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 290707

Changing Tactics in the Niger Delta -- Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

*Bayelsa in frantic search for abducted septuagenarian mother of speaker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rivers State Bloody Week in Review (Sunday Vanguard)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NCAA Threatens to Degrade Airports (This Day)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Collapsed Lagos - Badagry Road Causing Strife (Vanguard)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nigeria Security Update #1 100707

Four More Oil Workers Abducted

Four more people have been abducted in the Niger Delta, authorities said on Monday, underscoring insecurity in Nigeria's oil-producing region hours after a 3-year-old British girl was freed by her kidnappers.

Margaret Hill was released on Sunday night after four days in the hands of unknown ransom seekers who snatched her from the car in which she was being driven to school on July 5 in Port Harcourt, the delta's main city.

On Monday, Britain's Foreign Office said a Briton was among two foreign workers kidnapped on Sunday night from a production barge near Calabar in Cross River state -- an area in the east of the southern delta that is usually relatively safe and peaceful. A Bulgarian foreign ministry official confirmed one of its nationals was the other worker kidnapped in the attack.

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell said one of its teams had been attacked in Rivers state in the delta on Saturday and two Nigerian workers had been taken hostage.

Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo said gunmen had attacked the workers while they were repairing the Soku-Buguma trunk line, an oil pipeline that had only just been repaired on July 2 after being sabotaged in 16 different places in 60 days.

Okolobo said the team attacked on Saturday had been repairing three new leaks. He said no output was affected because the pipeline had been sabotaged so many times that production had been diverted through another line.

Nigerian oil production is currently down by more than 20 percent because of militant attacks on oil facilities.

Supply disruptions in Nigeria, the world's eighth-biggest oil exporter, have pushed up world oil prices and on Monday analysts cited news of the new kidnappings as one of the factors in a price spike above $76 per barrel.
NEGLECT

Oil from the delta has enriched foreign oil firms and corrupt Nigerian governments for five decades but the region has been neglected to the point that there are few basic services.

This state of affairs breeds militancy and crime. Some armed groups attack the oil industry to press their demand for "resource control" or local power over oil revenues, but numerous criminal gangs have made hostage takings a business.

The main rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said on Monday the abduction of the British toddler was unrelated to political violence and the struggle for resource control would continue.

"This criminal act against a minor was perpetrated by common thieves and even as they have released the child, I promise you their punishment is unspeakable," said the MEND spokesman, who uses the pseudonym Jomo Gbomo.

"This incident changes nothing amongst the groups truly agitating for resource control in the Niger Delta," he said.

Abductions of adult expatriates are so frequent in the Niger Delta that they rarely make headlines in Nigerian newspapers, but the kidnapping of Margaret Hill drew outrage from the government as well as from politically motivated armed groups.

About 200 foreigners have been snatched in the delta since the start of 2006. Most were released unharmed.

A small number of abductions in the Niger Delta are carried out by MEND and other rebel groups seeking to press their demand for resource control, but most are the work of ransom seekers.


Militants Set to Talk with President (Vanguard)

PRESIDENT Umaru Yar’Adua is to meet with Niger-Delta militants in Abuja soon over their demand for the creation of two more states - Oil Rivers and Toruebe for the Ijaws and an additional Local Government Area in Bayelsa State, as part of the conditions for peace to reign in the region.

It was learnt with authority yesterday that the demand for the creation of two more Ijaw states and one more Local Government in Bayelsa State to bring the present seven Local Governments to eight were made to the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan by leaders of the militant groups in the region when he visited them in the creek recently.

Dr. Jonathan reportedly told the militants that he, as Vice President, could not guarantee the creation of two more Ijaw states and a Local Government in Bayelsa, suggesting that it was his boss, President Umaru Yar’Adua that had the power to give a dependable answer.
“It was on this basis”, hinted our source, “that it was agreed that the militants would meet with President Umaru Yar’Adua.”

The date for the meeting could not be confirmed, yesterday, but Dr. Jonathan is facilitating the parley between Yar’Adua and the militants.

Asked if the militant leaders would attend the meeting with Yar’Adua personally, our source said some of them would be there while others would send their representatives.
Besides, Vanguard gathered that the militants agreed to cease hostilities for three months to give the Federal Government opportunity to address their demands, and not the earlier one month, which had already lapsed, that a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) gave the government previously.

To ensure that all the militant groups in the region were carried along in the high-level parley with the government, the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND), Niger-Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) boss, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari and others recently convened an enlarged meeting of Ijaw freedom fighters at Oporoza, the administrative headquarters of Gbaramatu kingdom to brief the entire Ijaw youths.

The meeting, held, last Thursday, was attended by Ijaw youth leaders from all over the country but it was not conclusive, as it was shifted to this weekend, to enable other representatives attend the meeting.


Lonestar Evacuates Workers (Guardian)

SIX days after five of its expatriate workers were abducted by unknown gunmen in Rivers State, an oil firm, Lonestar Drilling Company, has evacuated 120 of its employees from the Nembe area of Bayelsa State.

The oil firm's move followed fresh threats of attack from militants.

A source disclosed to The Guardian that the oil company received a fresh threat by militants demanding an unspecified amount of money from it.

The militants were reported to have threatened to attack the oil firm if it failed to provide the demanded sum of money.

Meanwhile, the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has condemned the abduction of workers of Lonestar Drilling Company and reiterated that hostage-taking was not only sending negative signals to the outside world, but also having adverse effects on businesses in the Niger Delta.

With the whereabouts of the five expatiates who were abducted from Soku in Akuku-Toru Local Council Area of Rivers State still unknown, the management of the oil services company which drills for Shell Petroleum Development Company decided at the weekend to evacuate all its workers from Nembe.

The kidnapped Lonestar expatiates are messes Kiwis Brent Goddard and Bruce Klenner both from New Zealand; Jason Lane, Australia; George Saliba of Lebanon and Andreas Gambra from Venezuela.

Piqued by the persistent attacks on oil workers, the spokesperson of PETAN, Mr. Bank-Anthony Okorafor, warned that hostage-taking and kidnapping was having adverse effect on the oil service industry in the Niger Delta, particularly in Rivers State.

He said: "We believe the world has heard our message. We advise the hostage-takers to desist from this act which is turning our vibrant Rivers State into a ghost town with the consequence of companies relocating out of the state and the resultant loss of jobs, loss of revenue as well as inability to develop and sustain capacity and loss of entrepreneurial development."

Okorafor implored the militants to encourage the development of local entrepreneurs and send positive signals to the outside world that Rivers State is a good place to invest in and do business.

"The time is now for us to all come to the table for a more constructive dialogue that will see the transformation of our Niger Delta. Nigeria belongs to us all, enough is enough, let hostage-taking not be a brand name for us in the Niger Delta so that we don't have to live with it for the rest of our lives. We are a smart group of people. So, let us work toward that goal," he added.


Naked Man Causes Concern on Abuja Highway (Daily Trust)

A naked man was last Friday night seen crying for help at a lonely spot at Kugbo along the Abuja- Keffi highway. The man, whose identity could not be ascertained, appeared huge and was standing by the road side between Mogadishu barracks and Kugbo, in the Federal Capital Territory

The reporter observered the man waving at motorists to come to his rescue at 9.30pm, in a spot very close to where a civil servant was burnt inside his car last year. Drivers instead of waiting to help the man increased their speed and the driver of the bus that carried the reporter described the spot as a criminal's den.

"That is a bad spot where people's cars are snatched and robbed people are dumped," the driver said. He said any person who stops at that place would risk having his car snatched. Passengers in the bus were of different opinion of what must have happened to the man.

While one of them said the man might have escaped from ritualists, another stated that he could have been a victim of car robbery, who might have disposed him of his car and clothes. One of the passengers reasoned that it would be good if the police take their check point to that spot instead of close to AYA in Asokoro.

"The police are aware of that spot and I wonder why somebody should build a structure close to the place and inside a bush," a female passenger said.

The reporter sent a text message to the police hotlines and the FCT police spokesperson, Nwoaha Uzoma said he passed through the place and did not see the man. He advised motorists to always report such incidents to the nearest police station for immediate action.

Nigeria Security Update #1 090707

Toddler Home

Margaret Hill, the three-year-old British girl kidnapped in Nigeria, has been freed.
She is back with her family who say she is in good health. No ransom was paid.

An offical said the youngster was handed over to state security servces in Port Harcourt, where she was snatched on Thursday.

Her father Mike Hill told Sky News she had been in the jungle and was covered in mosquito bites Otherwise she was fine.

Mr Hill, who works in the Nigerian oil industry, said: "She has not told us anything yet."

He added: "The pressure has been unbelievable. We stopped eating and couldn't think of anything else.

"The kidnappers did not say who they were, but we don't think they were rebels

"They wanted to swap Margaret for myself but the police said 'no'.

"They also demanded a ransom, but we did not pay anything."

Gunmen grabbed the child from the car in which she was being driven to school when it got stuck in traffic.

Margaret's mother Oluchi said the kidnappers had called her, first demanding the swap and then money.

Mrs Hill said the kidnappers had also threatened to kill her daughter.

Abductions for ransom are common in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where Port Harcourt lies.

However, it is rare for children to be targeted.

Margaret's abduction sparked outrage in Nigeria, not least among militant groups.

They said it would only serve to undermine their campaign for greater local control of oil revenues.


Oil Companies Fed Up

Total SA, Europe’s third largest oil company has said crude production in Nigeria is threatened by insecurity in the West African nation.

“We have decided with other oil companies, especially Shell, that the situation cannot continue like this over the long term,’’ the Chief Executive Officer, Total, Christophe de Margerie, told reporters on Saturday on the sidelines of a conference in Aix-en-Provence.

“We need lasting solutions for this instability.”

Oil production, the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, fell to 2.15million barrels a day in the first quarter from 2.34million barrels in the same period of 2006, the Central Bank of Nigeria on Saturday said.

The drop was caused by the “continued restiveness in the Niger Delta area,” which accounts for all the country’s oil output, it added.

More than 200 expatriates have been kidnapped since the start of last year by militants and other criminal groups in the oil-producing region.

A three-year-old British girl was abducted on July 5, the third child to be kidnapped in the area, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

A day before the girl’s kidnapping, Nigerian gunmen abducted five expatriate workers from a Lonestar rig that was working for Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Nigerian venture in the Soku field.

Shell’s venture, the Shell Petroleum Development Co, pumps about half of Nigeria’s oil.

Almost two-thirds of the company’s daily production has been halted as a result of leaks, community disputes and militant attacks.


Asari Vehicle Carjacked

A Land Cruiser Jeep, belonging to the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has been snatched by suspected armed robbers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

According to sources close to the Niger Delta ‘nationalist’, as he prefers to be called, Dokubo-Asari was not in the black Jeep when it was snatched around the Agip Junction area of Port Harcourt at gunpoint.

The sources said that the jeep was being taken to where it was bought for servicing when the robbers blocked it with their vehicle and took it at gunpoint, adding that it was bought just a day before it was snatched.

"The robbers took the car with its occupants as 'hostages', drove them to the waterside and ordered them out.

The leader and spokesperson of the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), Cynthia Whyte, confirmed the incident, but said since he was not in town when the incident took place, he did not have enough details on it.

When called for confirmation, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, said no such report had reached his office.

In another development, there are fears that three unidentified expatriates might have been abducted by a group of armed hoodlums in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

The expatriates, said to have been abducted around Elekahia area of the city, could not be identified as at press time.

Though Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Ireju Barasua, said she had heard of the kidnap, she said she had no further detail.


Airport Traffic Causing Missed Flights (Nigerian Tribune)

Road traffic situation at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, has worsened as many travellers now miss their flights as a result of frequent traffic congestion.

The congestion, which has made movement for airport workers and passengers difficult, was traced to the right granted vehicles outside the airport to use the airport road as an alternative to get to their destinations.

This negates the civil aviation rules as against emrgency periods. According to findings, most of the vehicles now drive through the airport as a way of beating traffic on public roads and for safety.

Some of them are said to be prepared to pay any amount as toll at the gate to have access to the airport road.

Following the problem, especially between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., when international flights begin their chek-in, it takes travellers close to two hours to move from the local to the international wing, a situation which makes them miss their flights.

The development is coming even as the terminal building of the international airport is becoming congested for passengers.

The congestion is noticeable at the departure hall and the passport control areas where arriving passengers are screened by security officers before going to board.

The situation often leads to passengers going through inconveniences during check-in of their luggage and other security protocols, a situation further compounded by the influx of passengers’ relations who come to see off their loved ones.

Some passengers who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune on the development said that there was urgent need to expand the airport to change the situation and make the atmosphere more conducive.

How Militants Paralyzed Bayelsa's Economy (Nigerian Tribune)

Although the constancy of hostage taking in the oil-rich Niger Delta region has nose-dived in recent times, Soji Ajibola examines its impact on the socio-economic development of Bayelsa State, which has struggled tenaciously to end the scourge in its areas of jurisdiction.

Created in 1996, Bayelsa State remains one of the underdeveloped states in the country, no thanks to hostage takings and other related vices perpetrated by the suspected militant youths under the excuse of fighting for their legitimate rights. Multi-national oil companies operating in the state are on the verge of relocating to neighbouring states as a result of what they described as insecurity to lives and property.

Successive administrations in the state had tried to put a stop to what the vice-president, the then the governor of the state, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, described as “criminal act”, blaming some traditional rulers in the state of aiding and abetting the committal of these crimes. This development has led to the abandonment of most of the on-going developmental projects in the state. Besides, millions of naira are also being deducted from the monthly allocation of the state as debts incurred as a result of ransom paid on hostage taking in the state.

Also, the ongoing dualisation of the East-West Road has been temporarily stopped as a result of threats to lives and property by one of the major contractors handling the project. The development was confirmed by the outgone president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, during the ground-breaking of the Brass Liquified Natural Gas in Twon Brass. One of the contractors wrote to the president of his intention to pull out of the project because of threats to the company’s property and lives of its workers, especially foreigners.

As if this was not enough, the monthly allocation of the state for the month of June 2007 dropped sharply to N4billion and this may affect the continuation of some of the projects embarked upon by the former administration in the state. This development has forced the present administration to cut down its expenses. To redeem the image of the state, Governor Timipre Sylva, after being welcomed into the state by the militants with the kidnapping of nine oil workers at the platform of the National Agip Oil Company, took the responsibility upon himself to defy every odd to visit the militants in their den.

Sylva left the state capital with some top government functionaries and headed for Ogboinbiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state to engage the militants in what could be best described as meaningful discussion. The visit eventually paid off as the governor was not only recognised and accorded due respect by the militants, but the captives were also released without payment of any ransom. The governor, who said he identified with the plight of the militants, said before any discussion could take place, the hostages must be released and they obliged his request, after which they were told to be civil in their approach to issues, most especially issues relating to the operations of the oil companies in the region. After the discussion, the governor returned to the state around 12 midnight with the hostages.

The people of the state actually heaved a sigh of relief with the visit of the governor to the area. But, then, this was short-lived as militants struck again on what they described as “reprisal attack” in protest against the killing of their colleagues by the government’s task force set up to dislodge them and end militancy in the region. The militants took over the Agip flow station and forced the stoppage of the oil exploration.

This development led to the state losing millions of dollars. Apart from this, nine militants were felled by the soldiers’ bullets. Although some soldiers were said to have been wounded, the casualties’ rate was more on the part of the militants than the security forces. The governor was disturbed on hearing the news and decided to engage in meaningful talks with all the stakeholders in the state so as to find lasting solutions to the militants’ attacks on the oil installation, having known the danger it portends for the socio-economic development of the state.

Most of the attacks were hinged on the call for the release of the self-styled leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo. But the surprising aspect was that barely a few days after Asari was released on bail by the Federal High Court, Abuja, the militants struck again, leaving 12 of his (Asari’s) members dead. Many people, including indigenes and non-indigenes of the state, fled the area as a result of insecurity. Also, the staff of NAOC stopped exploration activities.

However, the governor, while receiving Asari, allayed the fear of the people over the development, saying that the military was now fully in charge of the flow station while exploration activities were expected to resume any moment from now.

End to hostage taking, in the governor’s opinion, is the responsibility of all and sundry, including elders from the region. This challenge prompted Asari to volunteer to fight hostage taking to a standstill in the state. “Ijaw people are not known for criminality and the struggle has nothing to do with hostage taking and related vices”, he told the governor.

Although the multi-national oil companies operating in the region are largely said to be insensitive to the plight of the people, that does not justify the involvement of youths in the area in criminal activities. Asari said that there are other civil ways to make their demands known not only to Nigerians but also to the outside world. Asari has begun consultations with various interest groups in the region with the aim of finding lasting solutions to the social menace (particularly hostage taking) in the region. Many youths, according to him, are jobless, that is why they take to crime.

On his part, he said that he has established a skill acquisition centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. This, according to him, would go a long way in addressing the problem of hostage taking in the region if other state governments established similar centres to train their jobless youths in various vocations.

In any case, the state governments and the respective oil companies are part of the problems. Many top government functionaries are said to be serving as intermediaries between the government and the militants ostensibly because of what they tend to gain from the ransom paid to the militants before the release of hostages in their custody. It is wrong, according to Asari-Dokubo, for both the government and the affected oil companies to pay ransom before securing the release of the expatriates.

Asari stated that shortly after his release, some suspected militant youths went after the staff of Schlumberger and demanded for N100million before they could be released. The company said they could only pay N24million and the militants refused. "Even though some of the militant youths have been threatening to kill me because of my uncompromising stand on the issue of ransom, the more I hear of this death threat, the more I become annoyed. When I was informed of these militants' demand for the N24m ransom, I told them that if truly these people are held hostage because of my incarceration, now that I have been released, these people should also be released.

"I told the company not to pay them more than N24million and this is what they were given. Even though the said amount has been paid, the approach is wrong. The act must be discouraged. Bayelsa is the only state that we, Ijaws, can call our own and if we pursue all the foreigners away from our land, then, how can we be talking of development?" That indeed is food for thought for wayward “militants”, who have criminalised the genuine struggle for the development of the Niger Delta region.

Nigeria Security Update #1 020707

Six Dead After Militants Clash in Port Harcourt (DPA, Xinhua)

Four people were killed in a clash took place on Saturday in Nkpor-Rumuolumeni near Port Harcourt, the capital city of Nigeria's southeastern Rivers State, local newspapers reported on Sunday.

Six people were killed in a clash between two militant cult groups Sunday in Port Harcourt, the River State capital in the Niger Delta.

The clash on Saturday, which forced hundreds of persons to flee their home, also caused millions of losses measured by local currency of naira, said the Guardian, a leading national newspaper of the country, in its publication reaching here on Sunday.

Residents of the area were quoted by the newspaper as saying that about 30 young men invaded the community at about 01:30 local time (00:30 GMT) on Saturday and destroyed some houses and valuable properties.

The invaders used dynamites during their attack, some eye witness said.

According to the newspaper, Saturday's attack could be a reprisal attack by supporters of the murdered president of Rumuolumeini Youth Council and formal deputy chairman of the country's oil workers' union, Golden Isi, who was killed on June 25 by some unknown gunmen.

Local reports of Sunday's battle said that one of the two groups was the dreaded Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.

The reports did not identify the other group.

The groups battled at Abakaliki Road in Port Harcourt over which was genuinely interested in the welfare of the people of the Niger Delta, labelling each other as sellouts.

Rivers State police spokeswoman Ireju Barasua told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that those killed in Sunday's shootout had been deposited in mortuaries.

"By Monday, a clearer picture must have emerged, and we shall be able to give you further details," she said.

U.S. Consulate Issues Warden Message

U.S. Consulate General LAGOS

NIGERIA

July 2, 2007

Warden Message

This Warden Message is being issued to advise American citizens that there has been a recent increase in the reporting of criminal activity impacting the expatriate community in Lagos. This reporting indicates a trend involving armed criminal gangs targeting small hotels, guesthouses and restaurants on Ikoyi and Victoria Island. During these attacks the criminals enter the property by force or stealth, take control of it and proceed to rob the guests and staff of their valuables. In the case of hotels, the criminals have gone door-to-door in a methodical manner and forced their way into individual rooms. In one recent case, an American citizen was killed after armed robbers entered his hotel room.

The U.S. Consulate General Lagos has advised its American citizen personnel and family members to take the following actions if they are the victims of a robbery attempt:

· Try to stay calm. Don't make any sudden movements to upset the robber;

· Do exactly as you are told, DO NOT resist or make eye contact!

· If you have to move, tell the robber what you are going to do and why;

· Don't be a hero. It's better to lose your money than your life;

· Give the robber time to leave;

· Note his direction of travel when he leaves;

· Try to get a description of his vehicle ONLY if you can do so without exposing yourself to harm.
There also has been an increase in reliable reports of armed robberies in and around Ikoyi, but more specifically the area of Osborne Road-Dolphin Estate. The criminals time their attacks to coincide with traffic traveling between Ikoyi and the mainland in the early evening to capitalize on the inevitable congestion and lower moving traffic. Criminals have previously set up roadblocks masquerading as police checkpoints and used other ruses to ambush unsuspecting motorists traveling between the airport and the islands in the Kingsway Road-2nd Avenue area and along the Third Mainland Bridge, particularly in the early morning hours (0400-0500).

The U.S. Consulate General Lagos has advised its American citizen personnel and family members to take the following precautions to avoid becoming the victim of a carjacking or robbery while in their vehicle:

• In traffic, look around for possible avenues of escape;

• While difficult in Lagos, do your best to keep some distance between you and the vehicle in front so you can maneuver easily if necessary – about one-half of your vehicle's length. (You should always be able to see the rear tires of the vehicle in front of you);

• When stopped, use your rear and side view mirrors to stay aware of your surroundings. Also keep your doors locked and windows up. This increases your safety and makes it more difficult for an attacker to surprise you.

The following actions should be taken if one becomes the victim of a carjacking or robbery while in a car:

• In most carjacking situations, the attackers are interested only in the vehicle – give up the car freely, do not resist or argue;

• Try to stay calm;

• Make the attacker aware if children are present;

• Listen carefully to all directions;

• Make no quick or sudden movements that the attacker could construe as a counter attack and avoid eye contact;

• Always keep your hands in plain view and tell the attacker of every move in advance;

• If prompted, get out of car while keeping your hands in plain view at all times;

• On demand, offer cash;

• Depart the scene as soon as possible.

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

Militants Abduct Oil Workers in Defiance of VP's Visit

Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Sunday, disclosed that some workers of the American oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, had been kidnapped by the Niger Delta militants at Okerenkoko, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta state.

Uduaghan said the oil workers were abducted on Thursday, shortly after the Vice-President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, departed the creeks of Delta state.

He said the militants were protesting the failure of Jonathan to visit their communities on Thursday.

Uduaghan, who made this revelation, did not however reveal the number of oil workers abducted by the militants.

Uduaghan, in his message at the commencement of a 7-day prayer session declared by the Niger Delta Development Commission for the restoration of peace to Niger Delta at the Word of Life Bible Church, Warri, on Sunday, said some workers of CNL were abducted by the militants on Thursday.

Uduaghan said the oil workers were yet to be freed as at Sunday.

He said, ”Following logistic problems, the VP could not touch all the communities he was scheduled to touch.

“This sparked up another round of anger in the land on Thursday.

”The people got angry and felt they were left out. They even went as far as taking some workers of Chevron hostage, and we are on that, trying to calm and manage the situation up till Saturday evening.”

Udughan, however, accused the leaders and youths of the region of being the masterminds of the increasing act of abduction of expatriates, especially oil workers, in the region.

Uduaghan also decried the increasing involvement of the elders and leaders of the region in criminal activities.

He added that the development was unfortunate, saying that the prevailing insecurity in the region had led to exodus of investors from the area.

Uduaghan also stated that some investors had fled the region in the past few weeks.

Responding, an official of the CNL, who preferred anonymity said, “To the best of my knowledge, nothing like that happened.

“ We are aware that Mr. Vice-President and the governor visited the area on Thursday, but was not told of any incident.

Syrian Abducted from Port Harcourt (Vanguard)

Militants struck again in the early hours of yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital and kidnapped a Syrian, Mr. John Daher.

Seven gunmen, according to the Rivers State Police Command Public Relations Officer, waylaid a Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) bus inside which the Syrian was riding along Ero Road, off Olu Obasanjo Road, New Government Reservation Area, Port Harcourt.

Daher is a project engineer with a Port Harcourt based firm, Sputoland.

No group has, however, claimed responsibility for the kidnap, which was the second within a week in the Rivers State capital.

Human Rights Group Praises Jonathan (Vanguard)

Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Delta State, weekend, applauded the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for his recent visit to the creeks of Delta State but suggested that future meetings of the Presidential Committee for the Socio-Economic Development of the Coastal States should, henceforth, be held in the creeks of the Niger Delta region and not in Aso Rock, Abuja.

Chairman of Delta CDHR, Mr. Oghenjabor Ikimi told Vanguard in an interview, yesterday, in Warri, “It is when the meeting is held in the creeks that government can fully appreciate the plight of the people living in the creeks in a bid to fast track the infrastructural development of the entire region”.

Mr Ikimi also commended President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua for having the courage to fulfill his campaign promise to the people by declaring his assets and liabilities publicly.

“This singular act”, he said, “has further portrayed the President and Commander-In -Chief of the Armed Forces, as a leader that is prepared to fight corruption head-on and lead by example”.

“ We call on all other public office holders in Nigeria to emulate the example of Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar-Adua in this regard in the interest of good governance”, he added.

His words, “We as a body, have resolved to draft and sponsor a private bill to be tagged transparency and public accountability bill to the National Assembly, which when passed into law, would amongst other things, compel the executive operators of the three tiers of government to publish on a monthly basis a statement of accounts of all monies received from the Federation Account, assets, expenditures and liabilities for interested members of the public to peruse in the interest of transparency and accountability”.

“Furthermore, the proposed bill when it becomes an Act of parliament would also compel executive operators of the three tiers of government to always demand that public sign post be erected by government contractors on all government project sites showing amongst other things, the amount such contracts are awarded by government so that members of the public can have a first hand information on how government disburses and spends monies kept in the public treasuries for capital projects”, he asserted.

Future Peace in the Niger Delta -- Analysis (Mail & Guardian)

Most people get perhaps one chance in a lifetime to make a truly grand entrance. Not so Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, the Ijaw leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) who was released on bail and returned to Port Harcourt in late June after spending 20 months in detention on charges of treason. The huge crowd that turned out to welcome him was even bigger than the crowd of October 2 2004, when he returned from peace talks with then-president Olusegun Obasanjo after months of violence between the NDPVF and the Niger Delta Vigilante, an armed group funded by the government of Rivers State. Asari was arrested in 2005 after he said during a newspaper interview that he would work for the break-up of Nigeria. Following his incarceration, violence in the Niger Delta escalated and a new group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, emerged and began taking foreign oil workers hostage. The huge support for Asari confirms his charismatic leadership, but it also underlines the fact that people in the Niger Delta hunger for a change in their poor living conditions. Dr Sofiri Peterside, a director of the Centre for Advanced Social Science, based in Port Harcourt, said: "Asari has demonstrated that he is a charismatic hero of the people, going by the massive crowd that went to the airport and lined the streets to welcome him from Abuja. His return also underlines the reality that there can be no dialogue on the Niger Delta without the participation of people like him." A source from the Ijaw community told the Mail & Guardian that Ijaw leaders had worked hard to get Asari released before he was scheduled to appear in court because they were concerned that Asari, known for being mercurial, might have insulted the judge and frustrated efforts to free him. Asari said he was "not aware of any conditional release. I was not in court when it was decided that I was granted bail. I was surprised to hear that I had been granted bail." Asari has returned to a Niger Delta of rising acts of violence, including hostage-taking of foreign oil workers for ransom, attacks on oil facilities and bunkering, the illegal siphoning and sale of crude oil by armed groups. As if to underline the gravity of the tension in the area, the Nigerian Agip Oil Company recently had to declare force majeure, following its failure to meet supply obligations. This followed an attack by armed men on a flow station at Ogboinbiri, which has a daily output of 40 000 barrels. At least 11 Nigerian soldiers are believed to have been killed in the attack. The attack followed another by the Joint Task Force, responsible for security in the waterways of the oil-rich area, which led to the killing of nine men believed to be militants. After the attacks, the government ordered more gunboats to be deployed in the area. Meanwhile, Asari's release by the new government of Umar Musa Yar'Ardua is seen as a conciliatory gesture by an administration that seems intent on sending a message that it will not pursue the hardline military approach of the previous government. The Obasanjo government displayed a brittle intolerance for any challenge from the militant groups and continued to deploy troops to troubled areas, even though the soldiers often ended up being humiliated by the fighters. Asari's return to the Niger Delta is expected to be the first step in a process of dialogue with the people of the region, who have been engaged in decades of conflict with the Nigerian state over issues of self-determination, the practice of true federalism and the adoption of revenue sharing between the central government and the Niger Delta states. Much is expected of Asari. He started off well by continuing to condemn the practice of hostage-taking by many of the militant groups, a position he held even in detention. When he was released he said: "The criminality that is going on now has nothing to do with the Ijaw people. Some of these groups exist only on the internet and others on the pages of newspapers." Many of the groups that engage in violence claimed they did so to compel the government to release Asari and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the former governor of Bayelsa state, who was detained in 2005 and accused of fraud. Although Asari commands respect among many groups, a factor that aided his NDPVF group in its battles in 2003 and 2004, many of the Niger Delta militia groups have grown wealthy and powerful as a result of the hostage-taking that started last year. Their influence has been linked to the protection of and collaboration with certain government officials. There are fears of clashes between Asari and such groups, which might worsen tension in the area. At the same time, most of the militant groups are of Ijaw stock. The next few months could see incidents of Ijaw-on-Ijaw violence that could worsen the situation. Professor Kimse Okoko, president of the Ijaw National Congress, said: "We welcome the release of Asari from unjust detention, but the issues of the Niger Delta go beyond him. Now that he has been released, we wait for the Yar'Ardua government to demonstrate its sincerity by initiating dialogue with the Ijaw and other peoples of the Niger Delta." Okoko's sentiments are echoed in Peterside's warning of the consequences of treating the situation in the Delta simply as a criminal matter. "Yes, many people condemn what has emerged as the proliferation of armed groups in the region. But, the truth is, even the emergence of the militant groups, including those involved in hostage-taking, is a result of the failure of the Nigerian state to deal with the issues at the centre of the agitations in a just manner. The solution is a process of dialogue with the people of the region to culminate in a constitutional resolution of the issues," Peterside said. Asari agrees, saying that the way to resolve the conflict in the Niger Delta is to turn attention to the demands of the various ethnic nationalities. "The Niger Delta struggle is focused. You can find that in the Kaiama declaration of the Ijaw people, the Ogoni Bill of Rights and the Aklakla declaration of the Egi people. A sovereign national conference is requisite for the resolution of the Niger Delta issue."