Nigeria Security Update #1 300707

Armed Robbery Suspects Gunned Down (The Tide)

The police in Rivers State have killed three suspected armed robbers during an exchange of fire along Rumuigbo Road, old GRA, Port Harcourt.

The men of the underworld met their waterloo when the police getting information that a gang of armed robbers are operating in the area and they immediately swoop into action.

A source said that as the police Anti-crime Patrol team was mobilized to the scene, the robbers on sighting them, opened fire and in the process exchange of fire ensued.

It was learnt that during the exchange of fire, the three armed robber suspects were gunned down and others took to their heels and escaped.

The source further said the police have intensified efforts to track down the fleeing suspects and bring them to face the full wrath of the law.

The police public Relations Officer of the state Police Command, Ireju Barasua, a Deputy Superintendent of police (DSP) who confirmed the incident however called on the public to always assist the police with timely information on criminal activities, as to enable the police move into action.

Another Missing Ship (Nigerian Tribune)

CURIOUSLY, it seems that Nigeria’s reputation for the proliferation of absurdities is on a steady rise. Now, it is commonplace for ships arrested for one crime or the other to literally disappear from the custody of those keeping them as if they were some small items that could be pilfered by a common pickpocket!

ABOUT two months ago, two ships, MT Balle and MT Alruhula, were used to transport crude oil that was fraudulently obtained. The officers and crew of the ships were arrested by some “overzealous” naval men in the Calabar area and the ships were steered to Port Harcourt. The ships were then officially delivered to the officers of the NNS Pathfinder at their base in Port Harcourt.

BUT rather than moor the ships, the officers of the Pathfinder found a path for the ships to escape and the naval authorities tried to cover up the scandal until a group called Nigerian Youths for Good Governance made allegations against the Nigerian Navy establishment and when the press asked the Navy to react to these allegations, they issued a statement on the matter.

ITS Director of Information, Captain Obiora Medani, said it was true as stated by the Nigerian Youths for Good Governance that two ships detained at the Port Harcourt base had disappeared but that the naval authorities had not tried to conceal the matter and that a board of inquiry headed by a Captain Bimbo Ayuba would determine if the crude found on the ships was illegally obtained and whether the NNS Kyanwa had a good reason to arrest the two ships.

IT is pertinent to recall that many high ranking naval officers were retired following the disappearance of MT African Pride because, according to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, the officers had criminal connection with crude oil. As we asked in our Editorial of June 28, 2007, from where the foregoing is copiously quoted, “Is retirement a retribution for these Mephistophelian atrocities? Is retirement alone enough deterrent to others who might have discovered a greater reward in this criminality than in continued stay in service?”

CAPTAIN Medani, however, after our editorial on the Navy and the missing ships, had made allegations in the newspapers about a smear campaign in the media being sponsored by certain ex-naval officers who had been compulsorily retired from the Nigerian Navy and their relations trying to impugn the integrity of the Chief of Naval Staff and discredit the Board of Inquiry. Captain Medani even called the Nigerian Youths for Good Governance a fictitious group.

HOWEVER, hardly had he finished writing when another ship, an impounded Greek vessel, MT Tritya, escaped, this time, with three security officials detailed to secure it. This was disclosed at a press conference by the legal consultants to the shipping agents. The ship, according to the legal consultants, was legally detained as a pre-judgment security for the satisfaction of the civil claims of the shipping agents until an acceptable security by way of bank guarantee had been furnished by her owners. The ship had been impounded through an injunction obtained from the Federal High Court in Lagos against the vessel and three others claiming certain amounts of money until the final payment for short delivery of the cargo of gas and oil.

WE are worried by the regular disappearances of vessels from Nigeria, especially vessels detained over one offence or the other. We think that their escape in the various circumstances had been facilitated by bribed hands. The latest ‘disappearance’ is even curioser, as the security officers who were supposed to secure it ‘disappeared’ with the vessel. Were they abducted by the criminals who steered the vessel away under the cover of night? Or did they too connive with the criminals to get out of the country to seek for greener pasture elsewhere? The three security officers who reappeared some days after claimed they were abducted and brutalised by their captors before being released on the high sea. This claim needs to be investigated too by the authorities.

DISAPPEARANCE of vessels with ease speaks volumes about the security of the country’s territorial waters and this is where the Navy is implicated. If ships under its observation can ‘disappear’ without any trace and officers who had been found guilty had only been retired, how much easier will it be for other ships bound only by legal constraints from the courts to escape too?

THE ‘disappearance’ of MT Tritya should be properly investigated using all diplomatic leads and those found to be guilty should be appropriately punished by the relevant authorities. The Navy too should do better than whine about a smear campaign when in reality ships are disappearing, like small items that can easily be contained in someone’s pocket. It is plainly absurd that in the Nigerian state, ships can easily slide into the waters when the pockets of some felons bulge with ill-gotten wealth.

Report from the Creeks (Vanguard)

PASTOR Ayo Oritsejafor is the general overseer of Warri-based Word of Life Bible Church and the national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN who recently initiated a spiritual solution to the protracted Niger Delta crisis. After several weeks of evangelical mission to Europe and America, he recently granted Sunday Vanguard, an interview during which he x-rayed the state of the nation, and the Niger Delta. Excerpts

THE Yar'Adua government started with an industrial action. We just want you to look at the state of the nation.

I have a feeling that I always seem to talk differently from everybody else. I don't like talking because that's what is popular or that's what everyone likes to hear; because there are certain things people want you to say.

For me, I will say, first, thank God that we came through the elections and we are still a nation together. I say thank God because there were some things some of us won't want to say publicly. Before the elections, there were spiritual indications which I never said anything to you about, that the problem was not just going to be the elections but immediately after the elections and so some of us had to set certain things in motion.

I don't want to go into all the details. We needed to get people to do certain things - to pray us through and so that's why I said, number one, thank God that we came through the elections and we are still and will continue to remain a nation. The second thing is, in my own opinion, some of the things that have happened like the industrial action, for example, it was rather unfortunate. I think first of all that there were problems on both sides.

I am going to be economical with words because it has come and gone. I don't think at this point, I should be the one stirring up anything, talking this way or talking that way but, like I said, it was a very unfortunate thing that happened when it happened at that point in time. But thank God again it has come and gone.

I believe also that the Yar'Adua's government is beginning to find its feet. It's not going to be easy because in my own opinion, he is stepping into very big shoes, big Nigeria and big Obasanjo that has just left. So, it's going to take a while for him to stabilise and be able to bring out his own style of doing things.

I will appeal to the media to help him and give him a chance. Sometimes, some of the things I read are so troubling. Oh Obasanjo is influencing you, and so on. They should just leave this man and let him find his feet. Let him know what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. Give him a break.

The media is only mirroring the mood of the nation. Everybody seems to think that the past president has an overbearing influencing on every decision taken by Yar'Adua...

Is there any proof of that?

Well, for instance, he has taken over the PDP Board of Trustees?

Are you a PDP member? (Laughs). Again, you see, these are some of the troubling things. You are not a member of PDP, I am not a member of PDP. Let's leave PDP to sort themselves out. I've heard people say Yar'Adua is not the president of PDP, he's the president of Nigeria. I hail that.

That is true. He stood for election as a PDP candidate but now he's the president of Nigeria. So let's concern ourselves more with what the government does for Nigeria. Let's downplay this issue of PDP Board or no Board and all that stuff.

I think we are over flogging that issue. To me, it's too much,

let's concentrate more on the government and Nigeria. We want to move forward. There are other parties. I don't want to get a PDP membership card. I'm not a member and I don't want to be a member, I don't think you want to. If they want somebody from the moon to be their chairman, that's their problem, that's not mine.

The day I become a member then I can tell them, I don't like it. But to say that Obasanjo has hand in Yar'Adua's government, to me again, is speculation. It is true that Obasanjo was very much instrumental in bringing him in, we won't run away from that. That's the truth! It's there, it's obvious, but that doesn't make him a man that doesn't know what he wants in life. I mean, when you look at him, the man is 56 years old for God's sake, he's not a child. How did he get to where he is?

Was it Obasanjo that held his arm and took him to school through university? Was it Obasanjo that governed Katsina State for him? I think we should give the man a break. A lot of most of the things we are seeing is speculation and I will tell you why there's so much speculation. Part of it is because there are certain persons who know what people want to hear. I keep repeating that, and they blow up these and you people make them movie stars because they know what you want to hear too.

So, they open their months wide and you put all these things on your front pages and then the next person you go to says his own too and you put his own there. The president and his predecessor should be friends, they shouldn't be enemies! For one thing they belong to the same party, one was instrumental to bringing in the other, and secondly Yar'Adua naturally should consult with him in the sense of you've been in this thing, how did you do it? What happened here, what happened there? These are normal things. So, to me, let them allow this man settle down and do his job.

As part of his settling down, he called for a government of national unity. Are you in support of that?

One hundred per cent! I think it's a very good thing. I think it's a good thing because, first of all, Nigeria is more important than me as a person. Nigeria is more important than Yar'Adua. Nigeria is more important than any individual person. Nigeria is more important than any political party. We all know that we had serious problems during the elections. It's a fact, you can't run away from it. The reality is that there were a lot ofirregularities from all parties. If I may say, some did it more than others, but they all did it.

Let's not pretend about it because that's a fact. I met someone who ran for an office in a certain state and somehow it didn't work out and he was trying to tell me how they did this. So, I sat him down and started telling him how his own people did this and that too. I said we at the grassroots know what happened.

So the truth is that, everybody had a part to play in whatever had happened before. So, looking at where we are coming from, when you think of all the things that happened, yes, some people have been declared winners at the presidential and the state levels.

To find a way to keep Nigeria one, I think it's a very wise thing to reach out to other parties and say alright, come and contribute your part to this. For example, you see that in Obasanjo government, whether we want to give him credit for it or not, some of the people he appointed did very well, some didn't.

Incidentally mostly the women did very well. But if you want to look at it, you should say, Obasanjo did very well as far as those people are concerned. But my point is, some of those people were not even party people initially, but eventually they had to become. But they were not at all. Some were actually from other parties.

Could you imagine if some of those people were not given the opportunity to serve, we will never be talking about them today. That's one. Two, they would never have achieved the things they achieved, not for themselves but for all of us, for Nigeria. The reason they were able to achieve those things was because they were brought in and given that opportunity.

I think the idea is, some of these other parties may have credible people who can come into government, who can also add to this nation, to Nigeria. Because all we want is power supply, good roads, water and food. These are the things we want.

The Niger Delta question and power will be his cardinal programmes. He has spent two months and not even one word yet in that direction...

Is it really that not one word yet? I wouldn't say not one word yet. Again like I've always told you I think nobody will say now that I love Yar'Adua so much. I don't even know the man. Take the Niger Delta for example, I know that they have inaugurated a committee that is supposed to look at the security situation in the area. That is very important because most of the people in that committee know what is on ground.

If you go to Delta State, you'll see that the same thing is on ground now. There is a committee set up by the governor, a waterway security committee and the people in that committee know what is on ground. Now, that is very important. If you are going to solve the Niger Delta problem, you must involve the people who know what is on ground. They've done that. For example, again, NDDC, I initiated something, the week long prayers for peace which was concluded recently.

I actually initiated it through the past president. I think that is very important because one of the mistakes they've always made, when they call the so-called stakeholders in the Niger Delta, they never involve the Church. And it puzzles me, it has always puzzled me why they don't bring in the Church.

I went with the vice president and the Delta State governor, Dr. Uduaghan, to the creeks. I was shocked the way I was received! I was surprised by some of the leaders of the town and the young people. Before the vice president arrived, because some of us went ahead of him, they took me into a big room and gave me a special welcome separately. You know the way we entertain visitors. They brought out money, put money on the table, everything, received me.

I couldn't believe myself. They started singing songs with my name, but I'm a pastor. As I stepped into the place, they were shouting Papa. I couldn't believe myself. I said this is unbelievable. In this kind of place? So, it's a mistake not to have involved the Church all along, because we have something at stake. The Niger Delta, basically, is supposed to be a Christian part of this country.

That is the truth. Let's be honest with ourselves. There are no genuine Muslims anywhere in the Niger Delta. They are not there. Everybody you see there, if they want to be honest with you are Christians, one way or the other. They may not be very committed but that's who they are. Now, if they are Christians, they were baptised in a church probably. Their mothers took them to a church; their fathers took them to a church.

Organizing of prayers

They have gone to a church and I am a pastor. There are still some credible pastors that you can still involve. Like I said to NDDC and I hope we can get this across also to the government and those in charge, not only are we organising prayers, which is very important but we want to be involved further.

We want to be involved in negotiations in the sense of, you see, some of these boys don't trust a lot of government officials but there are people they believe are credible. It's possible they may think some of us are also credible. We can become the bridge, we can say to these boys, we have talked to government, let's give them one year - no fighting, no cheating, no nothing, put your arms down, let them do something.

If they don't, then nobody can blame you. And then we say to government, you see, we have put our neck on the line, my credibility is on the line, now perform. If they don't perform, we'll come out publicly to condemn them. I don't need money from government. I don't need anything. I say it everywhere, every time, I don't need it. No governor has given me one naira before, it doesn't happen because I don't want it. I don't need it. If they don't perform, we will come out and shout. And when we start talking, people will listen because they know we are not politicians.

So they need to involve us more.

For example, the master plan, a plan is just a plan until you can implement it, but how do you implement it? So, we want to be involved to help, so that this plan can be implemented. And in implementing it, there has to be dialogue and this dialogue has to involve the church. A lot of the institutions in this country have been bastadized, many don't have credibility and I don't want to start mentioning them.

But I think to an extent, there are still people in the Church leadership that have credibility that can say this is it and they will stick to it. And we know that if we say something and we don't do what we say then we're in trouble because we have nothing to preach to anybody. My members can walk out of the church because truth, justice, equity, all these things are directly, not indirectly, related to what we do. It's a direct thing. So if I don't stick to what I say, it goes completely against everything that am saying. So I have no platform.

What practical solution do you expect from the prayer sessions?

First of all, everything physical derives from the spiritual and so prayer is very important because there's no way you'll want to achieve peace without calling on the prince of peace. God is the owner of peace. There is a spirituality that goes with peace. When you call upon Him and you do it right, God can enter into the hearts of men. Two people who disagreed before suddenly can begin to agree.

You remember in the Bible, Jacob was coming from his uncle's place and he was told that Esau was coming with 400 men angry because of what Jacob did to him. And Jacob had an encounter, in other words, he had an all-night prayer meeting. In the morning, when Esau saw him, instead of killing him, Esau embraced him. So who created that peace? Was it Jacob? No, it was supernatural. So there is a supernatural aspect to the problem in the Niger Delta.

There are demonic forces that want to maintain the status quo because it is only in this kind of atmosphere that idol worship can thrive. Idol worship only thrives in confusion, in poverty, in this kind of situation. The moment development starts coming, believe you me, idol worship is gone.

Nobody will have time for that. And these spirits know this that's why they blind our people spiritually to make sure they can't understand this fact. If not, you sit down and think, our people had all these shrines, the white man came and colonised them with all these heavy shrines, used them as slaves and yet the juju couldn't do anything.

They can't even think, when these people came, some of our people were naked, they had to give you cloth to cover you and your juju was there, your juju liked you naked, running around in the forest. People are not thinking, with all these things you're serving, telling you bring blood, telling you to kill your brother, kill your fellow human being. You think that's a good thing? It certainly cannot be, but they are not thinking. So there are problems there and these spirits like it that way.

So we have to challenge this and the way to challenge it is spiritually. You can't challenge spiritual things with physical things. So what we have brought into it now is the spiritual dimension so that the prayers that have been done now for this one week, and like I told them, you can't end with one week of prayers.

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.

Nigeria Security Update #1 270707

Nigeria Nuclear Safety in Question

The new president of Nigeria is urging the country to embrace nuclear power, although his own nuclear watchdog is struggling to track the radioactive materials already in use here.

"We need to develop the capacity to utilize nuclear power for power generation. Who knows, nuclear power may be the only source of energy in the future, and we must think of the future," President Umaru Yar'Adua said in a speech this week.

Nigeria has frequently said it would like to build a nuclear power plant to address its chronic power shortages, partially caused by poor management and maintenance of its electricity infrastructure. The country is Africa's largest crude producer, but currently imports all its refined oil because its four refineries have been shut down by accidents, broken parts or sabotage.

The petroleum industry is currently the main user of radioactive materials in Nigeria. The materials, used in tools to detect cracks in pipelines or measure exploratory oil wells, have gone missing -- or been stolen -- in the past.

Nigeria also has nuclear materials for research and medical purposes, including in a reactor, that are regularly inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog for the United Nations. The United States signed an accord with Nigeria's nuclear agency in 2005 agreeing to pay for tighter security at sites where radioactive materials are kept.

William Potter, director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, said the radioactive materials used in the construction industry would be of interest to terrorists who might want to construct a "dirty bomb" -- which could spread radiation by a conventional explosion. He added that inadequate regulation of radioactive materials is a global problem, but "even more acute in those countries which lack well-developed nuclear regulatory bodies and material control and accounting practices."

Even in the U.S., Potter said, about one radioactive device a day was "orphaned" or lost track of.

Shamsudeen Elegba, director of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, said in a speech last week that despite upgrading controls designed to halt the illicit trafficking of radioactive materials, "we still have some challenges in the safety and security of radioactive sources."

He said that progress had been made but highlighted the lack of dedicated storage facilities and detection capacity at ports of entry, inadequately trained personnel and inadequate tracking of sources as Nigeria's major challenges.

Before the establishment of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority in 2001, there were no restrictions on the import or export of radioactive materials. The body is still battling to effectively regulate their use and import.

In 2002, two devices used for X-raying oil pipelines for cracks were stolen from the back of a truck in the restive southern Niger Delta, according to news reports at the time.

The devices, which contained radioactive americium-beryllium, were lost in December. But the government did not issue a public warning until two months later, when a delegation from the IAEA arrived to help investigate their disappearance.

The devices were eventually found in a European scrap yard, said an oil worker who was familiar with the investigation. He thought the thieves may have stolen them to sell as scrap.

An IAEA official confirmed the oil worker's account, but agency officials authorized to speak to the media were not immediately available for comment.

The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority refused to answer questions about individual breaches of security.

The oil worker, who asked not to be named due to company restrictions on speaking to the press, said he was aware of at least one other occasion when radioactive materials went missing but declined to give details due to the sensitive nature of the incident. He did say that to the best of his knowledge, the materials stolen in the second instance had not been recovered.

A private security contractor who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media said that in 2004, radioactive materials had been abandoned on rigs that had come under attack by gunmen. Attacks on the Nigerian oil industry occur several times a week. Over 250 foreigners have been kidnapped in the last two years and a quarter of the country's oil production is currently shut in following a series of bombings by militant groups demanding greater political rights for their impoverished region.

Earlier this year, the government also publicly chastised four oil and oil service companies for moving around radioactive materials without the proper permits. It did not specify what the materials were but americium and cesium are two of the most commonly used by the industry, although usually in relatively small amounts.

The oil worker said that in Nigeria, it was impossible to say which companies used radioactive oil well mapping devices or how many they owned.

The methods for tracking such materials seemed to differ company to company, he said, and if they're lost, nobody cares.



Solving Lagos' Security Problems (This Day)

The concern of an average Lagosian is the insecurity of lives and property in the metropolis, especially with the incessant cases of armed robbery even in broad daylight. One could recall vividly the robbery incidents within the last one month in areas like Maryland, Ikorodu road, Oregun, Ogba, Lagos Island, Iyana Ipaja, Apapa and Surulere during which people were deprived of their belongings including cars, jewelleries, mobile telephone handsets, huge sums of money and other personal effects by the hoodlums.

Rising up to the Herculean task of policing the state, the state police command engaged the men of the underworld in fierce battles during which casualties were recorded and some of the hoodlums apprehended and paraded before newsmen by the Police.

However, the efforts of the police appear not to be good enough even as the Lagos State Government has expressed concern over the rising wave of crime in the metropolis. Governor Babatunde Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), while taking oath of office on May 29, vowed to fight crime headlong.

Less than two weeks of assuming office, Fashola, on June 11, inaugurated a 33-man security committee headed by a former Inspector General of Police; Alhaji Musiliu Smith. Other members of the committee included heads of military formations namely the Army, Navy and the Air Force in Lagos State, State Police Commissioner, state director of security, Comptroller of Immigration, Comptroller of Customs, Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator; Kick Against Indiscipline[KAI] Marshal-General, Community Development Committee Chairman and representative of the state ministry of justice.

The committee which had a three- week period to submit its report, also had its terms of reference to include determining the causes and effects of small arms proliferation in Lagos state proffering solutions to the spate of violent armed robbery attacks on innocent citizens and institutions such as banks, hotels, eradicating the menace of area boy/street urchins in Lagos generally and in particular the Central Business Districts of Lagos and adjoining Ikoyi and Victoria Island; providing cogent solutions to transport insecurity as in the recklessness of motorbike transporters popularly called Okada riders; and such other ancilliary issues as may be necessary to guarantee overall security of lives and property in the state towards increasing the confidence of the entire citizenry of the state The committee which at its inaugural meeting realised the need to co-opt eleven more people who are experienced in safety and security matters as members received total of 30 memoranda that were analysed and considered during the committees six plenary sessions.

At those sessions the committee discussed and harmonised the different opinions and suggestions by members and made recommendations accordingly. Submitting its report to Fashola on July 11, exactly one month after its inauguration, the committee chairman, Smith said his committee carefully considered all aspects of security which he said were quite complex and challenging and that all the terms of reference were thoroughly debated with a view to proffering workable and practical solutions.

The major findings of the committee which were contained in three binded volumes of the report submitted to Fashola, according to Smith, include that the effect of increased criminal and violent activities due to small arms proliferation are many and they impact negatively on every sector of the states socio-economic strata.

The committee also identified proliferation of small arms and other offensive weapons as a major cause of armed robbery and other violent crimes in the metropolis, adding that area boys and street urchins who hang around motor parks, highways, bus stops and other public places purposely to engage in various anti-social or criminal activities including extortion and harassment of the people.

While urging the state government to speedily implement the committees recommendations so as to ensure standard security situation in the state, Smith declared that there are additional issues ancilliary to the general and specific purposes of achieving overall security of lives and property in the state which the committee identified and considered and are contained in the committees report. The report is in three parts namely the main report, the executive summary and memoranda.

In receiving the report, the governor expressed appreciation to the members for a job well done and assured that government would consider the recommendations and take necessary steps towards adequate security of lives and property in the metropolis.

Ironically, weeks after government received the committee’s report, the menace of crime continued unabated in the metropolis. One only hopes that the Fashola-led administration in the state would before long come up with the white paper on the committees report so that the issue of crime would be given a comprehensive and wholesome approach.



Two Arrested for Kidnap Plots (Vanguard)

Two persons including a Police Constable have been arrested by police detectives attached to the Enugu State Police Command for attempting to kidnap foreign nationals in Enugu.

The State Police Commissioner, Mr. Bashiru Azeez, who disclosed this while briefing reporters on the achievements of his command in Enugu yesterday, said that even though his men succeeded in foiling the attempt to kidnap some foreign nationals, they were able to apprehend the suspects who have made confessional statements on their evil mission to Enugu.

According to him, the suspected kidnappers, a middle-aged man and a police constable identified as Francis Ekwenyi, came to Enugu from Port Harcourt with the aim of kidnapping some white men in a bid to make money.

"On information I dispatched my detectives to monitor and intercept them before the execution of their intention. On their way to Enugu they were intercepted by a team of Anti-Crime Patrol, on searching their vehicle, four AK 47 Riffles were recovered from them," the CP said, adding that the case was still being investigated.

Azeez, who expressed the determination of his command to reduce crime wave in the state, said that necessary security measures that would help reduce crime in the state had been put in place, saying with the decision of the State Government to increase the fleet of police patrol vehicles, criminals would be battled to a standstill.

Governor Sullivan Chime had shortly on assumption of office approved the purchase of 47 patrol vans for the police in demonstration of his government's readiness to combat crime in the state. The vehicles, which have already been procured, would be officially presented to the police command on Monday.

The new Commissioner of Police said that shortly after assumption, he initiated some programmes, which, he said, had made it possible for his men to apprehend some miscreants in parts of the state.

Shell Discovers New Oil (Nigerian Tribune)

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) announced on Thursday a material oil discovery onshore in its Eastern operations.

SPDC said in a statement issued that "An exploration well in Aghata-1X in OML-17 was drilled to a total depth of 4,679 metres. The well encountered some 245 metres of hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs, and production testing at two reservoir levels has been completed. The well has tested up to 5000 barrels of oil per day'.

It said the well had now been completed and hooked up to the nearby Agbada flowstation for further production testing. The company said "Initial production is expected to commence later this year after the completion of the production test, and studies are ongoing for appraisal and full field life-cycle development.

The Managing Director of SPDC and Country Chair Shell Nigeria, Mr. Basil Omiyi, said: "Aghata-1 well is a material exploration success for SPDC and Shell.

It has the potential to immediately increase oil production in the area, and also enable us to find other potential exploration opportunities in similar geological settings. We continue to be proud of the contribution that SPDC is making to the development of oil and gas potential in the Niger Delta, and the contribution this offers to the Federal Government's energy aspirations and the future benefit of the Nigerian people."

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 220707

Air Tragedy Averted at Lagos Airport (This Day)

Tragedy was averted yesterday at about 10.55am when a Virgin Nigeria aircraft with registration number, VK 44 that was landing at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, from Abuja almost collided with another aircraft that was taking off a few meters from the runway.

Passengers in the in-coming flight, including the pilot agreed that the near-collision was too close. The passengers agreed that the tragedy was averted due to the dexterity of the pilot of the Lagos-bound flight who was quick to notice the aircraft that was taking off, and immediately gained altitude until it stabilised in the air, and landed after another 10 minutes.

Among the passengers on the flight were World Bank officials who were coming to Lagos for a meeting, senators, businessmen and women and other Nigerians and foreign nationals.

Senator Ganiyu Olarenwaju Solomon of Lagos West Senatorial District who was on board of the Lagos-bound flight said it was the pilot who saved the situation, as the aircraft had less than a minute to touch the runway when the pilot sighted the other aircraft that was taking off.

"My God, it was very close. The pilot had told us that he was landing. He directed the crew to prepare for landing. We could see everywhere the grasses before the runway. Then all of a sudden, the plane took off again because as he was trying to land another aircraft was taking off," he said.

The Senator said when the aircraft stabilised in the air, the pilot explained to the passengers what happened and apologised for taking their time, noting that the two aircraft were very close.

Solomon, who was yet to shake off the shock of what happened, observed that the aircraft had to gather more energy to reverse its course because it had already prepared for landing and needed renewed velocity and resurgence to gain altitude again, describing the situation as "a very, very close shave."

Director of Communications, Virgin Nigeria Airways, Larry Agose, confirmed the incident and explained that the flight was about to land and when the pilot noticed that another aircraft was taking off, it gained altitude again to make way for that aircraft. He added that the aircraft that was taking off was not Virgin Nigeria's airplane.

Agose explained that the pilot merely took precautionary measures, noting that such incidents happen all over the world, advising that it is not necessary to magnify it.

The Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt. Ado Sanusi, said the pilot that took off again into the air was observing normal safety procedures, which every pilot is acquainted with, noting that a pilot can abort take-off or landing, depending on the signals he receives.

Sanusi also explained that this happens in all the airports in the world, adding that passengers who don't know about this usually panic when they observe it happen, stressing that publishing such in the media may create fear in the flying public.

Reacting to the allegation that the near-collision may be due to the closure of one of the two runways which has been undergoing repairs, the General Manager, Public Affairs, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Akin Olukunle, said the cause of the incident should not be attributed to the runway. He noted that FAAN does not want to join issues with NAMA and urged the agency to work on its radar, adding that air traffic controllers seemed to be under pressure and therefore may be making mistakes when monitoring and directing aircraft movement.

Peace Summit Efforts Intensified (This Day)

The Presidency at the weekend, literally relocated to Lagos as President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan visited the former federal capital in pursuit of peace in Niger Delta region and economic co-operation between two neighbouring South western states controlled by different political parties.

While President Yar'Adua met with Governors Gbenga Daniel and Babatunde Fashola of Ogun and Lagos States at Dodan barracks, Lagos, Jonathan used the visit to hold parleys with several groups from the Niger Delta areas, who came to Lagos from the Creeks.

Yar’Adua also met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the same venue.

THISDAY gathered that Jonathan's visit to Lagos was in connection with the proposed summit on Niger Delta being planned by the presidency.

The summit aimed at bringing together all stakeholders in the oil-rich region to discuss solutions to the crisis was scheduled for last month in Abuja. The summit was later postponed to give room for wider consultations.

A source close to the Presidency said Jonathan had been involved in "cross-sectional and multi-layer consultative meetings with all groups, both militant and moderate, radicals and conservative, peoples movements and tradtional institutions".

The source further said that the wide consultations have enabled the presidency to extract commitments from the stakeholders.

It is expected that the next step of the preparation would be to formulate the specifics of the summit itself.

"The next step after the series of consultation is to get effective representation that will mirror the ethnic groupings and ideological persuasions of the various people.

"We will then move to the level of confidence building projects which are intended to show that the administration is serious in its efforts to resolve the crisis in the Niger Delta. These projects will be targeted at job creation, ensure security and also bring development to the communities in the area," he said.

Another top official involved in the preparation for the summit said government is also determined to isolate the "criminal elements that have attempted to hijack the genuine struggle of the people of the Niger Delta".

The conference proper is expected to be facilitated by credible Nigerians, which all the stakeholders can trust. The Niger Delta issue is one of the seven-point agenda which President Yar'Adua set as priorities for his administration.

President Yar'Adua's meeting yesterday with Daniel and Fashola deliberated on the proposed Lagos mega-city to be established between Ogun and Lagos States. It was conceived by the Obasanjo administration which appointed Prof. Akin Mabogunje as the chairman of the implementation committee.

The project will include residential and industrial estates as well as a free trade/export processing zone. It is expected to create economic co-operation between the two states with the Federal Government as a major muscle behind it.

Obviously mindful of the different political affiliations of Daniel, who belongs to Yar'Adua's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Fashola's Action Congress (AC), the President came to Lagos with a bi-partisan message for the two state chief executives.

According to sources, the President's discussion with the governors centred on how to get the project off the ground with minimum hitches.

THISDAY also learnt that President Yar'Adua held a secret parley with his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

The meeting reviewed developments on state and PDP affairs, particularly those arising from actions of the Obasanjo administration, which were inherited by the new government.

Another Chief's Son Kidnapped

AGAIN, suspected militants have struck in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, kidnapping the son of a prominent Eleme community chief, Prince Awala Nta-Oluka, who is said to be in his late thirties.

Four men reportedly abducted the chief's son from his residence at Eleme yesterday evening, thus shattering the lull in kidnapping of single individuals particularly children.

In the past weeks, militants, who demanded ransoms from victims' parents, abducted two three-year-olds, who were later freed after widespread condemnation and pleas from individuals and groups, including President Musa Yar'Adua.

The Rivers State Police Command spokesperson, Mrs. Ireju Barasua, told The Guardian last night that the gunmen abducted the chief's son from his residence at Eleme.

Barasua said the Police were still investigating the matter to ascertain the motive for the abduction.

But sources in Eleme revealed that the abduction of the chief's son might be connected with the staunch anti-terrorism campaign he had organised with the Eleme Petrochemical Company some of which workers were kidnapped recently.

However, no group had claimed responsibility for the abduction as at press time.

Nigeria Security Update #1 210707

Port Harcourt Shootings Increase (Wire Reports)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



Two Handicapped Men Suspected of Gun Running (Daily Champion)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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