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 260707

Bribes Given to Stay in Business Made by Wilbros (The Punch)

The United States Department of Justice on Wednesday, gave details of how a $6m (about N767.4m) bribe was allegedly given to officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

The bribe was in connection with the award of a $387m Eastern Gas Gathering System project.
The Department said that the scandal was not restricted to Nigeria.

It explained that, earlier this year, a US oil services company, Wilbros allegedly paid $10.5m to settle a securities-fraud class-action lawsuit accusing the firm of bribing government officials in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nigeria.

The claims of the Department of Justice were contained in some court documents that were obtained exclusively by The Punch on Wednesday.

The said documents, which were obtained on Wednesday by a US-based Nigerian news agency, Empowered Newswire, were filed before a Federal jury in the US.

In the papers, the US government indicted former Wilbros chief, Jason Edward Steph; two individuals acting in Nigeria as purported consultants to Wilbros; Nigeria-based employees of a major German engineering and construction company; and others.

The documents revealed that the aim of the conspiracy was to make corrupt payments to officials of the NNPC/NAPIMS, a senior official in government as well as officials of Shell Petroleum Development Company, to assist in retaining the EGGS business for Wilbros International Inc and its German partner.

According to USDJ, “Wilbros and German Construction Company formed a consortium, EGGS Consortium, and bid for EGGS coating work on EGGS Phase 1 that was approved for $387m in 2004.

“By 2004 and 2005, the consortium was, however, unable to get approval for EGGS phase 2.

“In and around late 2003 and 2004, defendant Steph, consultants 1 and 2, certain GCCB employees and others known to the Grand Jury, agreed to make a series of payments totaling in excess of $6m to and among others, officials of NNPC, NAPIMS, a senior official of the Federal Government of Nigeria as well as officials of SPDC, to assist in obtaining the EGGS project.”

The documents said that by 2004, some commitments were paid to the Nigerian officials.
Attempts by our correspondents to speak with the General Manager, Public Affairs, NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajonuma, were not fruitful as his telephone was switched off.

But a top official of the corporation challenged WII to identify the officials that were allegedly bribed to secure the gas contract in Nigeria.

The official, who spoke in confidence with our correspondents on the telephone on Wednesday, said that the corporation did not collect bribe from Wilbros, to approve the contract.

The official said, “Whoever said somebody took bribe from him should be able to mention the names of those he gave the bribe to, stating how much, where and when.”

He insisted that the idea of hiding the names of the culprits for security reasons was not good enough, as the reputation of the corporation was at stake.

He said that even if the culprits were highly placed officials of the corporation, they should be exposed.

“The International Police should come in here. Through the Interpol, it is possible to exchange security reports, instead of alleging bribery to faceless individuals,” he stated.

He argued that the NNPC/NAPIMS should not have been mentioned because the corporation could not have taken bribe as an institution.

The National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, said, “I have never heard of that name (Wilbros). I don’t know the company you are talking about. Let them be specific about the allegation.

“We did not run our party or campaign with any bribe money. There may be some people hiding somehwere and posing as PDP officials and collecting money.

“There are some people that I am fighting now. These people have, somehow, got my letterhead paper and signature and they are writing letters to people for favour.

“I don’t know them. If you know them, ask them to provide you with more information and we will react appropriately.”

Meanwhile, the new owners of Wilbros Nigeria Limited, have said that the current bribery scandal will not affect the company’s image in Nigeria.

Speaking with one of our correspondents on the telephone, the Chairman of the company, Mr. Henry Imasehka, said, “I don’t see how this will affect our image or operations in Nigeria.

“Our business partners know that we will not conduct ourselves in the same manner because the new owners are people of repute.”

He said that what was left of the EGGS contract had been concluded by the new owners, as the contract was on for over three years.

Steph, 37, a US citizen residing in Kazakhstan, was also charged with money laundering based on the international transfer of some of the bribe money.

Steph was a WII employee from 1998 to April 2005. From 2002 until April 2005, he served as general manager of WII’s on-shore operations in Nigeria, the Department of Justice said.

The Department said in exchange for the award of the EGGS project, the conspirators allegedly paid, promised to pay, and authorised payments to officials of NNPC, NAPIMS, a senior official in the executive branch of the Federal Government, and to political party, as well as to officials
of the operator of the EGGS joint venture.

Most of the payments were allegedly laundered through the consultants, who typically received three per cent of Wilbros’ contract revenue by wire transfer from Houston to a foreign bank, and transferred some or all of the funds to Nigerian officials.

The NNPC is responsible for developing Nigeria’s oil and gas wealth and regulating the industry.
It is the majority shareholder in certain joint ventures with multinational oil companies. The multinational oil companies often serve as the operators of the joint ventures.

Among other functions, NNPC and NAPIMS also approve the award of major oil and gas construction projects to private contractors such as Wilbros.


Bayelsa Speaker's Mother Abducted (This Day)

Gunmen suspected to be militants invaded the country home of the Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Werenipre Seibarugu, in Akiabiri, Yenagoa, on Tuesday night and kidnapped his 70-year-old mother.

Seibarugu, who was attending a parliamentary conference in South Africa along with some principal officers of the House, abandoned the event on learning of the kidnap of his mother and made for the country.

Also, an American Professor of Environment, Mr. Michael Watts from University of Berkeleys, United States of America, was yesterday morning shot and wounded in the arm by hoodlums who also dispossessed him of $600.

The fate of the speaker’s mother who was popularly called Madam Yenagoa was still unknown by last night.

THISDAY gathered that those who abducted her were also yet to make any demand for ransom.

It was learnt that the gunmen who seized Madam Yenagoa were dressed in military fatigues as they invaded the sleepy community of Akiabiri, in Ekpetiama, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

They allegedly came in two boats from the River Nun at about 8.30 pm.

The speaker’s mother also known as Madam Hansel in the community was taken from her bedroom by the militants who shot sporadically into the air to scare away villagers who might want to dare them, before whisking her to an unknown destination.

The speaker was immediately contacted by the state Governor, Mr. Timipre Sylva, who briefed him on the efforts by the police to ensure the safe return of the old woman.

Confirming the incident to newsmen in Yenagoa, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Julian Okpaleke, said five heavily armed youths carried out the kidnap.

He said one suspect had already been arrested and was helping the police in its investigation.
Okpaleke who could not say whether the kidnappers were militants or not, however, pointed out that they were armed.

He said they shot sporadically into the air before moving into the compound, where the woman was kidnapped.

Reacting to the incident, Sylva vowed to purge the state of criminal elements, which, according to him, were damaging the image and economy of the state.

In a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ebimo Amungo, the governor said he had initiated a strategy to rid the state of hostage takers.

Sylva said: “My Honourable Speaker, I want you to be strong in this time of trial. We share your pain and I can assure you that I will use all the resources available to me to help find your mother and bring these criminals to justice. My administration shall run a zero-tolerance policy against kidnappers in Bayelsa state”.

Sylva said government was working with security agencies in the state to ensure a quick release of the old woman, as well as bring the kidnappers to book.

A source at Yenagoa Government House told THISDAY that the speaker would head for the state today on arrival from South Africa.

It was also learnt that the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, may also head for Yenagoa to have dialogue with some militant groups in the state over the development.

Also speaking with newsmen on the incident, Personal Assistant to the Speaker on Media, Mr. Jonah Okah, said, “I have confirmed the kidnap of the mother of Speaker Seibarugu after speaking with his close family relatives. I am aware that government is making effort to unravel the incident.”

Okah described the kidnap as a bad omen for a state that was in dire need of development.
He, however, appealed to those who seized the woman to release her quickly.
The kidnap of relations of top politicians and businessmen ostensibly for ransom appears to be the new face of militancy in the Niger Delta.

But up till the kidnap of Seibarugu’s mother, the incident was restricted to Rivers State
Meanwhile, the news of the kidnap has paralysed activities in the state assembly.
The assembly complex wore a grave look as only a few security operatives stationed at the entrance were around.

The kidnap of the speaker’s mother came on the heel of reports that some members of the House of Assembly had initiated impeachment proceedings against the Speaker, Seibarogu and Deputy Governor, Mr. Peremobowei Ebebi.

But the assembly had on Monday denied that any such move was being contemplated.

The shooting of the American academic in Port Harcourt came yesterday as another employee in the oil sector simply identified as Elder Uchendu, was shot dead in his Ede Street in Ogbunabali, Port Harcourt by unknown gun men.

The incident occurred at about 11pm last Tuesday.

THISDAY learnt that the American was in the country to carry out a study in environment and communal conflicts in the Niger Delta had gone to National Point Newspaper, a local tabloid to interview reporters on their stable when the hoodlums stormed the office of the newspaper.

The men said to be four in number and armed were said to have made no pretences as they shot the gateman of the newspaper house many times on the leg before entering their newsroom where they also shot the American in the arm and demanded for the money.

A Nigerian human rights activist, Patrick Naangbaton, who latter rushed the American to an undisclosed hospital, said the gateman of the newspaper was critically injured and had to be moved from the first place he was taken to for a specialist attention.

Attempts by THISDAY to speak with the professor proved futile as he was said to be sleeping after taking medications.

Watts was said to have visited some of the environmentally degraded sites in the Niger Delta region and was just fine-tuning his materials through local media men who may have witnessed the incidents when he was attacked.

The killing of Elder Elendu came in controversial circumstances.

When his assailants succeeded in gaining entry into his apartment, they made straight for him and shot him severally.

On confirming that he was dead, they left his lifeless body and fled the scene before sympathisers who were attracted by the sound of the gunshots rushed him to a hospital where doctors confirmed him dead.



Port Harcourt Newspaper Attacked by Gunmen (Indymedia UK, Daily Champion)

At about 11 AM, the gunmen stormed the gate and and moved into the offices with sporadic shooting. Bullets shattered doors and left scars on the walls. Drawers and lockers were ransacked as the gunmen demanded for money and carted away 2 laptop computers and mobile phones belonging to Social Action and National Point volunteer and staff.

Professor Michael Watts of the University of California, Berkeley who was visiting the offices was a major target. He had since visited a Port Harcourt clinic to receive treatment from injury sustained during the attack.

The attackers shot Richard Kenneth, a security guard, in the leg. Richard has been taken to the Medicines Sans Frontiers trauma centre in Port Harcourt where he is receiving treatment for gunshot wounds.

Professor, Mark Watts, yesterday escaped death by the whiskers as gunmen attacked him at the premises of The National Point newspaper in the Diobu Line area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

But a Nigerian identified as Elder Echendu, was unlucky , in a separate incident as suspected armed robbers yesterday shot him dead at Ogbunabali in the city.

Daily Champion gathered that Watts got a hot chase from the unknown gunmen who trailed him from a branch of a first generation bank to the premises of the weekly community newspaper.

According to an eye-witness, who pleaded anonymity, the robbers caught up with the professor at the gate leading to the newspaper where they shot severally and wounded the security man on duty.

Though the American escaped unharmed, the robbers were said to have snatched two laptops and two GSM handsets from the employees of the newspaper.

Thereafter, they shot sporadically into the air to scare people and escaped.

The identity of the guard, who is said to be responding to treatment at a private hospital in the city, could not be ascertained at press time.

In a related development, another gang of robbers reportedly shot dead Echendu and snatched his Toyota Camry car.

Contacted for comments on the incidents, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Mrs. Ireju Barasua, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), while confirming the attacks said the police have recovered the two computers from the robbers who dumped them on the road.

Insecurity in the Niger Delta has escalated after the April, 2007 general elections with politicins of the ruling PDP seemingly unable to control thugs armed to rig the elections. However, in recent weeks, politically sponsored attacks by armed gangs and violent robberies have left dozens killed in the oil city of Port Harcourt, with residents now living in fear.

Nigeria Security Update #2 240707

Guns, Gangs & Drugs Fuel Delta Violence (IRIN)

Youths armed with pistols and Kalashnikovs barricaded all approaches to Victoria Street in Port Harcourt, the main city in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta, when a funeral took place there recently. With bandanas tied across their foreheads they searched people for weapons before letting them through. The funeral passed off without incident.

“Their action was meant to deter possible attacks by rival gangs,” said Benibo Alabo-Jack, a resident of adjoining Aggrey Road, who watched the scene warily from his balcony.

Traditionally funerals have been big social events in Port Harcourt and surrounding districts, providing the opportunity for the wealthy to show off by sponsoring feasting, and singing and dancing sometimes lasting several days.

More recently, funerals have provided a platform for the manifestation of an emerging gun culture that has gripped Port Harcourt and much of the 70,000sqkm delta region where nearly all of Nigeria's oil is produced, said Alabo-Jack.

“Most of those carrying weapons are youths aged 16-25,” he said.

A study in 2004 commissioned by Royal Dutch Shell, the biggest oil multinational in Nigeria, estimated 1,000 people, mostly youths, were dying every year in violence between rival militia groups in the Niger Delta.

More up-to-date figures are not available but violence in the region has worsened: It is dominated by hostage-taking targeting foreign oil workers who are usually released in exchange for a ransom, but has also sparked turf wars between rival gangs.

Worst violence since 2004

At least 20 people were shot dead on 1 July as rival gunmen went on the rampage in different parts of the city’s Diobu District. Many of the victims were innocent bystanders and included a 10-year-old girl who was helping her mother roast corn by a street corner, a pregnant woman hit by a stray bullet inside a church and three men shot dead while drinking at an open air bar.

This year has also seen the worst violence in the city since the first upsurge of militia violence in 2004, including two audacious attacks on police stations in which more than a dozen people were killed, including 10 policemen. In one of the attacks on the city's police headquarters, assailants freed Soboma George, head of a notorious militia known as the Outlaws, (who had been detained by the police following a traffic offence) and 124 other prisoners.

Politicians armed gangs?

The year 2004 had provided the tipping point for worsening violence in the region. In June that year a funeral procession led by the delta's best known militia leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, for the burial of his father, was attacked by a rival gang. While Dokubo-Asari escaped unhurt, more than a dozen people were killed. Scores were killed in subsequent gang violence in the city later that year.

The violence had stemmed from the 2003 general elections during which politicians were alleged to have armed gangs of youths to help them into power. Two prominent gang leaders acknowledged they had received funding and support from Rivers State governor Peter Odili.

With the election over, many armed groups in the region turned to the illegal trade in crude oil and refined petroleum siphoned from pipelines criss-crossing the delta, taken onto barges and sold locally or to foreign ships waiting offshore. The lucrative trade provided funds for the purchase of weapons that made the various groups even more lethal.

Drugs to the fore

While Dokubo-Asari turned political, and campaigned for more local control of Nigeria's oil wealth by the impoverished inhabitants of the delta, other gangs became more deeply involved in criminal rackets.

Gunrunning, kidnapping and extortion of ransom from oil companies remain a staple of most criminal rings in the region.

However, local and foreign security sources say drugs are increasingly playing a role in the escalation of violence and widespread availability of weapons in the Niger Delta.

“We are getting information that a lot of the violence between rival gangs is over who controls the drugs that are now coming into the delta in growing quantities,” said an oil industry security expert who spoke on condition of anonymity.

West Africa's stretch of the Gulf of Guinea has in recent years become a major transit zone for cocaine from South American drug cartels seeking narcotics routes into Europe and North America. Large drug hauls have been landed in remote air strips in places like Guinea Bissau, where they are broken up into smaller packets and taken to mules located in other places in West Africa.

An increasingly lawless Niger Delta has become an attractive route and many of the region's criminal gangs are cashing in, said security sources.

“Some of the ransom payments have definitely gone towards satisfying some drug cravings and that's why we're worried the kidnappings will get worse,” said a senior Nigerian police official who did not wish to be named.

Social crisis

As foreign oil workers become ever more scarce on the streets of Port Harcourt and other Niger Delta towns and cities, kidnappers are now picking Nigerian targets. At least four toddlers, including a three-year-old British girl, have been kidnapped in the past month by gunmen demanding ransoms. Several Nigerian oil workers have also been taken hostage in recent weeks.

“What we are witnessing are some of the worst manifestations of a social crisis that has been festering in the delta and the country as a whole in the past three decades,” said Pius Waritimi, a sculptor and art teacher who runs a government-backed skills training scheme for youths in Port Harcourt.

With most families in the grip of abject poverty, and deep-rooted corruption and mismanagement in government frustrating social development, most youths without education and skills have become cheap recruitment targets for the militias and gangs, said Waritimi.

“What is even more worrying is that for many of these youths the drug of choice in no longer marijuana but crack cocaine,” he added.


Gunmen Kill Two at Politician's Party (AFP)

An armed gang stormed a party hosted by politician in southern Nigeria's oil city of Port Harcourt and shot dead two guests, police said Tuesday.

Rivers state police spokesperson Ireju Barasua told AFP the incident occurred on Monday at a hotel in the city.

"The party was organised by the new Rivers Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Mr Dilly Elbraid to celebrate his appointment," she said.

Local papers said the gunmen arrived at the venue on a motorcycle, where they opened fire indiscriminately on guests, killing two instantly.

They said one of the victims was the look-alike younger brother of the commissioner.


Youth Key to Peace & Prosperity in Bayelsa State (Daily Champion)

The creation of Bayelsa State 'the glory of all lands' on October 1 1996 by the military junta of the dreaded dark goggled General Sani Abacha was received with great joy across all the Ijaw people of Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Edo states where they persistently played the second fiddle. The event was seen in several quarters as an epic and historic event in the annals of Nigeria. This was partly because despite the fact that the founders of modern Rivers State, King Alfred Diete - Spiff and Chief Melford Okilo, all hail from the present-day Bayelsa, there was nothing significant to show for that great feat as the area making the present-day Bayelsa was a typical rural setting. Rather, the developmental strides that were recorded by these men of history in the old Rivers State were all centred in Port Harcourt, the state capital. Another historic element to the state creation, pundits say, was its near monolithic status as a unique conglomeration of Ijaw ethnic group, in one enclave. To crown it all, the strategic importance of the state in the federation is overwhelming as it accounts for about 40 per cent of all oil and gas produced in the Nigerian federation.

The endless potentials of Bayelsa state cannot be overemphasised as is apparent in the numerous opportunities that abound in the young state. These include tourism and agricultural potentials, large deposit of solid minerals and oil and gas. For instance, I was excited when I first sighted the breathtaking Okpoma and Akassa Beaches all in Brass local government as they provide a rare opportunity to relish the Atlantic Ocean's syrupy and its charming view from an extraordinary perspective. The Port City of Twon Brass, also in Brass local government where large proportion of the oil export cargo and crude tonnage are being shipped daily with corresponding discoveries in other local government areas are good examples of the rich endowments of this state that has lately become a mix bag of paradox.

Recently the discovery of over 400 million barrels of oil and an estimated half a trillion cubic feet of gas by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Gbarain in Yenagoa local government has been described as the one of the greatest of all findings by the multinational oil giant in recent times.

Agricultural potentials of the state are largely untapped as all efforts have been centred on oil exploration. For example the vast palm plantation in Elebele in Ogbia local government and the huge rice plantation in Peremabiri in Southern Ijaw local government have the capacity to mop up thousands of unemployed and restive youth from the creeks and streets if properly harnessed.

However, despite all these great wealth-creating opportunities, the state has been mired in an acme of unmitigated and traumatic crises of absurd proportion. These ugly scenarios gave birth to hostage taking, pipeline vandalisation, closure of flow stations and a general sense of insecurity in the state and other parts of the oil rich region with the snowballing consequences of enormous revenue loss, human and economic sacrifices. Bayelsa today is agonizingly a story of a rich but poor state. What an irony! There is no doubt that all these have become a boil on the state scrotum as well as other Niger Delta states.

But there is something to cheer about from Bayelsa which this piece seeks to advocate for other troubled spots in the region - the creation of Ministry of Youth, Conflict Resolution and Employment Generation.

The tripod ministry has a clear cut mandate of addressing youth matters, conflict management/resolution and employment generation with matching directorates to be guided by seasoned professionals; Nengi J. James (youth development) Richard Ogugu (employment generation) and Philips O. Okolo (Conflict Resolution). Being the first of its kind in the region, the import of the ministry must be seen from its proper perspective as the most important bureau in the state that must be supported by well-meaning Nigerians especially the oil companies. It also goes a long way to say the government of Bayelsa State has been in touch with media commentaries and newspaper editorials about the region, contrary to critics' conjectures. Despite the fact that cynics have received the move as one of those usual government platitudes, the idea behind the ministry if properly harnessed by all stakeholders in the state, will go a long way in addressing the combined problems of youth restiveness/conflict and unemployment and other sundry crimes which have bedevilled the state in recent times.

The underpinnings of the three-in-one-ministry if carefully nurtured will give room for a coherent and penetrative cure-all to the problems of negative youth activities in the state considering the personality appointed to head the ministry. It is time we promoted the central dogma of politics in our clime. It is said that politics is valuable only when it is geared towards guaranteeing social felicity to the citizenry.

The Bayelsa example is worthy of note because it refines the whole concept of modern youth activism, as youth with ethical deficits may not be given a chance in governance. Integrity here seems a compulsory qualification, perhaps that was the reason behind the appointment of an esteemed youth leader, Mr. Maxwell Oko, as the pioneer head of the ministry. For those who know the youthful 32-year-old commissioner, his name is synonymous with Ijaw Youth Council (IYC). As the central zone Chairman and Vice President to Alhaji Mujaheed Dokubo-Asari, Mr. Oko, among other leaders like the pioneer President of the youth pressure group Felix Tuodolor, had a genuine dream.

They inspired their fellow youths with the legitimacy of their vision, they were purpose-driven chaps; they were never an amorphous gang of hostage takers. The common good of the Ijaw nation inspired their greatest vision and drove their untainted resolve. They were true patriots. The present leadership of IYC can learn a lot from their successes and challenges as they managed the struggle as an entity without splinter groups. Mr. Oko led his group in a more organised struggle that was devoid of factions and bickering as represented in today's agitation. They asked à la Kennedy, what they could do for Ijawland, not what the oil rich region can do for them or how much they can extract from expatriate oil workers via hostage taking. The emphasis then was on what they can contribute; they knew then that when their troubled land was good, everybody including an Igalaman in Kogi State will benefit. And when it implodes into brazen criminality as the case today, the negative tendencies will configure itself into social dissonance that will culminate into economic loss to the nation and the local communities.

Having worked in the oil and gas sector as pioneer Special Adviser to the immediate past Minister of Energy, Dr Edmund Daukoru, the onus now is on Mr. Oko to bring his experience to bear especially as regards the challenges facing hundreds of qualified Bayelsans that have been 'denied' access to professional jobs in the oil and gas sector. Also the oil companies should tell the ministry the total number of Bayelsans under their pay roll. Having worked as an erudite consultant on youth development/employment generation to many companies and development agencies in the region, the honourable commissioner must jettison the glamour and allure of office and work tirelessly as he did during his tenure as Central Zone Chairman of IYC for the emancipation of the state that has continuously become popular albeit negatively.

While the oil companies seek meaningful partnership with genuine government policies and agencies aimed at addressing the lingering problems of the region for proper business environment, the Bayelsa model should be explored as various militant groups have publicly pledged to support one of their own in finding a lasting solution to the problems of the beleaguered region. The Yenagoa example has several lessons for other youth in the creeks to learn from - that beyond the veneer of activism lies great benefit for unadulterated and educated youth leaders. This can earn the Niger Delta youth an enviable place in the society, what with the appointment of another young and dynamic IYC stalwart and former National President of the National Union of Bayelsa State Students (NUBSS), Mr Samuel Ogbuku as the Chief of Staff (COS) Government House Yenagoa.

In summary, the government of Bayelsa State has understood the prevailing circumstances of the region and made youths empowerment a cardinal state policy. This tendency carries enormous weight as global attention has been on the state as a hub of boisterous youths' activities. Happy youth, happy Bayelsa, happy Niger Delta and prosperous Nigeria!

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.