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 240707

Telephone Scheme Targets Expats & Wealthy (U.S. Consulate - Lagos)

This Warden Message is being issued to inform American citizens of a relatively new scheme to defraud members of the public. This scheme appears to target the middle and upper classes of Nigerian society, as well as the expatriate community. It capitalizes on individual fears and perceptions with respect to the present security situation in Nigeria.

How it Works:

· A potential target receives a phone call or text message on his/her mobile phone saying that the caller/sender and his gang have been paid to kill the target or a member of his/her family.

· The person is told he/she is receiving the warning because he/she is a nice person and the caller does not want to kill him/her.

· The potential scam victim is then advised either to drop off a set amount of money in cash at a pre-designated spot, or to deposit the money in a bank account, or to send recharge cards of the same amount to a mobile number. The scammer will tell the potential target that his/her safety cannot be guaranteed if he/she does not pay as directed.

· The individual is warned never to report this to the police, as his/her movements are being monitored by a member of the gang.

In the event that you receive this type of call/message, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria recommends that you take the following actions:

· Remain calm;

· Attempt to gain as much information as you can about the caller; and

· Immediately report the call to the Nigerian police.

Anyone receiving such a threat via an e-mail is advised to contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov/. For more information about this and other financial scams, please read the U.S. State Department's "International Financial Scams" brochure which may be found at

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/financial_scams/financial_scams_3155.html.

We continue to advise all Americans to review their security procedures, remain vigilant to their surroundings, and report specific incidences of targeted violence to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja or the U. S. Consulate General in Lagos at the numbers below.

For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs internet website at

http://travel.state.gov/, where the current Worldwide Caution, Public Announcements, and

Travel Warnings can be found. Up to date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays.)

U.S. Embassy Abuja is located at Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive, Central Business District, Abuja; the telephone number is 09-461-4000. E-Mail: ConsularAbuja@state.gov

The U.S. Consulate Lagos is located at 2 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos; the telephone number is 01-261-1215. For after-hours emergencies, call 011 [234] (1) 261-1414, 261-0195, 261-0078, 261-0139, or 261-6477. E-Mail: lagoscons2@state.gov

Website: http://nigeria.usembassy.gov



Rivers Commissioner Target of Assassination (This Day)

A few hours after Governor Celestine Omehia swore in 23 Commissioners to form his cabinet, one of them, Mr. Billy Braide Eldre, who is the Commissioner for Energy, has escaped assasination.

According to the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, an unidentified man celebrating his appointment with the family at the commissioner's home in Diobu, Port Harcourt was shot dead in the bid.

"He was celebrating with his friends in his Diobu residence when the gunmen arrived apparently to assasinate him. They started shooting and in the process killed a man who came to celebrate with him", Ogbaudu explained.

He said the gunmen retreated immediately after their bid to kill Eldre failed and escaped before the police from Diobu Station could arrive at the scene.
He told THISDAY that the Commissioner was not hurt in the incident but did not say where he has been kept to ensure that those who made the attempt on his life do not come back.

It was not clear how many people were wounded in the attack as the gunmen were said to have sprayed the compound with bullets during the attack.

Meanwhile, Governor Omehia has attributed the four-hour delay of the inauguration of the state cabinet to what he described as “damning security reports” against some of the nominees.

At least, two of the Commissioner nominees screened were not sworn but details of those affected were not available as Omehia did not elaborate on the issue which he mentioned in passing during the swearing in ceremony.



Kidnapping Threats Continue (Vanguard)

THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND declared, yesterday, that there would be no immediate end to hostage taking in the Niger Delta region unless the Federal Government was prepared to wipe out corrupt practices.

It also vowed to check the abuse of hostage taking in the region.
MEND also counseled the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua not to be deceived by calls in some quarters for the creation of a Niger Delta Ministry which, according to MEND, would just be another bureaucratic waste pipe.
These and some other issues were raised in a statement issued by MEND through an e-mail to media houses yesterday.

The statement, in an interview format: The government under President Yar’Adua and Vice President Yar’Adua has made it clear that they would treat the Niger Delta as high priority. What does your group think about this? Will you be willing to work closely with the government towards resolving the current unrest in the Niger Delta?

“We have repeatedly sounded out that we will work closely with emerging realities and evolving processes. We demanded the release of Dokubo-Asari as a pre-requisite for the beginning of any negotiation with the Nigerian state which have for decades subjected our people to untold measures of neglect, oppression and marginalisation. We did not and have never said that the release of Dokubo-Asari would mean an end to agitations for the liberation and emancipation of our people.

So far, not good enough. However said, we are waiting in grim impatience. The future and whatever it brings will tell if we are satisfied or not.
Recently an Ijaw group presented a list of demands to President Yar’Adua. Do these demands represent what your men require to declare a complete truce with the Nigerian government?

Any Ijaw man with access to Aso Rock has the right to present any demand to Yar’Adua. There is nothing wrong with that. However, they are laid down structures of leadership in Ijaw land and we will never be party to any attempt by anyone to undermine the integrity and capability of any Ijaw organisation.

Anyway, we believe that the leadership of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) are in a better position to comment on this. They are educated enough to articulate the position of the Ijaw ethnic nationality. The INC is headed by a Professor and has a secretary who has a Ph.D.

You may wish to contact them as to the veracity of this claim.
The government and multinational oil corporations agree that the Niger Delta has truly been neglected for very long now. Some schools of thought believe that the creation of a Ministry of Niger Delta will speed up development in the Niger Delta. What is your view on this?
The cursed agitation for the creation of a Ministry of Niger Delta is the handiwork of a ‘fifth columnist’ group within the Ijaw and Niger Delta territory made up of disgruntled politicians, demented elites and position seekers.

Their strategic objection is the deliberately stall development in the Niger Delta by demanding for a bureaucracy prone ministry of the Niger Delta when there are already interventionist agencies such as the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority and more recently the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

If the government of the Nigerian state is sincere about its professed intention to give priority attention to the Niger Delta, then it must duly empower these existing agencies and interventionist institutions to effectively carry out their assigned mandates. This includes ensuring that all the resources required by the Niger Delta Development Commission to fully roll out its Master Plan is made available to it.

The government can then set up a compliance monitoring structure to monitor and ensure that the Commission is meeting up agreed milestones as stated in the Master Plan.

N2 Billion Earmarked to Combat Street Crime (Vanguard)

THE Lagos State government has approved N2 billion for the immediate expansion, re-organisation, re-kiting and re-motivation of the police anti robbery outfit in the state -- the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) -- as part of new strategy to protect life and property in the state.

A separate N256 million was approved for the procurement of Science and Introductory Technology equipment for 40 public secondary schools across the state.

In effect, 231 new Toyota Hillux vehicles are to be procured to effectively cover the 34 new sectors and 211 new RRS points throughout the state into which the squad has been re-structured. Besides, all officers and men of the RRS are to be provided with comprehensive insurance cover, improved special duty allowances and new sets of uniform while a new ultra-modern communication system to link all police formations in the state is to be installed.

Other measures taken by the state government so far to improve the security situation in the state include the setting up of a high-powered State Security Advisory Committee with representatives of all arms of the security community and other critical stakeholders as members; re-introduction of joint military-police patrol of the state set to take off soon; intensification of patrol of black spots by the state police command with hundreds of criminals arrested in the last few weeks and renewed clampdown on area boys and other undesirable elements by the State Task Force on Environmental and Miscellaneous Offences.

n the education sector, 15 Senior Secondary Schools are to receive science equipment worth N152.2 million, while 25 Junior Secondary Schools will be supplied with Intro-Tech equipment valued at over N103 million.

The state Task Force on the Rehabilitation of Public Schools has since 2004 spent approximately N6 billion on the provision of additional 4,000 new classrooms in 320 public schools across the state including emergency repairs, provision of roofs, school walls, drainages as well as laboratory and classroom furniture in another batch of 256 schools.

Other issues deliberated by the State Executive Council include radical solution to the problem of protracted traffic jam; the planned massive greening of Lagos metropolis and modalities for the institution of a sustainable Lagos State micro-finance initiative for the entrepreneurial poor as a major poverty alleviation initiative.

Nigeria Security Update #1 190707

Lagos BRT - Disaster in the Making? (This Day)

Since the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) started creating another traffic lane for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) between Mile 12 to CMS, commuters have not been finding it easy on the Lagos-Ikorodu road which was constructed over 30 years ago.

However, the roads when completed will rely on the use of dedicated 'interference' free segregated lanes to guarantee fast and reliable bus travel times. Though apart from the BRT, there are other major components the Lagos Urban Transport Project (LUTP) is concerned with, which will be implemented with $100 million credit from the World Bank.

These include, institutional strengthening and capacity building; urban road network efficiency improvement, bus services enhancement, water and non-motorised transport promotion and rail mass rapid transit. The BRT, which is said to be a good idea if there is good design for it right from the scratch, however has been widely criticised. The on-going project has been given a poor mark by many as a result of increased road accident, especially along the Ikorodu road, where the first phase of the BRT project has started.

On the other hand, traffic congestion, incessant breakdown of vehicles either as a result of over-heating and other mechanical problems equally compounds the situation on the ever busy road. Speaking on the project, Prof. Oluwole Adegbenro, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos (UNILAG), said that it doesn't require one to be an engineer or a professional to know the implications of demarcating the roads.

He said, "It is obvious that when you design a road there are many things that are taken into account. The road carrying capacity and the traffic size that it has been designed for. So when all of that has been done and the road has been put in place then you now want to modify it, you have to go back to the drawing board to address some issues about the implications of the new modification and its consequence.

"For instance, if I have a building that was not originally planned to carry another building on top, and somebody is tempted to put another building up there. Definitely it will create a lot of problems. There could be structural failures. So you can't do that kind of thing. You must go back to re-design and make sure that what you are going to modify can adequately cope. If it can't cope, then you have to do additional work".

Essentially, he said what the operators of the BRT could have done, is to build additional roads either underneath or on top to take care of the new innovation. "You cannot just put a new innovation into an old system. I mean it will cause a lot of chaos. We have seen part of it already", Adegbenro emphasised. But at the back of his mind, he said it takes many years to build such new system that will accommodate the new design.

Prof. Sulaiman Owolabi Talabi, Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering, also of Unilag, said the demarcating of the roads was un-called for as the project has compounded traffic in an already worsened situation in Lagos. Instead of building the calve or demarcation, he said all the operators of the BRT could have done is to put double yellow line and then test-run the project the way they envisioned and allow the people to see the outcome.

"You see with this curve they are laying right now, am suspicious that it is not going to work. Even danfos and molues will possibly use the BRT lanes when their vehicles break down because one cannot afford to stay in-between because they are not more lanes remaining", he said.

He said the construction is already affecting the economy because a lot of man hour is spent on the road as a result of heavy traffic. With the two service lanes left for other buses and other road users it is obvious that it will be inadequate to accommodate them, he argued.

"I believe they did not do a lot of feasibility studies and I also believe that the BRT road is too narrow for the vehicles they want to put there. And I am sure that within six months the vehicles will have dents and which may be affecting their tyres", Talabi told THISDAY.

Talabi suggested that the project should be suspended, while they try a pilot scheme for about six months and get some ideas. For Adengbenro, the BRT project will not stand the test of time because vehicle traffic on the road will always be on the increase despite the new transport system.

"By putting barriers may not even stop other road users using the BRT road, because circumstances may arise that will demand the use of the road either by force or pressure from commuters. Also there are other areas where BRT will not cover. So when you get there, what do you do.

"The solutions government is trying to proffer, hopefully will work but by and large, they are reasons to believe that it will not work. Scientifically and technologically, it is not going to work. It will lead us to nowhere and later we will start thinking of the right thing to do", Adegbenro said.

However, despite criticism trailing the BRT project, LAMATA's Managing Director, Mr. Dayo Mobereola, insisted on telling people the core benefits of the BRT buses. The buses which is expected to run on separate lanes he explained, will make buses run faster in a situation where there is traffic congestion. Also, there will be a stable fare which will not be subject to adhoc increase.

According to LAMATA's view, Ikorodu road is no longer an expressway which it was when it was constructed earlier. It has now been categorised as an urban route which has brought the need for users to maintain low speed limit. On what sounds as experts view, Mobereola suggested that if all motorists drive sensibly, observe road signs and care for other road users, traffic will flow on Ikorodu road at a speed commensurate with urban function of the road.

BRT, according to him is not a new trend in the world as many countries have adopted the innovation as a means of reducing traffic congestions. Countries like Hong Kong, Mexico, Kuala Lumber and Bangkok have similar projects with different capital cost and capacity.

To support his argument on why Lagos deserve the BRT as soon as possible, he said that the population of Lagos State has risen to about 15 to 17 million people, with about six million passenger trip per day. Also, that there are 224 vehicles/km on national average, two to three hour journey time during peak periods and finally, that Lagos record about 75,000 danfo/molue in un-regulated operations.

Though Lagos State Government in 2003 set up LAMATA to plan, regulate and develop public transport infrastructure in Lagos, however they are still faced with challenges. These include, absence of articulated and adopted policy and strategic framework for the transport sector; too many agencies responsible for transport provision and services in Lagos, leading to jurisdictional confusion; poor enforcement of traffic regulations and absence of standard procedures for technical and economic evaluation of programmes and projects.

Others are congestion; too many drivers and owners transport operators; undisciplined behaviour of drivers; swinging changes in fare levels; lack of modern transport infrastructure; poor road condition and inadequacy of funds. Nonetheless, Mobereola said that BRT will be characterised by use of segregated lanes, closed stations, use of comfortable and high capacity vehicles. Others are frequent services on every one to two minutes, pre-board ticket purchase and inspection and use of intelligent transport system.

As things appear presently, it expected that commuters plying the Ikorodu road will soon heave a sigh of relieve going by what the Technical Advisor, Public Transport and Traffic Management, Mr. Gbenga Dairo said. He revealed that operations on the Mile 12 to CMS road will commence on August with 180 high capacity buses. For now, the buses will be operated by LAGBUS and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) with hours of operation between 6 to 10 pm daily.

On the fears entertained by the public on the BRT road, Dairo promised that they have been taken care of. For instance, when completed, well trained and equipped security personal will be attached to each bus shelter stations, while LASTMA's role on traffic management will increase. To further ensure there is proper flow of traffic, BRT will also provide monitoring team to complement the operation of other traffic agencies.

In addition to that, Dairo explained that LAMATA has a franchise agreement to ensure that buses comply with the new regulation to guide transportation in Lagos metropolis. Not only on the roads, he said on-street parking, side-street trading and less speed limit will be monitored. At nights, he promised that there will be provision of lightings that will aid driving at such a period.

Adegbenro is not impressed by the LAMATA operators' explanation. He said when something of such nature is to be done, what the operators should do is to take views from all manners of people and carry everybody along. He said such sampling of opinions will either reveal whether such a project will work or not.

"If BRT really want to do a good job, it is not what they would rush into. What feasibility studies have they done to know the implication of what they are doing. Have they involved people from engineering, designers, planners and even people in population control on how to reduce the population of certain areas so that the pressure will not be much on the those roads.

"But even if they have done that, did they subject it to a reasonable time frame to know whether it will work or not. Probabaly people are saying that it is political anyway. But am not sure that the people they are designing it for will enjoy the benefits. At the end of the day, I will be pessimistic not because of any other reason than a thorough job ought to have been done. Even the implementation strategy has to be worked out so that it doesn't encroach on the existing roads", Adegbenro said.

Nearly 54 Million Nigerians Go to Bed Hungry (This Day)

Reports have revealed that 53.6 million Nigerians, or nearly one-third of the nation's 140 citizens, go to bed hungry every night. Also in Sub-Sahara Africa, 31 million people allegedly go to bed hungry every night, while around 854 million people across the world undergo the same hunger process.

Above worrisome statistics formed part of the reason why a campaign against hunger was launched last week in Nigeria.

The campaign, titled 'Hunger-Free Campaign' was kicked off by ActionAid Nigeria, in conjunction with some other civil society organisations.

The event which held in Abuja was witnessed by a crowd made up of the nation's labour movement, members of international and national non-governmental organisations and youth activists.

Speaking at the rally held at the Old Parade Ground, Area 11, Abuja, ActionAid Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Otive Igbuzor explained that hunger is a very painful experience.

In a statement issued by Mr. Tunde Aremu of ActionAid, the rights group leader said, "hunger is a very painful experience, especially when you are hungry not because you are fasting, when you are hungry not because you are too busy to eat, but you are hungry because you have nothing to eat".

At an event which was reportedly marred by violence and alleged harassment by some task force officials, Igbuzor, quoting from statistics from the Nigeria's official Bureau of Statistics, said "53.6 million Nigerians go to bed hungry every night. This translates to one in every three Nigerians going to bed hungry".

"It is outrageous that in this world we live in now, where we have enormous resources, where we have enormous technology that can feed the entire world, we have 854 million people across the world going to bed hungry every night. We are saying this is un-acceptable. In Sub-Sahara Africa, we have 31 million people going to bed hungry every night", he disclosed.

According to him, "this situation is unacceptable in a country that is the sixth largest exporter of crude oil in the world. This is a country that has enormous human and material resources".

The ActionAid Nigeria chieftain reiterated the commitment of his organisation, her partners, the United Nations agencies, Nigeria central labour movement, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Union of Teachers, National Council of Women Societies, the Federal Capital Territory (F.C.T.) rural communities and poor people in the country to fighting to end poverty.

Other speakers at the campaign launch include, labour activists, representatives of the rural communities around the FCT, some representatives of women groups and youths.

The Hunger-Free campaign reportedly moved in a convoy through the main street of Abuja to create awareness on the issue of hunger, which is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expected to be successfully tackled by 2015.

To express support for the campaign, popular Nigerian actress and minority rights activist, Hilda Dokubo has also called for a hunger-free Nigeria.

The actress who spoke at a global youth campaign against hunger (Activista) held at the University of Jos, North Central Nigeria, told a crowd of students, youth activists and other performing artistes that they all need to come together to fight hunger in the oil rich nation.

Dokubo said "I do not know how you woke up this morning, but I know how over 30 million children did not sleep at all. I do not know if you have had some meals today, but I know how seven out of every ten children in my area of this country do not eat". The actress, who has been engaged in development works especially in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, gave a graphic detail of the situation of poverty and hunger in the area, where she hails from.

Hilda Dokubo, a very famous actress in the Nigerian film industry, said, "seven out of ten children do not go to school. Whereas, 67 per cent of children elsewhere go to school, 70 per cent of children in my area do not go to school. The hospitals are simply inaccessible. Our roads are more of death traps".

Also, Obo Effanga of ActionAid Nigeria and Coordinator of Activista in Nigeria explained that "Activista is a global youth movement campaigning in ten countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America against hunger".

According to him, the movement is an initiative of ActionAid International to raise the awareness of youths all over the world to the realities of hunger; as well a way of raising the consciousness of the youths globally to the cause and effect of hunger.

"We want to tell the whole world that there is so much hunger in the world today. We are hungry and we are angry. This situation is unacceptable," Effanga said.

Port Harcourt Refinery Sale in Question (Vanguard)

BLUESTAR Consortium, comprising the business interest of Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Mr. Femi Otedola, has pulled out of its purchase of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt Refineries, belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The implication is that Nigerians may have to contend with the problems associated with imported petroleum products for much longer.

The consortium is also demanding the refund of the of $721 million (about N92.288 billion) it paid for 51 per cent equity interest in both refineries, from the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE).

The consortium had emerged the preferred bidder in a competitive exercise which saw them submit a bid of $150 million for 51 per cent equity in the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) and $561 million for 51 per cent equity in the Port Harcourt Refining Company.

The remaining 49 per cent was to remain in the control of the NNPC on behalf of the Federal Government.

Vanguard gathered that Bluestar served notice of its decision to discontinue the transaction in a July 17, 2007 letter to the BPE, citing untoward criticisms of its move to acquire controlling interest in the refineries.

In the last nationwide strike called by organised Labour to protest hike in fuel prices and VAT, the sale of the refineries was tabled as one of the issues in contention.

The NNPC had in a submission before the Senate ad-hoc Committee probing the sale of the refineries stated that it was not carried along in the transactions leading to the sale and that it could run the plants efficiently and make it operate at 90 per cent installed capacity if given the opportunity.

However, Bluestar Consortium, in its letter to the BPE, noted that since the NNPC claimed it could run the refineries efficiently, a period of 12 months be given to the corporation to make good its claim.

Similarly, militants in the Niger Delta had in a statement decried the circumstances surrounding the sale of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, pointing out that they would rather blow it up than have it run by “strange elements.”

An official of Bluestar who did not want his name in print said the consortium felt it was doing the country a favour when it made the bid for the refineries, adding that it is cheaper to build a new refinery than “purchase only 51 per cent controlling interest at such exorbitant cost and spend so much more to revamp the units.”

The official decried the new position of the NNPC before the Senate ad-hoc committee, noting that Alhaji Abubakar Yar’Adua, the corporation’s Executive Director in charge of Refining and Petrochemicals, participated all the way in negotiations with the BPE.

“We were motivated by patriotism and nothing more. Why is it so difficult for people to see this? We had even planned to list the refineries on the Capital Market as a way of giving part of it back to the Nigerian people,” he said.

Contacted, Mr. Joe Anichebe, spokesman for the BPE, said he was not aware of any move by Bluestar Consortium to withdraw from the process and promised to call as soon as there was a new development.

Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, Group General Manager in charge of Group Public Affairs at the NNPC, reacting to questions on the development said the corporation had made a presentation before the Senate ad-hoc Committee looking into the transaction.

He said since the committee was yet to conclude its work, he could not comment further on other developments.

Also speaking on the development, an official of the Ministry of Energy, who pleaded anonymity, decried what he described as double speak on the part of the corporation, adding that petroleum products imports may not cease in the immediate or medium term.

Militants Present Cease-Fire Terms (Vanguard)

Niger Delta militants will today propose four terms including the release of former Governor Diepereye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State and a general amnesty for a general cease- fire in their quest for self determination.

The terms of the cease-fire will be conveyed by Asari Dokubo, leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteers Force (NDPVF) during a scheduled meeting between a delegation of the militant groups and President Umaru Yar‘Adua in Abuja.

Senator David Brigidi chairman of the Federal Government instituted Niger Delta Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee confirmed the terms as laid down by the militant groups from his preliminary contacts with the groups.

Besides the release of Chief Alamieyeseigha, the militant groups are also asking the federal authorities to create the enabling environment that will allow the leaders of the militant groups to unmask themselves and appear in Abuja for the negotiations.

“They just want some preliminary conditions to be met so that they could create a ceasefire for the dialogue to take place. Our duty is to put the ceasefire in place so that the leaders, opinion moulders and delegations from the ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta will be able to come to Abuja and discuss,’’ Senator Brigidi who was picked by the Federal Government to broker the talks with the militant groups told Vanguard.

Nigeria Security Update #1 180707

Shell Pipelines on Fire

An oil pipeline feeding Shell's Bonny export terminal in southern Nigeria is burning in six separate places but there is no impact on production, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

Precious Okolobo said Shell became aware of the fires on the Trans-Niger pipeline in early June and had been negotiating with local communities in the Ogoni area of the Niger Delta to try and gain access to the sites.

"We have been denied access. We are deeply concerned about this situation and we are asking for access so that we can go in and fight these fires," Okolobo said.

"Production has been continuing but a little bit of oil has been pouring out from the six holes that have been drilled in the pipeline and burning off," he said.

Local rights group the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) called for the closure of the pipeline, which had been attacked twice in May by protesters in the same area, forcing Shell to halt up to 170,000 barrels per day.

MOSOP said the pipeline fires were started by local youths angry with the company over what they said were unfulfilled promises of jobs and benefits. Such disputes between communities and oil companies are common in the impoverished Niger Delta.

Oil production from Nigeria, the world's eighth-biggest exporter, has been reduced since February 2006 because of militant attacks on the industry in the lawless delta. The shortfall now stands at 547,000 barrels per day or 18 percent of Nigerian output capacity.

Attacks on oil facilities are just one facet of violence in the delta, where a dearth of jobs and basic public services fuel crime and militancy. At least 11 foreign workers are being held hostage by various delta armed groups.

HISTORY OF PROTESTS

Shell suspended production in Ogoni 14 years ago because of popular protests over pollution and lack of development, but the area is still criss-crossed by pipelines and many residents are still aggrieved about oil spills and what they see as neglect.

Okolobo said the government of Rivers state had asked local authorities in the affected area to allow Shell access and negotiations had taken place as recently as Tuesday afternoon in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.

MOSOP gave a different account of the situation, accusing Shell of failing to recognise legitimate community leaders. It blamed the company for severe environmental damage.

"Farmland beside the fires has been polluted while nearby villages have been constantly living under a cloud of smoke and pollution," it said in a statement.

MOSOP was Shell's main critic in Ogoni in the early 1990s when the protests were at their peak. The organisation's then leader, Ken Saro-Wiwa, was hanged by the military government in 1995 after being convicted of murder on what were widely seen as trumped-up charges.

Ever since Saro-Wiwa's execution, which reflected badly on Shell in the eyes of many environmental and human rights activists around the world, the company has been trying to mend ties with MOSOP and with the broader Ogoni community.

But a government-sponsored peace process has failed to quell protests and discontent in the area.


Shell Gas Plant Shut Down

Angry youths of Oben community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State on Tuesday shut down Oben Gas Plant belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited.

The youths, led by one Prince West Ogienwonyi Uyigue, told our correspondent that they were protesting the failure of the Edo State Governor, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, to appoint the Chairman of the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Communities Development Commission from Oben, said to be the highest oil and gas producing community.

They sang protest songs and vowed that they would not leave the plant unless the state government gave in to their demand. They said they embarked on the closure of the plant as a last resort after their consultations with the government in Benin failed.

But several detachments of mobile policemen from Edo and Delta states moved in a few hours later and displaced the youths from the plant.

The Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Peter Ogboi, said the action was a ”minor protest”, which had been put under control. He told our correspondent that the police moved in as soon as they got signal of the development and restored order.

The protest came just as the governor submitted the names of the members of the commission to the House of Assembly for approval.

The Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Isaiah Osifo, who had been handling matters relating to the oil and gas producing communities, told our correspondent that the youths from Oben did not have to take their protest too far.

He said before the governor appointed members of the commission, he consulted widely among the oil producing communities, and that the traditional rulers and people of Oben even nominated their own representative of the commission.

He said the law setting up the commission gave the governor the prerogative to appoint the chairman from any of the three recognized oil and gas producing local governments of Orhionmwon, Ikpoba/Okha and Ovia North East.

He said having appointed the chairman from Orhionmwon Local Government Area, the governor appointed a full-time member of the commission from Oben community, which had been adjudged the highest oil and gas producing community in the state.

Freedom Fighters Demand Kingdom

NIGER-DELTA Freedom Fighters (NDFF), the militant group in Egbema kingdom of Delta State, which kidnapped four American workers of the Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), May 8, and released them after 22 days in captivity, yesterday, called on the Federal Government, Delta State Government and the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to urgently begin the provision of development infrastructures and employment for the youths in the Ijaw province.

NDFF leader, Egbema One, told Vanguard that before the four Americans who were taken hostage by the group to draw government’s attention to the underdevelopment in the area were released May 30, “Negotiations were made, committee set up and promises were made, but these promises have not been fulfilled and no effort or positive steps taken to concretise these promises.”

According to him the demands of the people were made known to the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) during his recent visit to Okerenkoko in Warri South-West local government area but the NDFF was yet to see any serious effort to address the issues.

Egbema One said it was because of the discussions during the recent visit of the Vice President to the state that the group has restrained its fighters from launching further attacks, saying,“Enough is enough, we want an urgent solution to these issues or else, we will take the other option, which will render Niger-Delta ungovernable.”

In a letter to the chairman of the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC), dated 14 July, made available to Vanguard in Warri, yesterday, the NDFF leader said the government could put a final stop to hostage taking and other related crisis in Egbema kingdom and the Niger-Delta if qualified Niger-Delta graduates and school leavers were engaged to earn a living.


Cultist Warfare Plagues River State

Rivers State on Tuesday again witnessed an outbreak of violence when suspected cultists killed three persons in Umumei and Umuolu communities of Igwuruta in Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state.

The cultists, said to be fighting for the control of communities in the local government area, also blew up the home of the Paramount Ruler, Chief Ugudu Nyeche.

Our correspondent learnt that the two cult groups started fighting around midnight and continued till 5am, wounding several persons and destroying properties worth millions of naira.

A source in the community confirmed that the paramount ruler had fled from his house before it was bombed.

The source said that cultists also blew up the homes of Mr. Sam Nwulu and Mr. Chibuike Ozu, all indigenes of the community before they disappeared into the bush.

The source however gave the names of those shot dead as Aham Wogu, Ogechi Ndawe and Akawu Olajide.

While the fighting was spreading to all parts of the affected communities, a report was made to the headquarters of the State Police Command said, the source said.

The police, it was learnt, immediately deployed troopers to the area in the early hours of the day to engage the cultists.

When the assailants could not match the fire power of the police troopers, they retreated into the bush.

Riot policemen were patrolling the communities when our correspondent visited the area in the evening while some resident who had fled in the wake of the fighting were seen coming back to their homes.

The Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, who confirmed the attacks, noted that his men had brought the situation under control.

Kidnapping as Business (Vanguard)

THE reaction to the kidnapping of three-year-old Briton, Margaret Hills, was typical – so much noise that police failed to arrest the kidnappers, and the terms that returned the child to the parents remain unknown.

Kidnapping of children in Port Harcourt is not new. The poor security situation in Port Harcourt, where criminals can take over the city without an appropriate response from the security agencies makes the city a fertile ground for criminals. When criminal groups can invade the police headquarters, burn it, free suspects, and get away with it, what security will residents of the city have?

Hills got much attention, perhaps, because the father is British. Children are kidnapped on regular bases. It is doubtful if all the cases get to the police. The affected parents often resolve the matter quickly in favour of the kidnappers to save their children from coming to harm.

In the last two months, the kidnapping of two-year-old Sam Amadi is the fourth reported case of child kidnapping in Port Harcourt. The child of a Rivers State legislator, and another belonging to a businessman were also taken. In all the cases, the children were on their way to school. Armed men took the children, and in each case, demanded ransom from the parents.

The kidnaps absolutely reflect the collapse of security in Port Harcourt. They need to be checked before they spawn similar criminality in other places. It would be too bare to see security just in terms of some armed people moving around, thinking their presence would scare criminals away.

What is the profile of those carrying out these acts? Are they unemployed? Would they abandon crime if they had jobs? How are they able to evade our security system? Is the ransom the motivation for the crime or is it used to cover activities that are more criminal? Is anyone protecting them from the law? Kidnapping is organised crime, there is no acceptable reason for condoning it.

No society that wants to make progress would accept this situation. The solution, however, does not lie in the limpid threats of military action in the region. Already there is too much militarisation of the zone, a ready admission of the police’s failure, and a confession of government’s unwillingness to make the police the premier security agency in the country. Unfortunately, for the populace, there is still no substitute for the emasculated police.

The inherent danger in consistently ignoring the problems in the Niger Delta, or addressing them with speeches, is that new levels of lawlessness develop. Government’s inability to tackle new crimes, embolden new converts to try something new, and of a more dangerous dimension.
Parents everywhere in Nigeria should be scared of this new business.

As we grapple with this new reality we wonder when Section 14 (2) b of the 1999 Constitution which states, “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government” will be effected.

New Hopes for Peace in Niger Delta (ISN)

With a new president taking office, Nigerians hope for a fresh start in the talks to quell the restive Niger Delta region.

By Dulue Mbachu in Lagos for ISN Security Watch (19/07/07)

When Umaru Yar'Adua assumed office as Nigeria's new president at the end of May, he pledged that his top priorities would include bringing peace to the country's troubled Niger Delta oil region, where violence has recently escalated as armed militants and criminals target the oil industry, deeply cutting into Nigeria's lifeblood crude oil exports and causing jitters in the world oil markets.

At least a quarter of Nigeria's oil exports of three million barrels per day have ceased in the past 18 months - a period that has also seen the kidnapping of more than 200 foreign oil workers. Most of the hostages have been freed unharmed after ransom payment. Militants fighting for greater local control of the oil wealth produced in the region say they will shut down the entire industry if their demands are not met.

Within two weeks of taking office, Yar'Adua freed Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the top militia leader in the region who had been jailed by his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo on charges of treason. Dokubo-Asari's release was a key demand of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main militia group spearheading attacks on the oil industry for the past two years.

Working in Yar'Adua's favor is his choice of vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, a former state governor in the Delta and an ethnic Ijaw, the dominant ethnic group in the oil region from which the militias draw most of their fighters. Jonathan has ventured into the winding creeks of the Delta without his security escorts to meet with Dokubo-Asari to persuade the militia leader and his followers to give the government a chance to deal with the impoverished region's grievances.

"The emergence of Jonathan has put our struggle in a dilemma," Dokubo-Asari told ISN Security Watch in Lagos during an interview. "The majority of the Ijaw people support Jonathan and want us to give him a chance. And we're going to give him a chance."

All-out war

Dokubo-Asari, who led the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), declared an "all out war" in September 2004 against oil multinationals operating in the region - which produces more than 95 percent of Nigerian oil - including Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron and ENI subsidiary Agip. The threat helped lift world oil prices to over US$50 for the first time.

A worried then-president Obasanjo invited Dokubo-Asari for talks, pledging to address the Delta region's demands for more local control of the oil wealth, which is mostly in the hands of the central government dominated by the bigger ethnic groups. Obasanjo granted the militia leader amnesty, but this truce unraveled when the government appeared slow in addressing the militants' demands. When he announced that he would fight for the break up of Nigeria, Dokubo-Asari was arrested in September 2005.

However, his arrest and trial triggered a dramatic escalation of violence against the oil industry. With their commander in jail, many militia fighters took to banditry or joined MEND, which emerged as the vanguard of the Delta's militia groups in place of the NDPVF. Militias and bandits alike attacked oil installations largely unimpeded due to the military being unfamiliar with the terrain.

"It was a serious error of judgment on the part of Obasanjo to have incarcerated Dokubo-Asari," Johnson Ekong, a Nigerian oil industry security expert, told ISN Security Watch. "The consequence was that there was no known leader of the fighters to talk to and at the same time the military had no solution to the violent activities going on in the creeks."

MEND, which claimed most of the attacks on oil installations, has no known leader. The group only communicates with the outside world through e-mails sent from a Yahoo account by a "Jomo Gbomo," which is most likely a pseudonym. The group's kidnappings have spawned copycat attacks by regional criminal gangs who seize hostages - recently including children- and release them in return for ransom, making the Niger Delta by number of incidents the most dangerous oil region in the world after Iraq.

With the release of Dokubo-Asari, who has pledged not to renew attacks on the oil industry, the government hopes he will help rein in the violence that currently rules in the region. Yar'Adua has also met with political and community leaders representing various aggrieved ethnic minorities in the area to discuss ways to accelerate the long-neglected region's development.

"If the people can see that their leaders are honest, they will understand, but once they see that their leaders are in power to make money there will be a problem," Yar'Adua told ISN Security Watch.

According to Dokubo-Asari, since his release from prison early in June, he has been in contact with key militia commanders active in the Delta in an attempt to convene "a central command meeting" to seek ways of ending the current banditry sweeping the region. Yet, he is quick to warn it will not be an easy task.

"We can't stop this kidnapping immediately because those involved have enjoyed the money and will find it hard to give up," he said. "It may take six months to another one year before it will begin to die down."

Inalienable rights

In the meantime, the militants are holding on to their demands that the federal government cede more control over the oil wealth produced in the Delta to the region's inhabitants and expect Yar'Adua's government to propose concrete options about how to achieve this.

Outlining the militants' position, Dokubo-Asari said the treaties signed between the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta and the former British colonial power never included forcing them into a country called Nigeria. According to the Ijaws, if they must belong to Nigeria, the terms of membership will have to be negotiated.

"The issues at stake are fundamental," Dokubo-Asari told ISN Security Watch. "We have inalienable rights and it is our fundamental right to own our land and its oil."

People close to Yar'Adua expect some form of compromise will be agreed upon. One such person, former president Shehu Shagari,says the crisis in the Delta is the biggest problem facing Nigeria. As he sees it, dialogue is the only solution.

"They [people in the delta] have been placed in a difficult terrain and they deserve the sympathy and support of their brothers and sisters in the hinterland," Shagari told reporters recently.

"They should always bear in mind that it could be the other way round. All we need to do as Nigerians is to try and understand each other's problems and join hands to tackle them sensibly as a team," he added.

Nigeria Security Update #1 170707

Two American Carriers Add Nigeria Routes

TWO American airlines are set to commence operations on lucrative Nigeria - United States routes.

The visiting four-member team from the United States Federal Aviation Administration that arrived on Sunday for the initial technical assessment of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and three Nigerian carriers, said this in Lagos on Monday.

The leader of the team, Greg Michael, who spoke with our correspondent on Monday in Lagos, said that Delta Airlines and Continental Airlines would begin services into the country, after meeting all the requirements of the Nigerian aviation regulatory bodies.

Michael said that the team was pleased that the NCAA had worked very hard to make the airspace safe.

The commencement of flight operations by the two carriers will bring to three, the number of American airlines operating into Nigeria.

North American Airlines started operations into Nigeria, July last year under the ‘Open Skies’ Agreement between Nigeria and the US Airlines, with Nigeria designating three carriers, Bellview, Arik and Virgin Nigeria to fly to America.

Delta Airlines is a US-based airline headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It operates a large domestic and international network that spans North America, South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

Delta Airlines currently flies to 463 destinations in 95 countries.

The Director-General, NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren was confident that after the successful passing of the International Air Safety Assessment for the category one audit, Nigerian carriers would fly seamlessly to the US, from Lagos.

Demuren said, “This is the initial assessment of that, initial review if you like. We are happy that they are here. They will still come back to do the theory aspect, so that Nigeria can pass and be certified.



Asari Calls for Trial of Obasanjo

HEAD of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), Alhaji Mujaheed Dokubo-Asari, has said that the Niger Delta will not witness peace until former President Olusegun Obasanjo is tried in the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity.

He maintained that a sovereign national conference was also needed to be convened by President Umaru Yar’Adua to discuss how justice would be done to the people of the area by the Federal Government.

Dokubo-Asari, while speaking with journalists in Ibadan on Monday at the burial of one of his guardians, said the former president’s eight-year tenure was characterised by injustice which he said demanded prosecution.

He disclosed that he had instituted a legal action against the former president for the alleged injustice meted out to him and for depriving him of his fundamental human rights.

He claimed that Chief Obasanjo did not have respect for the rule of law and humanity, this he said made him to deprive people of their fundamental human rights.

According to him, “a lot of people were murdered. He destroyed Odi and other communities, where he killed many people. There was no security of lives and property in all parts of the country, even in Ibadan here, nobody can move out freely.

“He facilitated crisis in the town. He took power from a democratically elected president and installed a stooge. He is a devil, he must be tried at the International Court of Justice and I can assure you that he will surely face the trial.”

The NDVF chieftain said, “I will not rest the struggle until Obasanjo is brought to book. He has committed crimes against humanity. A lot of people were killed during his tenure, but we shall let him know that he is not above God.”

Speaking on his detention which he said was just a mere threat to stop his fight against injustice, Dokubo-Asari said that though “it was a bad one, experienced in a positive way.”

According to him, “it was just a threat. That will not stop me from the struggle. The struggle has just begun. We shall not stop it until our prayers are answered in Ijaw land.

“Our land has been taken over. We are deprived of our rights in Ijaw land and in the entire Niger Delta. We must be liberated from the economic shambles, oppression and poverty,” he said.

Asked if the people had any hope in the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as a saviour to fight for the cause of the land, Dokubo-Asari said: “He may try, but a tree does not make a forest. I don’t think that he can solve the problem alone,” he said.

A sovereign national government, he suggested, would provide a lasting solution to the crisis.

He maintained that such a conference should not be politically motivated, but should comprise various groups from all the Nigerian nations to discuss the sources of problems ravaging the country.

Speaking on kidnappings, especially of toddlers, in the area, he described them as “heinous acts that are evil and criminal in nature.”

According to him, “kidnapping is evil and nefarious. It is a sin against humanity which should be condemned by the entire Nigerians.”

He called on President Yar’Adua to ensure that the “sovereign national conference is convened to bring justice, equity, peace and tranquility to the country."

Dreams of Biafra Still Alive

The wife of Nigerian secessionist leader Ralph Uwazuruike says she is still committed to his cause, even though he has spent two years in jail.
"The struggle continues - it is not negotiable," Ngozi Uwazuruike told the BBC about the desire for independence for the south-eastern Igbo people.

Mr Uwazuruike's treason trial is due to resume on Monday in Abuja.

Mrs Uwazuruike, however, said the children had been affected by not seeing their father for two years.

"Our four children are out of school now and they miss their father," she told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

Mr Uwazuruike was arrested in October 2005 and has been in detention since then.

"The little one is emotionally sick now," Mrs Uwazuruike said.

"He needs to see his father. But I don't know how I could possibly take that little boy to prison to see his father."

The Movement for Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob) says 37 years after the Biafran civil war ended, the Igbo people are still "marginalised" in Nigeria.

"We are not wanted," Mrs Uwazuruike said.

Recently, former Biafran leader, Emeka Ojukwu said the Igbo have more reason today to seek independence from Nigeria.

Mr Ojukwu's declaration of independence on 30 May 1967 led to a three-year civil war, in which more than 1m people died, mostly from hunger.

Mr Uwazuruike, a lawyer, abandoned his law practice to take up the Biafran campaign.

New Trend in Nigeria's Most Lucrative Illicit Industry (Daily Champion)

Michael Stewart was the first, Margret Hill, second and now it is Samuel Amadi all minors who have had a taste of the kidnap experience.

Michael Stewart is the son of a female house of assembly lawmaker, Margaret Hill, a daughter of a Briton and Samuel, a prince.

What makes their abduction unique is that the three took place as the children were being taken to school respectively.

Another unifying factor is that their cases have only sharpened a sudden developing trend of child abduction in the volatile Niger Delta Region.

The most recent of them which calls for a lot of concern in the child abduction cases is that of Samuel Ovundah Amadi which happened barely four days after the release of Margaret Hill.

According to the driver of the Chief, identified as Knneth Akobezuko, the event took place at the East-West road at about 7am.

The act, he said was perpetrated by four armed men.

"I was taking the boy to school as I usually do. Then some people used a Volvo car to block me.; four of them carrying guns. All of a sudden, I heard a big sound on the glass door beside me.

I thought it was a gunshot because one of them had entered and pointed a gun at my head.

"After two of them had entered into the vehicle with me, they told me to drive on towards University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT). The brown volvo car was following me.

When we got to a bushy place, they took the boy and told me that I should go. They collected my phone so I could not make any call. So I came back here," he said.

Not long, the abductors called the Iriebe community chief, Francis Amadi.

According to him, they demanded N50 million ransom. He was also told to pay the said amount into a First Inland bank account with name, Dyke Otuonye and account number 301450821801.

Later the kidnappers called to say he should not pay the money into any account rather he should stack it in N1000 denominations and wait for further instructions.

According to Amadi, he tried negotiating with them adding saying that he told then he could pay only N5 million. The chief who is from Iriebe community. Obiakpor Local Government Area suspecting foul play in the accused his driven Kenneth of complicity.

Not long after, the abductors called Chief Amadi again saying that his driver was not involved in the abduction, when the local chief wanted to ascertain the driver's innocence in the kidnap. They also added that if Amadi did not heed to their instruction, they would chop off Samuel's hands and send to him in an envelope.

As the conversation was going on, a neighbour and Computer Science student, in Rivers State University (RSUST), Innocent Onokure eavesdropped into the conversation and it seemed to him that he recognized the voice of one of kidnappers speaking.

He alerted the traditional chief and when they called his friends number, he said he was in Lagos. Not satisfied with what was , Chief Amadi stated that he called in men of the police force to arrest the duo. His reason for arresting Onokure is that he had not seen him for over one year now and why must he come back to his village after over a year on a day his child was kidnapped.

Rivers State police spokesperson Ireju Barasu who confirmed the abduction said that the kidnappers have been in contact with the family of the boy.

At the end of the day, boy Samuel was released to his father. Though it is not clear how much was paid as ransome, it is an open secrete that ransom is paid for every kidnap though the family of the person will not disclose it.

The Obiakpor Local Government Area Chief confirmed the release of his son adding that he has since taken him to the hospital for medical examination.

Recall that this was exactly what happened in the case of baby Margaret and had also attracted a lot of attention.

For the mother of three, the experience was simply a nightmare.

Even the governor of the Rivers State, Sir Celestine Omehia did not mince words in condemning the act.

"What has happened is very unfortunate, criminal, inhuman and evil and we shall not tolerate it any more. We are no longer going to tolerate this type of criminal action." he said at the Government House, Port Harcourt when he received, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Oluchi Hill, parents of the three-year-old British girl that was abducted on Thursday, July 5,2007 on her way to school.

Hostage taking, kidnapping or abduction is now a daily occurrence in Rivers State and every other area of the Niger Delta region. Before now, it was limited to Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states but now every part of the region has one tale of kidnapping or the other to tell.

Miss Margaret Hill was being taken to to school in the morning of Thursday, July 5 when some yet to be identified gunmen smashed the passenger's side of the vehicle she was traveling in and snatched her to a yet to be disclosed hideout.

Margaret was released after four days due to an international outcry and pressure particularly put on the Nigerian government to secure her safe release by her home country, the British Government.

A week before Margaret was abducted, Master Micheal Stewart, a son of a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly was abducted by gunmen on Tuesday June 26 within his school premises when her nanny was taking him to his classroom few minutes after he alighted from the vehicle that brought him to school. Stewart is about three and a half years. He was released few days later after the family allegedly paid a ransom of N10 million. A news agency quoted Oluchi Hill as saying that her daughter kidnappers were ready to free the girl but had asked for an undisclosed amount as ransom.

Though security agents and government officials claimed that both Margaret and Stewart were released unconditionally without any payment of ransom. As the saying goes they can tell that to the Marines.

A day before Miss Hill was abducted, five expatriates working for Lone Star Drilling Nigeria, an oil servicing company working for Shell Development Company in the Soku oil field in Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers State were taken hostage by some unidentified gunmen who are yet to claim responsibility or state their demands.

Even Omehia has had a taste of the agony of kidnap victims' families. Few days after he was elected governor, his mother was taken hostage.

Alluding to this incident, Omehia empathized with the Hills thus: "I know how you feel since your daughter was taken some days ago and we share your agony. The government and people of Rivers State are with you in these agonizing moments of your life and we pray that it comes to an end soon."

Condemnation for the abduction of baby Hill came from far and wide even the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta [MEND] a militant group was irked by the abduction of Margaret and announced its decision to fish out the culprits and ensure safe release of the child. Nsirimovo lamented that the current trend of kidnapping is nothing short of a disastrous development in the region.

Condemning the kidnapping of children,Nsirimovu called on all those who have profited from kidnapping to recognize that this senseless industry cannot continue. Atake Tom, leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante Movement directed the immediate stoppage of all forms of kidnapping and hostage taking in RIVERS STATE. Ateke appealed to youths and youth groups in the state to sheate their sword.

Inspector general of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro on his part declared that those involved in hostage takings and other anti social activities in the Niger Delta should be regarded as criminals and treated as such. Okiro who disclosed that some of these criminals are non-indigenes of Niger Delta, declared that they are doing it for their selfish interest.

Some years back hostage taking was alien to the Niger Delta Region. It was a taboo among the people and can lead to communal or tribal war. While in some communities' culprits of this act and their families could be banished from their community as a punishment for abduction. Hostage taking was only tolerated during war or during the various boundary clashes among communities in the region. But times have change and things are no longer at ease.

Hostage taking took a center stage in the region when some groups resorted to it as a means of drawing attention to the plight of the robbed, neglected, oppressed and marginalized people of the oil rich Niger Delta who live on the bank of a river but wash their hand with spittle. Hostage taking was seen as a legitimate weapon that could be used in the struggle for the control of its oil and gas resources and emancipation of the region from an oppressive Nigerian Government.

Kidnapping in the region took a new dimension when the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunterer Force, Alhaji Mujihad Dokubo Asari was arrested for alleged acts of treason. Most of the groups involved in hostage taking were claiming that they were doing this to press home their demand for the unconditional released of Asari. But last month Asari was given bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja. Regrettably, kidnapping has not abated. Infact, Asari himself is a victim of the criminal agents who now parade their region as freedom fighters: an SUV van belonging to his was snatched a fortnight ago at gunpoint. Speaking at a stakeholders meting in Port Harcourt, Omehia lamented "The truth is that kidnapping has become business and no more a fight for the emancipation of the NIGER Delta."

Though some schools of thought believe that kidnapping gangs proliferated when Asari was in detention and would reduce when he is free, the reverse has been the case. Even Asari wife, Alhaja Mujuhadeet held the opinion that the release of her husband would reduce hostage taking. Some are of the opinion the rising wave of kidnapping is to show that Asari is not really in charge of the entire so-called militant group in the region. Some of these groups and their various sponsors are angling to get the kind of relevance and attention that Asari receives from both the federal government of Nigeria and the international community. Asari has admitted that he has no control over the criminal gangs operating in the region and his release may not be an immediate antidote to kidnapping in violence in the Niger Delta.

A wise man once said that wherever there is original there must be a counterfeit. Though there are genuine groups in the region that are agitating for improvement of the welfare of the region others have latched to this struggle to perpetuate crime and violence. Some people claimed that some of these criminal elements were originally part of the Niger struggle but greed overwhelmed their "patriotic" view and they decided to help themselves. Having been identified with the struggle the boys decided to go into hostage taking, bank robbery and other violence crimes. Like they say in Akwa Ibom, a dog that has tasted the entrails of an animal will not stay away from the bush. These boys have tasted fast money from these crimes and they are not ready to repent of it.

A spokesperson for NDPVF, who claimed to be Asari second in command, General Gabriel Asabuja absolved members of the Asari group from the crime of kidnapping and other acts of terrorism. He disclosed that the boys involved in hostage taking cannot be controlled again because of the pecuniary gains inherent in the bisiness as "the monetary involment has opened the floodgate for formation of more militant groups in the state and until government establishes community police to checkmate them, there will be no end to this terrorist acts."

Asabuja regretted that kidnapping and hostage taking is yet to stop despite the release of Asari and blamed government for this development.

According to him, government officials who benefit from these activities have been the major hindrance stalling all sincere efforts to curb the activities of these criminal elements.

On Monday, July 2, 2007 Vice President Goodluck Jonathan on behalf of the Federal Government inaugurated a Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee. The committee is expected to coordinate similar committees set up by the various Niger Delta states to see how the current violence in the region can be brought under control. Before now, Rivers State Governor, Omehia has set up a Peace and Rehabilitation Committee for the state headed by Alhaji Hassan Douglas. Omehia promised a reward of a million naira for the first one hundred cultists and militants who would repent of their criminal activities. But this reward for repentance has drawn a lot of criticisms from the public. There is a story going roun that during former Governor Peter Odili administration, a self acclaimed repentant cultist collected money from the government and instead of using the money to set up a business he used it to buy guns, which he rents out to criminals.

Ledum Mitee, President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People [MOSOP] described the offer of money for repentant cultists and militants as an incentive for violence. According to Mitee, there is every reason for people to go into violence to get millions overnight. We are against giving money to cultists and militants for them to renouce cultism. There has to be a comprehensive strategy to be sustained in ensuring that the money does not go into wrong hands," Mitee maintained. Chairman of the Niger delta Civil Society Coalition, MR. Anyakwee Nsirimovu recalled "In 2004 we saw the mistakes of careless distribution of cash for weapons and so-called rehablitation of youths which had little credibility and no follow up. Now we are seeing promises of one million naira to youths with absolutely no sign of a strategy." Rather than the rewarding of violence, Nsirimovu suggested a roadmap, which would address resource control, accountable government, self determination and the protection of the environment.