ransom before the hostages are set free. At the moment, it is difficult to say whether such acts have anything to do with the so-called political or liberation struggle in the impoverished region.

Several pundits believe past attempts by the government to address the problem have been tokenistic and aggravated rather than resolve the issues. From the days of the river basin authorities to the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) down to the subsisting Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the problem had always been that of poor funding coupled with corruption and the lack of political will.

The government had also tinkered with the idea of stakeholders and consultative fora as well as setting up of committees, with the latest being the Niger Delta Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee that was established in June by the President Umaru Yar’Adua administration to chart a new way forward. Although the Senator David Brigidi-led committee is yet to show any discernible direction and focus, analysts are pessimistic whether it would be any different from past groupings, whose assignment came to naught at the end of the day. At least, it is foolhardy to continue to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result.

As stakeholders and the NDDC grapple with how to bring sustainable development to the region, the fact remains that the persistence of gross underdevelopment and the escalating violence are enough pointers that previous attempts at addressing the issue have been futile or have not given enough succour. To such pundits, there is need for a change of tactics on the part of government. The reasoning is that it is high time the Federal Government threw the Niger Delta challenge to private initiatives or policy institutions like the National Think-Tank, which had recently volunteered on its own to find answers to some of the lingering questions in the country, including the Niger Delta question.

National Think-Tank coordinator, Steve Azaiki, in a paper entitled: "Momentum for the Niger Delta", argues that there is no shortage of ideas on the way forward. According to him, there is a surfeit of proposals as various groups, individuals and stakeholders articulate their positions and proffer what they consider the appropriate template upon which to launch the region into a new and desirable era.

Some have even suggested a summit on the Niger Delta by the Federal Government. But the thinking among pundits is that such a forum organised by the government will be premature at this stage. The reason being that the government must move away from the habit of hurriedly getting on the driver’s seat without a dependable road map.

Even such a summit, by its conception, does not provide the best forum for brainstorming. How many days can a summit spare? A summit, more or less, is a rectifying forum where the final assent is given to a clean copy that was produced from all the hard labour of earlier negotiations, arguments and counter-arguments that had taken place usually before the summit.

However, the groundwork for a summit on the Niger Delta at this point ought to engage the attention of the National Think-Tank. Its membership, which is an amazing roll call of quality and diverse pool of talented Nigerians may never be readily available to a government-nominated committee that was charged with organising such a summit.

With the plethora of suggestions and multiplicity of stakeholders in the region, it only makes sense that a body like the National Think-Tank should distill and synthesise the various propositions, interact with stakeholders, research into the common denominators on the programme and projects to get the region on track. It should then be in position to present a working document; some invaluable intelligence will guide the preparation for the summit and implementation of the development of the agenda for the Niger Delta.

In Azaiki’s opinion, in rushing into a government-organised summit, especially on the Niger Delta, there is no way stakeholders will not raise as part of their demand the issues of resource control and fiscal federalism. But he says in granting such greater autonomy over resources and enthroning increased fiscal federalism are not matters of executive fiat.

These issues, he maintained, will have to be dealt with constitutionally. Besides, they are not matters that can be resolved in favour of the Niger Delta alone, as other constituent parts of the federation will, to a large extent, be affected by the decisions concerning such issues.

Other posers include: What is the best way to present or handle resources control and fiscal federalism issues at such a summit? What are the best ways of sensitising and winning over Niger Delta stakeholders, to realise the limitation of a summit or to pronounce authoritatively by way of a final solution on the vexed question of fiscal federalism? These and other salient matters are important for a think-tank to think through and present its recommendation on the best approach to maximise a summit on the Niger Delta.

But while the summit may engage in productively mapping out development strategies for the oil-producing region, it may find itself bogged down by the agitation for resource control, a situation that will command more headlines. Such scenario will send wrong signal and would heighten the propaganda that the Federal Government is unable to find answers to the needs of the peoples of the region. This may also lead to a fresh escalation of crisis in the creeks.

Azaiki, who is a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in Bayelsa State, believes Nigeria should strive to get away from the practice where the government is always at the forefront of everything no matter how genuinely concerned it may be. This is because in its haste to get things done or to be seen to be concerned, government misses out on the benefits that a more rigorous situation analysis and recommended course of action would provide.

For a lasting solution to the problems of the Niger Delta, let other actors, including stakeholders, brainstorm. Let them own the ideas, let them lay on the table what they need and what they would cherish. It is at this point that government as the trustee of the nation can step in to give its official seal of approval on what it can do either in the present or in the future, taking into consideration the vital interest of the other component groups in the nation.


Speaker's 70-Year-Old Mother Still Held Hostage -- Analysis (Vanguard)

*Bayelsa in frantic search for abducted septuagenarian mother of speaker

‘I cried and watched my aged mother being lowered into the boat and it disappeared into the night'

THE kidnap on Tuesday night of Mrs. Hansel Seibarugu, the mother of the Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, in the sleepy riverine settlement of Akaibiri in the Ekpetiama clan of Yenagoa Local Government Area has again brought to the fore the anarchy in the troubled Niger Delta.

Armed groups initially operating in the oil fields of the Niger Delta, demanding a greater share of political rights and revenues for their polluted and impoverished region, resorted to kidnapping expatriates to draw attention to the blighted region and have burgeoned into several splinter bodies some of which have degenerated to money making machines. But the availability of arms as well as growth in the number of criminal gangs and the involvement of some powerful local politicians during last April elections has also helped to stoke this alien culture of violence in the once peaceful region.

For those not conversant with the beautiful but underdeveloped rural riverine settlement of Ekpetiama, one of the host communities to the multi billion naira Ubie Gas Gathering Project, being undertaking by oil major, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), it is a long stretch of marshy land on the bank of the Nun River that snakes through the state capital. It is an area that could be accessed both by land and river while most of the communities can only be reached by boat during this period of the year (flood season).

Interestingly, the natives, many of whom reside in the big cities across the country, love returning to their ancestral home to spend their vacation because of its serene and natural surroundings believed to be a soothing balm to the hassles associated with life in the city.

However, Tuesday night abduction of 70 year old Mrs Hansel, fondly called “Mama Yenagoa” has not only shattered this myth but has also brought to the fore the frightening dimension youth activism has assumed in the troubled oil rich Delta where armed gunmen now prey on toddlers and parents of public office holders for monetary gains. It is still not clear what led to the abduction of the septuagenarian woman whose only crime is giving birth to a son who turned out to be the speaker of the state House of Assembly. But an eyewitness, Mr. Tuanake Nimitei, told Sunday Vanguard, who visited the community shortly after the news of the kidnap filtered into Yenagoa, that some strange faces were noticed ostensibly on reconnaissance about four days before the victim was whisked away.

Wary of their movement, he claimed to have challenged one of the strangers who told him they were fuel dealers in search of potential market. The strangers, he added, turned out to be the invaders who whisked away the aged woman in their speedboats without any resistance from the villagers many of whom had travelled to a neighbouring community for a social function.

The younger sister of the speaker, identified as Powei Sam, who was with her aged mother when the gunmen struck, recalled with pain how she was kidnapped.

Sitting in front of their cream coloured apartment which stood out from other buildings in the community, the visibly lady, fighting tears from dropping from her swollen eyes, recounted how she and her mother were seated at her shop located by the bank of the Nun River when four boys walked up to them and requested to buy liquor ‘Chelsea’.

The mother, she noted, had made it a habit to spend her time at the shop as a form of exercise. “As I was about attending to them, two of the youths grabbed mama and immediately dashed to the water front where a speed boat occupied by two others was already steaming waiting for those that came for my mother,” she said, adding that her shout for help was of no consequence as most of the youths who could have come to her rescue had gone to town to attend a social function.

“I cried and watched my aged mother being lowered into the boat and it disappeared into the night,” she lamented. Sympathizers, especially women who thronged the kidnapped woman’s home, were heartbroken, saying, “we want mama back, because she is sick.”

A youth who simply identified himself as Ebiowei told Sunday Vanguard that the operation could have been averted had the speaker taken seriously information allegedly leaked to him shortly on his arrival from London, last week, that plans were afoot to kidnap his mother. He said though the speaker had planned to relocate his mother to Yenagoa on getting the information, nobody knew why he changed his mind before jetting out to South Africa.

Also an eyewitness said he was at the river taking his bath when the gunmen struck but that there was nothing he could do because the invaders were heavily armed, stressing that they even released volley of shots in the air to warn any likely intruder before they disappeared into the night.

Similarly, the deputy Amananaowei of Akaibiri town, Chief Mekwe Nimitei, said he had retired to his bed after the day’s job only to be jolted from his deep sleep by the distress cry of the people. The royal father who spoke in his native Ijaw dialect said the kidnappers were already gone when he came out.

With the invaders gone, he said he had no choice but to mobilize his fellow chiefs and community leaders to contact the Joint Task Force and police in Yenagoa. The foremost militant group in the region, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), in a swift reaction, distanced its members from the act, which it linked to what it called internal politics with no connection with the genuine Ijaw struggle for self-determination and resource control.

The group in an online reaction signed by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, said, “We were not involved in such a despicable act. The abductions are undoubtedly related to local politics and the government should rather look inwards for the perpetrators or masterminds of this crime.”

Meanwhile, Speaker Werinipre Seibarugu, who was away in South Africa for a parliamentary conference when his mother’s abduction took place, has cut short his stay to return to Yenagoa to join in effort to secure the release of the victim whose whereabouts remained unknown even as his immediate family has moved out of the Legislative Quarters home in Ekeki, Yenagoa. Also, fierce looking mobile police men have taken over security activities at the quarters with only residents allowed into the premises. Confirming the incident, the state commissioner of police, Mr. Julian Opalaeke, said about six heavily armed youths carried out the attack between 8 and 9p.m. He said a suspect had been arrested and was helping the command in its investigation.

Reacting to the incident, Governor Timipre Sylva vowed to purge
the state of criminal elements, which he said were damaging the state economy as well as the sense of security of people doing business there. As at the time of filing this report, no contact had been established with the kidnappers which is coming barely five days after the state assembly through its chairman committee on information, culture and media, Hon. Robert Enogha, denied initiating moves to impeach Seibarugu and the state deputy governor, Mr. Peremobowei Ebebi. Ebebi and the speaker were until a few days ago at the centre storm of an impeachment saga rocking the state.

It was gathered that some youths sympathetic to Seibarugu travelled, weekend, to an undisclosed community in southern Ijaw notorious for hostage taking and other related vices where they alleged the aged woman was being held captive by the kidnappers.
Contacted, special assistant to the speaker on media, Mr. Jonah Okah, said the family and the police were still waiting to get word from the kidnappers.

On the whereabouts of the speaker’s wife, Okah said, “Mrs. Seibarugu has just been delivered of a baby, and should be left out of the current problem.” He expressed optimism that the old woman would be released soon as, according to him,” she is innocent and has not done anything to deserve what she is presently passing through.”
Police spokesman, Mr. Iniobong Ikpokette in a telephone chat on Friday, said the command was yet to trace the whereabouts of the kidnapped victim.

Rivers State Bloody Week in Review (Sunday Vanguard)

*Gunmen shoot American Prof., kill commissioner’s brother, oil worker

WILL abduction, shooting, cult related violence and killings ever stop in Rivers State? This is the question on many lips. Many had thought that with the raising of a peace and rehabilitation committee by the state government to reach out to militants and cultists in the state, peace would have started returning to the area. But this much sought after peace is appearing to be a mirage or perhaps it is only a matter of time for it to reign. Within the last two weeks several persons have been killed with many sustaining gun shot wounds.

The most recent victim of the sad state was an American professor, Michael Watt, who was reportedly attacked at the office of a new tabloid, National Point, in Orominike street, D line in Port Harcourt. He was allegedly to have been trailed from a bank on Olu Obasanjo Road where he had gone to withdraw money but was told to come back later.

A staff of the tabloid told Sunday Vanguard he was there to receive an award. Shortly after he stepped into the office, the gun men, about eight of them appeared from the blues, ordering him to produce the money he had gone to withdraw from the bank before coming there.

It was like a dream to the professor, according to an eye witness. He however pulled out the six hundred dollars he had on him. But the dare devil militants or robbers thought he was joking and immediately shot him on the right arm. Perhaps for him to know they were serious and not in a Hollywood session.

When it however dawned on them that the six hundred dollars was the only cash the man had on him; in their frustration they, reportedly, smashed the computers in the office and then thoroughly ransacked the place for anything of value. Before fleeing they allegedly shot a guard attached to the newspaper for making effort to deny them entry initially.

Both victims were later rushed to a nearby hospital. Sunday Vanguard later gathered that the professor who was researching on the Niger Delta was badly wounded on the fingers. None of the hospital staff was ready to comment on his health condition when Sunday Vanguard visited the place.

This sad incident came barely twenty four hours after a newly sworn- in commissioner for energy and natural resources, Eldred Billy Braide, cheated death in the hands of suspected assassins and cultists. But his brother, Ipaly Braide and one other were not lucky as they were felled by the bullets of the assailants. Narrating how it happened to the Sunday Vanguard, a family source said minutes after the commissioner was sworn in at a colorful ceremony in Brick House, last Monday, himself and his wife, political admirers, friends and family members retired to a guest house in Amadi flat area of the state capital for a brief reception put together for him by some of his friends and associates.

When they finished there, they moved to his family compound in Lomumba Street for another get together. It was there the gun men struck. The sources said that residents of the street started noticing some strange youths parading the area on motor bikes after the second leg of the party started. But before they could put their fingers on what was to happen, one of the youths came down from his bike and started shooting into the crowd. Many ran but the killers chased them.

They reportedly caught up with the commissioner’s brother, said to be slightly above forty years and shot him at close range and he allegedly died on the spot. Several others sustained bullet wounds. One of them later died at the hospital.
Confirming the sad news, the state commissioner of police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, linked it to political rivalry.

Meanwhile, on that same day, an oil worker simply described as Elder Echendu was shot dead at Ede street in Ogbunabali area of the state capital. Sources said he was driving into his house when gun men caught up with him and immediately opened fire, killing him on the spot. Their intention was not clear at press time. But some people in the area feared it was a case of mistaken identity.

It would be recalled that, two weeks ago, a Lebanese was also shot
dead in the same neighborhood. Sources said he was attacked at about midnight. The state police commissioner said the police were not ruling out failed abduction, robbery or even assassination in his case.

The Lebanese according to those in Ogbonde street said he had been doing his furniture business in the area for decades.” We cannot understand why anybody will want to kill him. He had been doing his furniture business in this area for years. He was almost a Nigerian to many of us”, some of his neighbors lamented.

Coming after his experience was the case of two persons who were shot dead on their way from a bank in the state capital. Sources said the gun men trailed them on a motor bike up to Elekahia before opening fire on them. It could not be confirmed if they dispossessed them of any valuable.

Robbers, Sunday Vanguard learnt, now position themselves in front of banks in Port Harcourt waiting for those that go in to make huge withdrawals. But how they manage to know these people is still a mystery to many. Could it be that they have links within the banks? They wait for their victims to come out, trail them to quiet spots and then threaten to shoot them if they don’t hand over the cash.

The security situation has become alarming in many parts of the state. The caretaker committee chairman of Asari Toru Local Government Area, Mr. Ibaninabo Hamilton Dawarey, last week, reportedly, ordered a curfew in the headquarters of his local government after two rival cult groups clashed in Buguma last Sunday leaving one dead.

Governor Celestine Omehia is deeply worried by the sad situation. This prompted his constitution of a peace and rehabilitation committee to persuade these cultists and militants to drop the nefarious acts. The committee headed by Alhaji Hassan Douglass is expected to begin tour of the twenty three local government areas of the state to pursue peace.

It is the prayer of all that peace returns to the state. Already night life has disappeared from the state capital. As early as 6.30 p.m., most residents start racing home for fear of their lives. So the people truly desire peace.

NCAA Threatens to Degrade Airports (This Day)

The Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren has said the authority will degrade any airport that does not meet certain requirements, noting that some of the airports suffer from infrastructural decay and may not be cleared for certification until they are rehabilitated.

Demuren who addressed journalists at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos at the weekend said that the five international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Calabar must meet international standards before they will be cleared for International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) certification, which will take place in September.

He decried the lack of basic facilities in some of the airports and regretted that the Nigeria Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is saddled with too many airports and therefore face daunting challenge to maintain them.

"NCAA will degrade the airports that did not meet the expected standard. FAAN is saddled with so many airports. We cannot accept such decay in our airports. They must meet certain standards so that they will serve the Nigerian public effectively. We must not compromise standards."

On the issue of safety, Demuren said that bad weather was involved in all the accidents that had taken place in Nigeria and cautioned that pilots must wait for bad weather to clear before they operate their flight.

He noted that Nigeria and other countries in Africa are located around tropical revolving thunderstorm, adding that the Gulf of Guinea where Nigeria is located is very stormy.

The NCAA boss disclosed that as part of updating both operators and passengers, weather information will soon be made available at arrival halls of Nigerian airports, stressing that the problem of weather is all over the world.

"All accidents that took place in Nigeria happened in bad weather. Pilots must wait for bad weather to clear before they operate. Nigeria is located in the area of tropical thunderstorm in the gulf of Guinea, but very soon we will begin to show weather reports in arrival halls of the airports."

Demuren revealed that Nigeria has been making progress in the aviation sector, stating that the country must become category 1 compliant so that Nigerians who wish to travel to United States must not go through Europe before going to America but take a direct flight to US.

He said that if the country becomes category 1 compliant it is Nigerian carriers that will benefit because they can now fly to US, which is a very lucrative route.

Besides, the category 1 certification will declare Nigeria's airspace safe and this will boost the nation's economy, noting that within three weeks America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will reply NCAA with its report, which will prompt the authority to start a programme for a more comprehensive assessment by FAA.

The Director-General also noted that it was because the country passed the ICAO audit opened opportunity for Nigerians carriers through the Cape Town Convention and could lease modern aircraft which have boosted the airlines fleet, that in the major routes of Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt one could only see modern aircraft, unlike in the past when old airplanes dotted the nation's skyline.

"About 18 months ago we lost the confidence of the flying public after the two accidents. Nigeria must be category 1 compliant. Things have changed since now. We have relatively new aircraft. We have safe tower project and Nigeria stands a better chance today for investors to come in and do business."

Collapsed Lagos - Badagry Road Causing Strife (Vanguard)

THE collapse of the Lagos -Badagry Expressway has crippled economic activities of many Nigerians who ply the route to their business areas as man-hours are lost endlessly in traffic. The development is provoking angst as it is drawing flakes of both Nigerians and non-Nigerians. Daily, commuters are held in grueling traffic almost endlessly, mainly due to potholes and craters which have since combined to reduce the road to a death trap, forcing vehicles to snarl, while valuable time is lost. On both sides of the road, Sunday Vanguard could count 115 pot holes and 15 craters, between Mile 2 and Okokomaiko.

The points where the holes are common place are First Gate, Agboju, Oluti, Alakija, Mazamaza, Mile 2, Abule Ado, Under Bridge (Trade Fair), Volks, Iyana Iba and Okokomaiko. Added to the woe of commuters on this route is activities of the men of the underworld, who take advantage of the ugly situation and unleash terror. The traffic caused by the collapsed road is being compounded by flood since the rain started .

Consequently, the profile of victims of robbers on the route has been rising. The situation, Sunday Vanguard Business checks reveal, is already taking its toll on trade between Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries, because the route is the major link Nigeria has with these countries like Ghana, Togo, Benin Republic. Following collapsed sections of the road, operators of transport service and traders from Lagos to other cities on the West Coast spend hours from Lagos to Badagry and Seme border for a journey that should not take more than one our.

As a result, transport operators have jerked up their fares, even as the road users count their loses. Our reporters observed last week, many of the commercial transport operators on the Nigeria, Cotonu (Benin Republic) and other West coast route from their base in Mile 2, in Lagos under the aegis of International Transport Association identifying primarily, bad road networks, as one of the major obstacles impeding free flow of traffic. Chairman of the international transport union, Alhaji Abdelrahem Jimoh, who spoke to our reporter, at their Mile 2 garage lamented seriously the effect of the bad road on the Nigerian economy in terms of loses.

Jimoh said that in addition, this ugly situation and adverse negative effect it has brought the nation’s economy, a journey which ought to have taken a passenger less than two hours now takes about four hours. Speaking further, he blamed the governments for not taken their responsibilities serious, quarrying that all the big talks about developing trans boarder working transport system only ends in government papers without actions .

He noted that if the present government is serious in this matter, it must immediately play its role by ensuring that as from today the issue of this international roads will be addressed and made motor able, as this will not only increase business among Nigerians and other people, but it will also help in saving the lives and properties of innocent citizens from further loss of lives to this bad road

“Can you imagine the number of innocent people who have lost their lives on this road, why we are saying this is that it is a problem that cannot be swept aside. Another thing is that sometimes robbers exploit this situation to unleash terror on transporters and passengers. Because we cannot say who will be the next victim, either you or me. Please our urgent call is to tell the present government as transporters to help Nigerians and people of other West African nations in putting this road well. It will help all of us, but above all, it will also help boost the Nigerian economy which all of us are working for.”

Nigeria Security Update #1 280707

Speaker's 70-year-old Mother Still Being Held (Daily Champion)

The whereabouts of Mrs Hansel Seibaragu, mother of the Speaker, Bayelsa state House of Assembly, kidnapped Wednesday by yet-to-be- identified gun men at Akaibiri in Epketiama, Yenagoa local government area, is still unknown 48 hours after the incident.

Meanwhile, investigations by Daily Champion revealed that the family of the speaker, Hon. Werinipre Seibaragu, has relocated from their Yenagoa residence to an unknown area for security reasons.

This is as some youths sympathetic to the plight of the speaker have headed for Ekuluoma in Southern Ijaw local government area, where it is alleged that Madam Hansel is being held hostage by her captors to possibly secure their release.

Also, economic activities have been paralyzed in the entire Akaibiri community, following the abduction of the 70-year-old Madam Seibaragu, just as a close security source said the family of the speaker may have gone into hiding.

But when contacted on telephone, special assistant to the speaker on media, Mr. Jonah Okah, said he was not aware of such development, but stated that, "well for somebody of his status the provision of security would not be out of place especially in the present circumstances," but added that the family is working with the security agencies to ensure the release of the speaker's mother.

Okah, however said his boss who had traveled to South Africa along with some principal officers of the assembly for a parliamentary conference, is due back in Yenagoa, the state capital today.

On the whereabouts of the speaker's wife, Okah said, Mrs. Seibarugu had just been delivered of a baby, and should be left out of the current travails. He, however expressed optimism that the old woman would be released soon, saying she is innocent and had not done anything to deserve what she is presently passing through.

The state police spokesman, Mr. Iniobong Ikpokette in a telephone chat with Daily Champion said the command was yet to trace the whereabouts of madam Seibarugu, but noted that one of the suspects arrested in connection with the kidnap was making useful statements to the command. He, however, revealed that all security outfits in the state have spread their dragnet to track down the kidnappers.

Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayesla State who only yesterday sent his words of consolation to the speaker, had travelled to Abuja.

Kidnappers Now Targeting Nigerians (News 24)

More reports are emerging of kidnapping rings targeting wealthy Nigerians - perhaps because foreign oil workers are getting harder to snatch.

The children of five prominent families had been seized in southern Rivers State in the past two months; a powerful politician in nearby Delta state was kidnapped and beheaded over the weekend; and gunmen seized the mother of a local official in Bayelsa State on Tuesday.

Kidnappings in Nigeria's south - which was rich in oil, but underdeveloped - first began after impoverished communities took oil workers hostage to protest pollution or failed development projects. Now, criminal gangs had moved in, and kidnappings were on the increase.

Damke Pueba, an activist with civil society group, Stakeholders Democracy Network, said: "No one feels safe anymore. This last year has really been the worst."

New gang members get incentives

Pueba added: "There are lots of groups that you can hire to settle scores with anyone...almost all of them are backed by one corrupt politician or another."

Pointing to a recent scheme announced by the state government to reward gang members who renounced their membership with cash, Pueba said, "that is just an incentive for people to join the gangs".

State officials were not available for comment on the plan.

A Nigeria-based analyst with private security company, Armorgroup, said that the payment of ransoms, relatively low arrest rate and the relocation of many foreign oil workers might also be encouraging kidnappers to turn to Nigerian victims.

He said it was impossible to track kidnappings of Nigerians without reliable statistics, but as oil companies restricted staff movements, more reports of kidnapped Nigerians who were not associated with oil companies were surfacing in local papers and in security circles.

Port Harcourt 'Nigeria's biggest oil city'

He said: "As expatriate targets get harder or rarer, criminals will have to look elsewhere if they want to carry out kidnappings ... anybody with wealth is a target."

Foreign workers in the Delta typically travelled in armed convoys, lived and worked in floodlit compounds protected by high walls and barbed wire, and were forbidden to go out after dark.

Residents of Nigeria's biggest oil city, Port Harcourt, had dubbed the heavily guarded compounds "the Green Zone", a wry reference to the Baghdad area that was home to the United States embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters, an island of relative - and heavily guarded - calm in Iraq's chaos.

Nigeria is Africa's largest crude producer and an important supplier to world markets. But the oil wealth has been stolen or squandered by the country's leaders.

More than 250 foreigners had been seized in the oil-rich south in the last 20 months, and an unknown number of Nigerians.

Amid accusations that government officials took a cut of ransoms they helped negotiate, some kidnap victims preferred not to report incidents to the authorities.

Shell Donates Boats to Bayelsa Community (The Tide)

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has donated three 12-seat speed boats to Fantua Community in Bayelsa.

The company’s Area B Community Interface Coordinator, Mr Suoton Amade, said during the handover Ceremony in Port Harcourt that the donation was to enable the community to start a commercial water transport scheme.

Amade said that the scheme, if properly handled, would employ 19 members of the Fantua community and positively affect their lives.

He explained that SPDC had already held business literacy and technical skills training for those who would handle the scheme.

He called on the community leaders; to ensure judicious use of the boats.

The coordinator noted that the three boats were built by an indigenous boat company, Epenal Boat Builders Ltd., at a total cost of N11.5 million.

The boats were given to the community with a spare 75 horse power engine and complete safety kits and N100,000 as initial working capital.

The community was also given N60,000 to transport the boats home.

Responding, Chairman of Fantua Community Development Committee, Ogbomo Allen thanked Shell for the gesture.

He expressed the community’s readiness to effectively utilise the boats.

Nigerian Navy Officers Booted for Bunkering Oil (Reuters)

Nigeria's navy has retired 10 officers, including a rear admiral, because of evidence they were involved in smuggling stolen crude oil, the chief of navy staff was reported as saying by the official news agency.

Nigeria is the world's eighth biggest exporter of crude oil but a sizeable proportion of its output is stolen by thieves who either drill into pipelines or hijack barges loaded with oil. The theft and smuggling of oil are known as "bunkering".

Industry experts say much of the violence that plagues the oil-producing Niger Delta is connected to bunkering.

Armed gangs fight turf wars over bunkering territory, they say, while corrupt government officials and members of the security forces protect the gangs in exchange for a cut of the profits. Proceeds from bunkering fuel crime and militancy.

It is rare for the Nigerian armed forces to recognise that any of their own are involved, however, or to comment on the problem.

"They (the navy officers) were involved in oil bunkering," Chief of Navy Staff Ganiyu Adeyeye was quoted as saying by the News Agency of Nigeria late on Thursday.

He was answering questions from a House of Representatives committee investigating the retirement of a rear admiral and nine other officers. He said the navy had "formal intelligence reports" against them.

Proceeds from bunkering are a major source of funding for militants in the Niger Delta who often killed naval ratings and officers, Adeyeye said in his presentation.

The Niger Delta has become increasingly anarchic since early 2006, when militants alleging neglect by successive governments launched a wave of attacks on the oil industry and kidnappings of oil workers to press for local control of oil revenues.

The violence spiralled out of control as bunkerers, armed robbers and ransom seekers all sought to take advantage of the breakdown in law and order. More than 200 foreigners have been abducted, mostly for money, and thousands of others have fled the region.

Nigeria's oil output is down by about 20 percent because of the violence.

Exxon Mobil Profits Slip (Washington Post)

Exxon Mobil profit slipped about 1 percent in the second quarter, disappointing analysts as higher exploration and production costs, and lower oil and gas production offset big earnings in the refining and marketing end of the business.

Though the $10.26 billion in profit was the fourth-largest quarterly profit for a public company in U.S. history, Exxon's stock fell $4.56 a share, or 4.9 percent, to $88.23 a share. The company's shares are still up 15 percent this year. Earnings per share were $1.83, up from $1.72, after $7 billion in share buybacks, but earnings fell short of analysts' estimates.

Revenue was $98.35 billion, down from $99.03 billion.

"Exxon obviously was a big disappointment because they spoiled us" with consistent profit gains, said Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Sons. He compared the company to New York Yankees star third baseman Alex Rodriguez. "When A-Rod strikes out, people say, 'My God' in disappointment because he's hitting a home run every other time," Gheit said.

Exxon's results capped a week of big profits reported by most of the world's largest oil companies. Thanks to a series of refinery fires, breakdowns and maintenance shutdowns, combined with low industry inventories of refined products, profit margins in the refining and marketing end of the business soared. Though U.S. refining output at Exxon dropped by 128,000 barrels a day, compared with the second quarter of 2006, refining and marketing profit jumped 37 percent. Refining and marketing profit also rose 42 percent at Royal Dutch Shell Group and 38 percent at ConocoPhillips Co.

The quarterly reports also showed signs that the industry faces spiraling costs and political problems getting access to oil prospects as existing fields gradually decline.

ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that it took a $4.5 billion write-off in the second quarter for Venezuelan operations taken over by the Caracas government. Exxon said that its output in West Africa was trimmed 9 percent because of quotas from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. And Royal Dutch Shell, which gave in to pressure to sell half its stake in a Sakhalin Island oil project to Russia's Gazprom last quarter, said that 195,000 barrels a day of its Niger delta oil production has been curtailed because of insurgent attacks.

This comes amid gradual declines in output from aging fields. For example, Conoco's production for the quarter averaged 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 2.1 million. The company blamed the decrease on normal field declines, planned maintenance in the North SeaDubai. Its exit from Venezuela will cut production further in the third quarter, the company said. and its decision to leave

Companies are turning to new ways to keep production up. Royal Dutch Shell said that it managed to limit its production decline to 2.3 percent thanks to unconventional projects such as oil sands in Canada and a gas-to-liquids venture in Qatar.

Exxon said that it would explore for oil in Madagascar and New Zealand, not usually considered among the world's best prospects. It also said yesterday that it had drilled the longest well ever, more than seven miles, to reach a subsea oil field on Russia's Pacific coast.

Royal Dutch Shell Chairman Jeroen van der Veer yesterday would not rule out a natural gas development project in Iran, despite pressure from the U.S. government for European firms to help isolate the Tehran regime. He said that the company would "take political considerations into account," but that it was still studying how to follow up on a tentative agreement it reached with Iran last year.

Gheit said that the big oil companies would have trouble matching the second-quarter results. He noted that in the past four weeks, profit margins at refineries had plunged about 50 percent. But production earnings should remain high thanks to high oil prices. The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange neared an 11-month high before dropping to $74.95 a barrel yesterday.