Nigeria Security Update #1 150707

Anatomy of a Child Kidnapping (Sunday Nigerian Tribune)

In this detailed description of the latest toddler abduction in Port Harcourt on Thursday, BOLAJI OGUNDELE puts together the unbelievable confessions of the alleged abductors.

You could hardly see any other issue in the news, four days after she had been released, Margaret Hill's story continued to make the front page, at least in the Nigerian media. Editors were still hassling for more updates on her, while all modes of comments were still flying round. Then came the news of yet another toddler’s kidnap, a younger one this time around.

Prince Samuel Ovundah Amadi, son of the paramount ruler of Iriebe, was also kidnapped on the way to his Princess International School. Panic reigned again in Port Harcourt.

This time around, however, there were around the kidnap certain links and leads that supposedly should give the law enforcement and security agencies easy access to the root of the case. First of these were the confessions of one of the two suspects who were arrested on Thursday, almost immediately after the boy was kidnapped. Besides that, the first slip the kidnappers made was giving themselves out by sending an account number to the paramount ruler, father of Samuel, to send their initial ransom demand of N50million. The account name, Dyke Otuonye, is one of the two names mentioned by Isaac, one of the two suspects picked for the kidnap, while an account number, 301450821801 of First Inland Bank, which the kidnappers gave is believed to be capable of providing the picture of one of the criminals.

May be the best way to let you into the first closely followed kidnap case since the menace started in the Niger Delta is to give you a picture of the several dialogues that followed the act. First is the cry of innocence of a suspected culprit, Isaac Onokure, who said he knew nothing about the kidnap, but he knows well the culprits, at least he said so when he recognized the voice of one of his friends on the phone, when that one was calling to demand for ransom. It should also be noted that Isaac had not come to see his Eze, for more than one year and it is not as if he is one of the Eze's indigenous subjects. Eze got to know this same Isaac with Dyke and Kelvin when they went to tell him that they had been hired by another to assassinate him (the Eze):

Ques: What's your name?

Ans: My name is Onokure Owede Isaac.

Ques: Which Kelvin are we talking about?

Ans: There was someone that called the Eze, which I witnessed so the person was like talking and I have lived in the compound like for one year before…

Ques: Which compound are you talking about?

Ans: There was a time when I did not have an accommodation, there is one of my friends, Dike, who took me into his accommodation. Kelvin also lives in that compound. So as this thing happened, the person we were suspecting is this Dike, but as this person now called, I recognized the voice because there is no way you'll stay with someone for one year that you will not recognize his voice on phone. I now tell them that this voice we are hearing is Kelvin's voice, meaning that the thing is leading to Dike.

Ques: Why would you suspect Kelvin?

Ans: Because it is his voice. The voice that called negotiating for money was Kelvin's voice.

Ques: What really happened?

Ans: I came here this morning to see my Eze, along the line a call now came into his phone that they have kidnapped his son. We then went to his school, came back and they were trying to put heads together and finally they said I am a suspect because I am Dike's friend, because I lived with him. That is what happened, I know nothing about this

Ques: Are you from this community?

Ans: I am not from this community, I am from Delta state.

Ques: What do you do?

Ans: I am a student in UST, Computer Science, 100 level.

Now the Eze's driver, who was taking the boy to school when he was kidnapped was not a stranger to the Eze, but he became a suspect according to the Eze, when he was deliberately giving confusing statements on what really happened. Besides that, the abductors suddenly became sympathetic with him so much that when they discovered that he had been handed over to the police, whichever way the kidnappers got the news immediately, they called the chief to let him go or they would cut his son's hand. Though he was initially hostile to press interview, he was made to see reasons and he gave a version of his stories:

Ques: What is your name?

Ans: My name is Kenneth Akubuezeoka.

Ques: What happened?

Ans: It was this morning around 7:00am,I was taking the boy to school as I usually do, then some people used a Volvo to block me, saying they need the child, four of them, carrying guns. All of a sudden I heard a big sound on the door glass beside me, I thought it was gun because one of them had entered and pointed a gun at my head.

Ques: Around what time was that?

Ans: I can't say precisely, but it should be around 8:00am

Ques: Which area and which school, were you taking him to?

Ans: It happened along East-West Road and the boy's school is Princess International School, Elioha.

Ques: What happened?

Ans: After two of them had entered into the vehicle with me, they told me to drive on towards UNIPORT, the brown Volvo was driving after me. When we got to a bushy place they took the boy and told me that I should go, they collected my phone so I could not make any call, so I came back here.

Now, Eze (Dr) Francis Amadi, the paramount ruler of Iriebe, a bubbling community on the outskirt of Port Harcourt, could only express surprise at any reason why his innocent baby boy should be a target of this sort of violence. So much as he was trying to remain calm in the face of his trouble; his first child, as he is also a very young man, was in the wrong hands. He gave a brief introduction into what was gradually growing into another international media issue. Excerpts of his narration and suspicion:

When they called me to pay N50million into their account, I have the account number here with me, yes a First Inland Bank account, I decided to be friendly with them because of the life of my son. I told them that I will pay N5million, they said no.

So I quickly detailed three of my chiefs to take the driver to the place where the thing happened so that they could verify from people around if anything like that happened.

Immediately they left, the boys called me to say I have detailed people with the driver, that I should leave the driver, that the driver is innocent, that if they don't hear from the driver they would cut off one of my son's arms and send it to me in an envelope, that the people giving them information are all here.

As I was talking to them, I didn't know that this young man here (Isaac) recorded their voices and he quickly told me that the man is one of them that he knows him. We then knew that he was the only person giving them information. That is why we have to apprehend them, that the police should take them and keep them in their custody.

Now the driver made several conflicting statements here. First he said they shot the car, later he said it was a stick and then he was telling us things that we don't even know how to lay our hands on. If he is unable to direct us well that means something is fishy. When they went to the scene of the incident, he was telling the people I detailed with him different thing entirely. I then said okay, instead of the information, because since I took their phones, those people have not been calling, so let them remain in police custody while government does something about it. That was all that happened this morning.

Ques: How long has the driver worked with you? And this man (Isaac), how long has he been around you?

Ans: I have not seen this young man for more than one year, I was surprised to see him this morning and when I saw him, I suspected him as someone who came to spy the area. This boy has even threatened one of my chiefs before that he would use dynamite on his house. Right now, I know him as one who knows the people who kidnapped my son, because I must be frank about it.

He has threatened severally that he is going to dynamite the house of my chief. Look at how I knew them. Elelewon people hired them to come and assassinate me. They came back to tell me that Elelewon hired them. The former IG approved a station in Iriebe, Elelewon people said the land belongs to them and hired these boys to go and pull down the sign board. The boys said they would want to expose the people that sent them and that in fact they also gave them N3million to assassinate me, they brought the signboard. Since then, they have been pestering my life that I should give them money for house rent. They have even threatened me before that they would kidnap my son.

On this I made attempt, I told one commander of the SSS that this is what is happening, I never knew they meant it until this morning. That is it, I don't have any serious deal with them. I am suspecting that he particularly, knows what really happened because for more than six months I have not seen him, I just saw him this morning and this thing is happening this same morning. I am suspecting Isaac because he knows those boys, he even mentioned it to me that he knows the man that asked me to pay N50million, he has even said it to the press men. So government should hold him, he knows the boys that hold my son.

After a while, the abductors started calling him to finish up the deal for the ransom and to secure the release of some other person's in his custody who might be important to them.

The conversation with the hoodlums came in at different times:

Chief Francis Amadi on phone to the abductors

Chief: Wetin happen now, release my son now.

Abductors: See those people wey dey for your palace, wey dey do wo wo wo for your palace now, na them be the main people wey bring this job. The thing wey dey there be say we must collect the money before we release your son.

Chief: Na the people wey dey for my palace arrange the job.

Abductors: Yes, dem day there.

Chief: Mention their names to me now.

Abductors: No worry, wetin dey there be say bring the money make you carry your son with you immediately.

Chief: Give me the account number now, how I go take bring the money to una now.

Abductors: How much you bring now na N10million we want.

Chief: Na N5million I go pay, I no go pay N10million.

Abductors: Then all those police people wey you dey send around, the whole movement wey dem dey make, you know say people dey hear am.

Chief: I no send any police, police people don hear am already, come dey ask me questions, I tell them say I no know.

Abductors: All those movements wey you dey make we dey hear am o.

Chief: Give me the account number make I pay the money now so that una go release my son. That boy na innocent boy o, I think una dey aware…(the call ended).
A few moments after then, another call came in from the abductors and the conversation continued.

Chief: My brother, you called me.

Abductors: The only thing wey me I go tell you now be say, those police people wey come your palace now now, we don dey aware so call them back to avoid problem. The N5milliom make you arrange am, package am well…

Chief: The police people wey come now dem don reach station o, okay I go call them back.

Abductors: Call them back to avoid any problem, I think you dey hear me. The N5Million, package am now, you are not paying it into any account, we will call you now to give you details…(call ends again)
Few moments later, another call came through from the abductors:

Abductors: Those boys dem wey dey leave your house (the two suspects), where dem dey go?

Chief: They said dem sabi you people wey hold my son.

Abductors: (Conversation became blurred from the other end)

Chief: Okay, the boys don go, dem don comot.

Abductors: Where dem go, na you send them?

Chief: I don't know where dem go, they comot. The boys no dey here.

Abductors: Those boys dey call me, dem dey worry me.

Chief: Make dem no dey call you again? Then release my son now, nobody go worry you again, release my son make all these things dey over.

Abductors: Hello, excuse me, let me tell you something, … na hin make I never fit tell you the amount … Tell them make dem no dey call me again…

Chief: Okay give me the account number make I send the money make you leave my son. Tell me where I go come collect my son.

Abductors: We need raw cash, raw cash. N1000 notes. I will tell you where you go bring am.

Chief: Una need cash, who go come collect the cash now. Where I go bring am now, tell me make we bring the cash. The boy never eat since morning o.

Abductors: Don't worry. The money don dey now? No go do anything stupid o.

Chief: The money dey now, no problem. Tell me where I go come collect my son.

That was a ransom negotiation dialogue, not a fiction, it happened real life and till now, when this report is being filed, no news has been been heard of the boy or the negotiators. Efforts to reach his father for an update did not materialise as he would not pick calls. Police also don't seem to be making any new head way.

This has become an everyday reality in Port Harcourt, a city which is being ranked on same stand with Iraqi cities in terms of daily mass killing and Brazilian cities in terms of commercial abduction.

Abducted Prince Freed (This Day)

The drama of the kidnap of Prince Samuel Ovunda Amadi has ended almost 24 hours after it started, with the release of the toddler yesterday evening by his captors and his subsequent re-union with his parents at about 5.30 pm.

Confirming the release of the boy, his father, Eze Francis Amadi said the boy was in a good condition. He said the kidnappers released his son around Choba area by WiIlbros in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

He said he worked with the State Security Services in ensuring the release of his son and denied that any sums of money paid to the kidnappers.

Eze Amadi told THISDAY, "I got somebody from Port Harcourt that went to Uniport road, near Choba road. I didn't go my self. They left my boy close to WiIlbros. The person I sent gave his number to the kidnappers. So, he was communicating with them. When he got there, he called them and they told him where to go and get the boy. When he got there, he saw him. My boy is all right. There is nothing wrong with him. He is with me in the palace now.

"I did not pay anything. What happened was that I got across to my brothers across Ikwerreland and it was then my people put pressure on them. Seeing that they had no way of escaping, they gave up on the game."

The kidnappers had asked Eze Amadi to pay N50 million before they slashed it to N5 million and later jerked it up again to N8 million. They had threatened to kill the boy if he did not concede to their demands.

At a point, they asked him to pay the money into a particular bank account and later changed their mind and insisted that they wanted cash in N1, 000 notes.

They also asked him to release his driver, Kenneth Akubueze and another visitor to the palace, Isaac Owode.

The duo were arrested when they were inconsistent in their statements while Owode was implicated when he claimed to know the voice on the phone which demanded for the ransom.

Eze Amadi who is the paramount ruler of Iriebe in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State had accused Owode and Akubueze of knowing what happened to his son and the duo were subsequently arrested by the police.

Eze Amadi had alleged yesterday, "The same Isaac had threatened that some people said they were going to kill me and that unless I gave them money, they will kidnap my son. Now, they have done it. This my driver has been working with me for five years but how come he is unable to relay how the incident happened? He first said they used a stick to break the glass and now he is saying they shot at the glass.

Prince Amadi was kidnapped on his way to school in his father's Mercedes Benz jeep by four armed men in a Volvo 244 and taken to East-West road, the same area where he was released.

The kidnap and release of Amadi is coming a few days after Magaret Hill, a British girl was kidnapped in Port Harcourt while on her way to school. She was later released after four days in the custody of her captors.

Seven Workers Kidnapped (Reuters)

Gunmen have abducted seven staff of a local dredging firm in the southeastern Nigerian state of Anambra, police and private security sources said on Saturday.

The workers were seized near the commercial hub of Onitsha located on the banks of the River Niger, late on Thursday and taken by speedboat to Enenchele Island, they said.

The kidnappers have asked for "settlement", another term for ransom, from the firm for their release, security sources said.

Kidnappings for ransom, which are more common in Nigeria's oil producing Niger Delta, have spread to the southeast, where at least two Chinese workers and a number of local politicians and businessmen have been taken hostage this year. They were all freed unharmed after money changed hands.

The latest abductions followed the release of a 3-year-old Nigerian boy seized on Wednesday in the Niger Delta city of Port Harcourt in a rare case of child-kidnapping in Africa's top oil producer.

"Suspected militants in two speed boats went to the place where the 7 men were working near the River Niger and kidnapped them on July 12, but the incident was reported late yesterday," a spokesman for the Anambra state police said by telephone from the capital Awka.

About 200 foreign workers have been kidnapped by different armed groups in the lawless Niger Delta since the start of 2006 and most of them have been released unharmed in exchange for money.

Last Sunday, unknown ransom seekers freed 3-year-old Briton Margaret Hill unharmed after four days in captivity. Gunmen had snatched the toddler on July 5 from the car in which she was being driven to school in Port Harcourt, the delta's main city.

At least 11 foreign hostages are still being held by various armed groups in the volatile southern delta, which accounts for all of the oil production of the world's eighth biggest exporter of crude.

Nigeria Security Update #2 080707

Three Expatriates Kidnapped (AfricAsia UK)

Armed men kidnapped three foreigners in oil-rich southern Nigeria on Sunday, local television reported, three days after a three year-old British girl was taken hostage in the same region.

Channels Television said the men, believed to be either Lebanese or Chinese were seized from a compound in Port Harcourt and taken to an unknown location.

The television quoted Rivers State police commissioner Felix Ogbaudu as confirming the kidnapping, but declining to give details.

There was no immediate confirmation of the report from government and security officials and no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The kidnapping came three days after a three-year-old British toddler Margaret Hill was snatched in the city on the way to school on Thursday.

Her mother, Nigerian-born Oluchi Hill, told AFP that she has spoken to kidnappers on Sunday and had heard her daughter crying in the background. The kidnappers are demanding a ransom for her safe return.

More than 200 foreigners have been taken hostage since January 2006, but most of them have been released unharmed.


Kidnapped Toddler Still Being Held (AFP)

Nigerian kidnappers are still keeping three-year-old British girl Margaret Hill who was snatched in the oil city of Port Harcourt three days ago, her mother said Sunday.

"My baby is still with them. Her captors just called me on the phone and I could hear the cry of Margaret at the background," Nigerian-born Oluchi Hill told AFP, sobbing.

"My little girl is crying pleading with them that I should be allowed to come and take her home," she said. "But the kidnappers quickly put off the phone".

Oluchi said on Saturday that the captors had demanded a ransom, a day after threatening to kill the little girl if her father, Michael Hill, did not take her place.

"They have asked for money. Who will help me to pay them?" she said.

Nigerian security agents have stepped up efforts to secure the release of the toddler who was snatched at gunpoint on Thursday in Port Harcourt in the southern Rivers state as she was being dropped off for school.

State police commissioner Felix Ogbaudu said late Saturday that Margaret might be released within 24 hours.

"We have the rumour that she will be released between now and tomorrow," he told AFP, adding that the police "had information" on the whereabouts of the girl.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, the latest to hit the restive Niger Delta, but the main separatist group in the region, MEND, has condemned the kidnapping.

Asari Says Kidnapping Product of Nigerian Government (Nigerian Tribune)

Alhaji Mujahedeen Asari-Dokubo has appealed to kidnappers in the Niger-Delta region to search their conscience since there is always a day of reckoning in this world or in the hereafter, even as he alleged that Federal Government was paying militia groups in the Niger Delta to carry out the kidnappings.

"The kidnappings were the creation of the government. Officials of government know the people perpetrating the kidnappings and other crimes in the Niger Delta,"the leader of the Niger-Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) has said. Alhaji Dokubo was asked on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Focus on Africa Programme, monitored in Kaduna at the weekend, to react to a statement credited to some of the militia groups that "the kidnappings in the Niger Delta were carried out to ensure his release from detention."

His words:"I don't think so. The kidnappers are a creation of the government. The government knows the people who are committing these crimes and they are being paid by the government to commit these crimes," he pointed out.

The major militia groups in the Niger Delta, he added, have decided to fight against kidnappings and that they will turn against any group involved in the act.

Nigeria Security Update #1 060707

Militant Kidnappers Use Dynamite in Attack

Two New Zealand oil men kidnapped in Nigeria faced gun-toting men who placed dynamite on the drilling rig. MEND has taken credit for these kidnappings.
The kidnappers eluded security provided by the Kiwis' American employer.

Lone Star Drilling, contracted to oil giant Shell, told the partner of one of the New Zealanders that at least one person was injured during the raid in which shots were fired.

Brent Goddard (R), of Wellington, and Bruce Klenner (L), of New Plymouth, were kidnapped with three other men at dawn on Wednesday as they worked on a rig in the Niger Delta, where at least four other Kiwis have been kidnapped and later freed since 1999.

The other hostages taken in the latest raid were Jason Lane, of Australia, George Saliba, of Lebanon, and Andreas Gambra, of Venezuela.

Goddard's partner, Gilly Sannazzaro, said yesterday she went into shock and "just lost it" after being told by Lone Star executives of the attack and kidnapping.

She said the gunmen had contacted the firm to say the men were OK, and no demands for money had been made.

"They (the firm) run a pretty tight ship, from all accounts. They have security guards," she said.

"I asked for a photo of security that is out on the rig and I got this photo of boats with semi-automatic rifles on them."

Sannazzaro, 45, a mother-of-two, said Lone Star told her the attack started at 4am (3pm New Zealand time).

"My immediate concern is if they were attacked at 4am, where were the security people?" she said.

"Lone Star just said the rig was seized and the gunmen were on board and had taken dynamite on. There was firing; there was someone hurt.

"They didn't give me any more details than that, except five workers were taken as hostages and were removed from the rig. They don't know the location or the whereabouts of the men."

Goddard was Lone Star's chief mechanic and had 10 years of experience in the oil industry, she said. Before that he had worked as a commercial diver and was an experienced hunter.

"He is going to take this absolutely in his stride. That is one thing that attracted me to Brent when I first met him – his level-headedness, his attitude to life.

"He is a very clever man," she said.

"That is not to say this situation won't have him stressed, but he will deal with it in a way that won't jeopardise his safety or that of his colleagues."

The Niger Delta has been at the centre of a long confrontation between the Nigerian Government, militants who claim to be fighting for a larger share of oil resources for locals, and armed gangs out to gain ransom money.

At least 200 foreigners, mostly oil workers, have been kidnapped in the region since the beginning of lst year. Most have been freed.

The kidnappings have not deterred Kaiapoi oil worker Matthew Pasco, who is returning to the region despite narrowly escaping a kidnapping attempt when his rig was raided this year.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and the world's eighth-largest exporter of crude oil.

Klenner's wife, Linda, said her husband and Goddard were friends and fishing partners.

She was confident they would emerge safely from their ordeal.

Lone Star told her that sources in Nigeria said the men had not been harmed.

She said it was a nervous time and she would spend the next few days by the telephone.

"I think there is risk in any job, really," she said.

"It's just where it is and the volatility of the place, but I just honestly believe it's going to be all right. You have to."

She said it was her husband's second stint in Nigeria and that he had been there working month-on, month-off since November last year.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said through a spokesman that diplomats were liaising with Shell as well as Australian authorities and the Nigerian Government.

They were also offering support to the men's families.

"Shell has considerable experience in these matters and they are taking the lead," the spokesman said.

"At this point we don't have a lot more detail."

New Zealand High Commissioner to Britain Jonathan Hunt, who is accredited to Nigeria, said there were few details about the motive.

"We don't know who abducted them or if any demands have been received from the kidnappers," he said yesterday.

Kidnappers Stoop to a New Low (AP, BBC)

Gunmen smashed in the windows of a car carrying a British girl to school Thursday and kidnapped the three-year-old, marking the first seizure of a foreign child in Nigeria's increasingly lawless oil region.

In London, the British government called for the immediate release of Margaret Hill, who was taken from her car as it idled in Port Harcourt's heavy morning traffic. Nigerian community leaders were outraged.

"Taking an innocent child by force is a criminal act that should be roundly condemned by Nigerians," said Anabs Saraigbe, an influential chief of the ethnic Ijaw people who predominate in the region. "Such dastardly acts can't take us anywhere and must stop."

Over 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since militants stepped up their activities against the oil industry in late 2005 and more than 100 expatriates have been seized this year alone as criminal gangs took up the practice.

Kidnappers have focused mostly on foreign, male workers of international companies presumed to have the resources for ransom payments.

While two children of wealthy Nigerians have been seized in the restive Niger Delta in recent weeks, Margaret's seizure was the first of a foreign child _ indicating yet one more barrier toppled in an increasingly restive region where hospitality is normally venerated. Both Nigerian children were released within days, without injury.

Thursday's attack came during morning rush hour, as Margaret was being driven to school, said the British embassy in Nigeria.

A local radio station aired an interview with a woman identified as a witness, who said seven gunmen scared away onlookers by firing rifles in the air.

They then broke in the windows with their gunstocks, dragged out the child and bundled her away in a Peugeot, the woman told Rhythm FM.

In London, Britain's Foreign Office called for Margaret's "immediate safe release."

Nigerian security forces were investigating the case, said Rivers state police Spokeswoman Irejua Barasua.

Acquaintances of Margaret's family said her father is a longtime resident of Nigeria who works for a firm performing contract work in Nigeria's oil industry, which is the continent's largest.

They also said he was the owner of a renowned Port Harcourt night spot popular with expatriate workers. The bar was shuttered Thursday and Margaret's family members couldn't be located by The Associated Press.

Kidnappers who seized a three-year-old UK girl in Nigeria have threatened to kill her unless her father agrees to take her place, her mother says.

Margaret Hill, the daughter of an expatriate worker, was grabbed from a car on her way to school in the oil city of Port Harcourt.

Her mother, Oluchi, told the BBC that the kidnappers had called her demanding a meeting in a town in the Niger Delta.

She said they then allowed her to speak to her daughter who was crying.

Margaret was snatched by gunmen at 0730 (0630 GMT) on Thursday after they smashed a window of her car as it stood in traffic.

Mrs Hill said the kidnappers told her to meet them in a town in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region, but that neither she nor the police had been able to locate it.

"They say I can bring my husband to swap with the baby," she said. "He wanted to go down for his baby but the police commander told him not to."

The kidnappers then threatened to kill Margaret if Mr Hill did not come within three hours, she said.

But Mrs Hill said she had not been contacted by the kidnappers since then.

The UK's Foreign Office has called for the "immediate safe release" of the girl.

Criminal kidnappings have become common in the region, where the crude in Africa's biggest producer is pumped. More than a dozen foreigners are currently in captivity, including five seized Wednesday from a Royal Dutch Shell oil rig.

Hostages are generally released unharmed after a ransom is paid _ often by state governments that control huge, unregulated security slush funds, with officials taking a cut, according to industry officials. At least two hostages have been killed in the crossfire when security forces crossed the kidnappers.

The government of new President Umaru Yar'Adua is trying to calm the oil region, where security began worsening with the emergence of a new militant group in late 2005.

The militants, whose bombings and kidnappings have cut Nigeria's normal oil output by about one quarter, say they're fighting to force the federal government to give the Niger Delta region a greater share of state oil money.

Despite four decades of oil production, the region remains among the poorest anywhere in Africa, a situation residents blame on official corruption and mismanagement of government money.

While the militants pioneered the practice of kidnapping, saying it was a pressure tactic used for leverage with the government, most kidnappings now are purely criminal, without a political element.

Margaret's seizure appeared to set a new benchmark, however, with virtually no one in the country exempt from the rampaging violence. While the militants enjoy some measure of support for their political demands, Nigerians are generally dismayed by the hostage takings, which flourish partly in oil region because hostages can be hidden away from prying eyes in the vast maze of creeks and swamps.

"Kidnapping is a violation of the victim's fundamental human rights and can never be justified under any known law," said Onueze Okncha, former head of the Nigerian Bar Association. "It's going to cause problems for Nigeria people in ways we could never imagine."

Nigeria Security Update #2 020707

AFRICOM'S Intentions Questioned (ISN)

By John C K Daly for ISN Security Watch (02/07/07)

As US plans for an African command (AFRICOM) operations base forge ahead, perceptions that the base's raison d'etre is to gain control over regional oil assets and counter growing Chinese influence are growing.

While Washington is proffering AFRICOM as a largely benign organization, Africans remain wary, having seen that a US military footprint in Djibouti led to operations such as Somalia, and believe that the Pentagon could not resist intervening to protect US investments in oil producing nations such as Nigeria or Equatorial Guinea if their regimes were toppled.

Unveiled on 6 February this year, AFRICOM is slated to be fully operational by 30 September 2008. In March, a transition team, including approximately 60 staff, led by Navy Rear Admiral Robert Moeller was assembled. This team will form the core of the new command.

Previously, Africa was divided between three US Unified Combatant Commands: European Command (EUCOM), Central Command (CENTCOM) and Pacific Command (PACOM). The new AFRICOM will be responsible for the entire continent, with the exception of Egypt, which will remain under CENTCOM's responsibility.

AFRICOM's designated area of responsibility also includes the Atlantic Ocean Cape Verde, the islands of Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, as well as the Indian Ocean Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles islands.

The unit will differ from other US military commands in that it will include diplomatic, developmental and economic staffers from the outset. The Pentagon has announced that AFRICOM's deputy commander position is being reserved for a State Department staffer rather than a military officer, and that half of the command's 200 employees will not be from the Department of Defense.

As ISN Security Watch reported in February The Defense Department defines AFRICOM's mission as to promote US strategic objectives by working with African nations and indigenous organizations to help build regional stability and security, with AFRICOM's military operations primarily focused on deterring aggression and responding to crises.

The creation of a new combatant command requires changes by the president to the Unified Command Plan classified executive document, which defines the underlying organization of US armed forces and is reviewed every two years. The 2006 review recommended the establishment of AFRICOM.

The unit's founding represents a complete reversal in Pentagon strategic thinking over the last decade. In 1995, the Department of Defense in its US Security Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa stated: "Ultimately we see very little traditional strategic interest in Africa." The 7 August 1998 al-Qaida terrorist bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya quickly led to the abandonment of this line of thought.

The current US military presence in Africa is about 1,800 troops, mostly at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, established in May 2003 as part of CENTCOM's Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), which began operating in October 2002. CJTF-HOA's US military and civilian personnel cover the land and airspace in Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Yemen, as well as the coastal waters of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

There are also a number of small training teams in such areas as the Sahel and Tamanrasset, Algeria. US troops have also helped train anti-terrorism forces in Algeria, Chad, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda among other countries. The US military presence in African waters is also slowly growing, most visibly with recent naval exercises in the Gulf of Guinea designed to protect oil shipments and operations off Somalia to deter piracy.

The Defense Department's strengthening focus on Africa is epitomized in the increasing revenue directed towards its "Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara (OEF-TS)." The program is designed to support Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria and Morocco in resisting terrorism, with the revenue spent to send US troops to train with host-nation militaries and other missions. OEF-TS received US$5 million in 2005 and US$31 million in 2006, while this year's funding is US$81.7 million, and is expected to be increased to approximately US$100 million annually for 2008 through 2013, according to EUCOM statistics. OEF-TS is now under AFRICOM's supervision, along with Joint Task Force Aztec Silence, the combined arms organization assigned to implement OEF-TS' missions.

Orphan AFRICOM

The Pentagon reportedly plans to establish another dozen bases in the region; in Algeria, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia.

But for now, AFRICOM remains an orphan without an African home, with Algeria and Libya rejecting the idea outright, and Morocco being distinctly cool.

The Transition Team will be housed temporarily at the US Army's Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart-Mohringen, Germany until the issue can be resolved. AFRICOM initially will be a sub-unified command, subordinate to EUCOM, also based in Stuttgart, with a projected Initial Operational Capability (IOC) by October 2007. As the Defense Department continues to search for a suitable African host country, high among its concerns is providing for the safety and security of an estimated 500 American personnel and their families who will staff the command.

Ryan Henry, principal Defense Department under secretary for policy, first toured Africa in April, visiting six African countries including South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal trying to drum up support for the concept. During a second round of visits earlier this month, Henry traveled to Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Djibouti and the African Union, but to little avail.

One of the greatest fears among Africans is that AFRICOM will suffer from mission creep, moving steadily away from its humanitarian aspirations towards a more distinctly interventionist role. Such fears were heightened in January when US forces with AC-130 gunships secretly operating from Ethiopia carried out at least two air strikes in Somalia, targeting suspected al-Qaida members.

In the "frequently asked questions" section of its website, AFRICOM is clearly concerned about perceptions increasingly common in Africa that its purpose might be to gain control over regional oil assets and counter growing Chinese influence. One query asks: "Is this an effort by the United States to gain access to natural resources (e.g. petroleum)? Is this in response to Chinese activities in Africa?" AFRICOM's reply: "No."

Henry told reporters that AFRICOM's purpose was not to wage war, but "to work in concert with our African partners for a more stable environment in which political and economic growth can take place," adding that another formal round of talks on AFRICOM would take place with representatives from the UK, France and other European countries sometime in the fall.

Henry's earnestness is somewhat undercut by EUCOM commander General Bantz Craddock, who last month told journalists in Washington, "You look at West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, it becomes more focused because of the energy situation," with the result that protecting energy assets "obviously is out in front."

Africans have also increasingly come to criticize AFRICOM. Michele Ruiters of Johannesburg's Business Day magazine wrote in a February op-ed piece that "It is necessary for Africans to oppose the expansion of US military power in Africa.[...] AFRICOM would destabilize an already fragile continent and region, which would be forced to engage with US interests on military terms," Ruiters wrote.

Commentaries in South Africa and Kenya have opined that AFRICOM was less about fostering African prosperity than it was an attempt to counter China's growing presence while securing access to African energy resources.

On 8 February, Kenya's The Nation wryly noted in an editorial that "Ironically, AFRICOM was announced as Chinese President Hu Jintao was touring eight African nations to negotiate deals that will enable China to secure oil flows from Africa."

A 12 April editorial in Zambia's The Post daily newspaper was even more blunt, alleging that AFRICOM was "aimed at influencing, threatening and warding off any competitors by using force," a direct reference to China's growing presence in Africa.

Mission creep fears

Many Africans fear that the nexus of energy, poverty and terrorism may swiftly push AFRICOM beyond its stated humanitarian objectives. The rising violence in Nigeria's Delta region may well be the rock upon which AFRICOM's humanitarian focus founders.

Since the insurgency began there in 2004, when protesting armed youths of the oil and gas region took to the creeks, violence has caused a sharp upturn in global world energy prices, with Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation sources in Port Harcourt claiming off the record that Nigeria's oil production has been reduced by nearly 40 percent because of militant activity (other sources say 25 percent).

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has dismissed AFRICOM, saying it smacks of typical American braggadocio "which has no place in the realism of living in today's world."

MEND militants have already succeeded in shutting off approximately 711,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Nigeria's daily output of 2.5 million bpd, nearly 25 percent of the country's exports. If a combination of militant attacks and general strikes completely paralyzed Nigerian production, it would seem rather unlikely that US military forces would sit by idly as oil shipments from America's third largest oil importer ground to a halt.

And oil is hardly the continent's sole export of interest to the Pentagon. US military sources estimate that up to a quarter of all foreign fighters in Iraq are from Africa, primarily from Algeria and Morocco. Such a connection makes it further unlikely that the Pentagon would stand by passively digging wells and building schools while passing up the chance of eliminating hard-core terrorists.

The lure of African oil

World attention must necessarily increasingly focus on African energy reserves, underlined by massive recent oil discoveries in Ghana (which is currently discussing hosting a US military base), Equatorial Guinea and Angola, all countries of rising US interest. Western oil giants including American companies ExxonMobil and Chevron, France's Total and Britain's BP and Royal Dutch Shell plan to invest tens of billions of dollars in sub-Saharan Africa over the next several years.

The US currently consumes about 20 million bpd. Last year 22 percent of US crude imports came from Africa, in comparison with only 15 percent in 2004; the rate now slightly exceeds US imports from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Over the last five years US oil imports from Africa have nearly doubled. The National Intelligence Council projects that African oil imports will account for 25 percent of total US imports by 2015, primarily from Gulf of Guinea countries, Nigeria and Angola. Other estimates place the percentage as high as 35 percent for the same period. Between 2004 and 2007, African oil production climbed from seven million barrels per day (bpd) to 9.5 million bpd, and a US Department of Energy study estimates that African oil production will rise 91 percent between 2002 and 2025. In March, Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, overtook Saudi Arabia as the third largest oil exporter to the US.

The region's surging oil production is occurring amid rising social tension, most notably in Nigeria. West Africa remains the most poverty stricken region in the world, with 23 West African nations sitting on the bottom of the UN human development index on poverty despite rising energy revenues.

Despite its rising prominence in US energy imports, Nigeria's continuing instability has had a marked impact on global prices. World oil rates rose above US$60 per barrel in April 2007 after Nigeria held elections widely dismissed as fraudulent and again in May 2007 after attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta.

Despite such fluctuations, increasing focus on African energy reserves is inevitable. In his 2006 State of the Union address, President George W Bush announced his intention "to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025." It is difficult to see how such a goal could be achieved without a massive increase in African oil imports.

Shake Up In Police (Daily Champion)

Few weeks after the Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro promised to flush out corrupt police officers, a major shake up has been effected in the police hierarchy, with 35 police commissioners changing positions.

Force Public Relations Officer, Commissioner of Police Haz Iwendi, who was not affected in the shake-up in a statement, said the IGP carried out the operational changes to invigorate the crime-fighting capabilities of the police.

According to him, Okiro, in a strongly worded letter, "charged the affected officers to fight all forms of criminality and corruption".

Under the new arrangement, CP Mohammed Abubakar, who was the CP, Airport, will now man the Lagos Police Command, while Audu Abubakar, who was in Imo state was moved to the Airport as new helmsman.

Alhaji S. D. Faki, who was in Osun state, is now to report to the Force Headquarters as Deputy Force Secretary. Johnson Uzuegbunam, who was the CP at Force Headquarters, is to move to the Nigeria Ports Authority, while Bashiru Azeez, who was in Lagos, is to move over to Enugu.

Female CP, Elizabeth Ayo-Eremie, who was at the FHQ is to move over to the Special Duty Unit, while Saleh Abubakar, who was in Jigawa is to move over to Nasarawa State.

Abayomi Onashile, who was in Abia State is now CP in Ekiti state, while Charles Akaya, Deputy Force Secretary is now in charge at Plateau, and Mohammed Yesufu, CP Bauchi will move over to Kano state.

Emmanuel Ezeozue, Commandant, Police Staff College, Jos, will move over to Niger state as CP, just as Emmanuel Adebayo, who moved from Lagos to Nasarawa is now redeployed to FHQ Administration Department.

Samuel Adekunle, who was in Kogi state is moved to become the Force Provost Marshal, while Innocent Ilozuoke, who was in Ondo state will move over to Cross River State.

Mr. Udom Ekpoudom, who recently moved over to Lagos briefly and left for Benue as crime burster, is now moved to Oyo State, the same way as Adanaya Gaya, the Bakassi CP in Anambra before moving over to Ebonyi is to report to Bauchi as crime burster.

Donald Iroham, who was in FHQ, is now moved to Imo State, while Mohammed Zareqa, Police Provost Marshal is now CP in Zamfara State.

Abubakar Mohammed, who was at FHQ is now moved to Jigawa state. Similarly, Ibrahim B. Ahmed, who was in the same place as Abubakar, is now to head Kwara State.

Danlamin Yar'Adua, who was the crime burster in Cross River State has been moved to Borno state, while Paul Iseghohi, who was in Niger is moved to Abia State.

Another female CP, Juliana Iroha, who was at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) is now moved to Ebonyi state, while Ibezimako Aghanya, who was in Ekiti state is now in Kogi state.

Mr. Ibiyinka Kayode, who was in Plateau has been moved to Benue state, while Shehu Babalola, who was in Borno state has been transferred to Ondo, the oil rich state.

John Moronike, who was part of the FCID, is now moved to Osun state, while Bukar Maina, also in Kwara is to be at the FCID.

Atiku Fakur, who was in Kano has been moved over to become the CP Homicide, while Charles Dawudu, who was in Enugu, the coal city state, is also transferred to the FHQ Admin Department.

Calistus Anuide, who was in the Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), is also at the Admin B Department, while Sani Magaji, who was at the FHQ, has been moved to be the new CP Welfare.

Kefas Gadzama, who was in Zamfara is now CP SARS, while his colleague, Jonathan Johnson, who was in Oyo state, is now Commandant of the Police College, Oji river in Enugu state, just as Mr. Ephraim Amakulor, who was at FHQ is now CP Admin C Department.

Price of Machetes Drops in Nigeria Since Elections (Reuters)

The price of machetes has halved in parts of Nigeria since the end of general elections in April because demand from thugs sponsored by politicians has subsided, the state-owned News Agency of Nigeria reported.

NAN surveyed prices in the northeastern state of Gombe and found that a good quality machete was now selling for 400 naira ($3) compared with 800 naira before the elections, which were marred by politically motivated violence in many states.

"A price survey on machetes, which served as a popular weapon among political thugs in the state, indicated ... a drop in the price of the implement," NAN reported over the weekend.

Machetes are primarily used as a tool for farming in Nigeria but they are also popular among political gangsters.

"Before the conduct of the general elections, I was selling a minimum of seven machetes daily but can hardly sell one a day now," said Usman Masi, a trader quoted by NAN.

Africa's most populous country returned to civilian rule in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous army rule but violence remains a feature of politics, especially during the build-up to elections.

European election monitors estimated that at least 200 people were killed in politically motivated violence during months of campaigning ahead of the April polls.

Nigeria Security Update #1 270607

Shell Still Shuns Western Delta

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) is unlikely to go back into Nigeria's troubled Western Delta this year despite the area contributing around 500,000 barrels a day to the company's crude oil production, a Shell executive said Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of an energy security conference hosted by Cambridge Energy Resources Associates here, Ann Pickard, Shell's Africa Regional Executive

Vice President for Exploration and Production, told Dow Jones Newswires that escalating violence in the Delta has shut in production for 1.5 years so far, and production is unlikely to begin in 2007.
"We won't be back in this year," Pickard said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Istanbul. "We're still working with the government to re-enter the Western Delta," she said.

Ongoing kidnappings and attacks on oil workers in the Delta have forced Shell to cut spending there by $100 million over three years, Pickard said.

"We've been without production in the western part of the Delta for a year and a half now, so we're looking at ways to consolidate jobs," she said.

Last year 339,000 barrels a day of Shell's oil came from its operations in West Africa, most of which comes from Nigeria, Pickard said.

"That was pretty low for Nigeria," she said. "The official number of shut-in production is 477,000 barrels a day, plus additional shut-ins from periodic attacks on pipelines."

Shell's total oil output was 1.9 million barrels a day in 2006. But the country continues to be "very, very important" for Shell, Pickard added.

"We spent $1.8 billion in the region last year, so our $100 million cuts are not significant."

Shell is planning a new liquefied natural gas plant, OK LNG, expanding trains 7 and 8 of Nigeria LNG, and planning to increase production onshore and offshore, Pickard said.
VP Says Hire Youth

The Vice-president Dr. Goodluck Jonathan yesterday called on well meaning Nigerians and companies especially those operating in the Niger-Delta region to give employment to youths of the area in order to discourage them from going back to the creeks and engaging in pipeline vandalisation and hostage taking.

The vice president, who spoke while receiving the leadership of the Nigeria Economic Summit group in his office, said though government was determined to bring about changes to the situation in the volatile Niger-Delta region, the co-operation of other agencies in ensuring that the youths are gainfully engaged would go a long way in ameliorating the situation in the region.

"We are not too comfortable that a country like Nigeria cannot provide jobs for our youth and of course, when you do not have jobs, even those people who ordinarily would not have been criminals would take up criminal activities.

"We pray that by God's grace, we will resolve the Niger Delta matter. We also call on well-meaning Nigerians, especially in the private sector, to also help the youth of the Niger Delta because as many youth we pull out of the creeks, the better for us. We noticed sometimes that the opportunities are not given by companies that operate in the area and now it is now biting hard on the country," he observed.

He said what the country is suffering as a result of the problems in the Niger-Delta region today was as a result of several years of neglect of the region by the successive governments and promised that this government would strive to correct the ills of the past.

Speaking on the economy, the vice president said this administration was determined to make a difference by concentrating on the improvement of the economy of the nation.

"The economy is vital and we are quite happy with the composition and calibre of people that are driving the process. For a country to develop, the economy is first because you cannot even talk about building roads if you do not have the money to build the roads.

"You cannot talk about water if you do not have the money to provide the water. So, everything boils down to a well-planned economy for this country.

Speaking on the economic situation in the country, the vice president said, "One of the top most things on the agenda of the President is security. Security is like the economy because the economy cannot even grow without adequate security. So, there must be security of life and property."
Three-Year-Old Kidnapped (Guardian)

ANOTHER dimension has been introduced to the criminal act of hostage taking in Rivers State as a three-year-old son of a state lawmaker was abducted in Port Harcourt yesterday.

Sources told The Guardian that the child, Master St. Michael Steward, was seized from a private nursery school, at Elekahia Housing Estate, Port Harcourt, in the early hours of the day.

The kidnapped child is the son of a new member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mrs. Linda Steward, representing Okrika Local Council.

Eye-witnesses said that three young men in their mid 20's drove to the school in an ash coloured Mazda saloon car and proceeded to the child's class and took him away.

One of the kidnappers wore a white shirt and a blue jeans trousers, while the two others that accompanied him wore coverall suspected to have been used to conceal their weapons in case they encountered any resistance.

It was learnt that the three men who were not resisted by anyone did not shoot during the incident.

After the abduction of the child, the kidnappers drove off towards the Iwofe area, which has remained a major exit to the creeks for hostage-takers.

Attempts by The Guardian to reach the lawmaker proved abortive as her phone was switched off. Another lawmaker who spoke to The Guardian on the condition of anonymity, said Mrs. Steward acted that way because she was traumatised.

The Rivers State Police Command yesterday ordered a stop-and-search of all vehicles in Port Harcourt and its environs as it intensified investigation into the saga.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, who confirmed the abduction to The Guardian, said that the motive had not been ascertained.

He said: "For now, we don't know the motive. There are two possible areas that the police are exploring. One, there might be a political opponent of hers who is trying to embarrass the woman and secondly, we are looking at those who take care of the child."

Yesterday's incident was the second child abduction from a private school in Port Harcourt in the last two months. The first child has since been released to the parents.

Lagos Plagued By Bandits (Vanguard)

Residents of Lagos, Nigeria’s former federal capital and its environs now live in fear as the sprawling city has been under the siege of armed bandits in the last few weeks. These days, it is commonplace to hear tales of one robbery incident or the other in different parts of the city.

Indeed, there are indications that hoodlums in the city have not only become more sophisticated in their style of operation but more daring. For instance, many attacks by men of the underworld no longer take place late in the night or very early in the morning as was the case in the past. Instead, most of these raids now take place between 7 and 9 p.m.-thereby catching unsuspecting victims off-guard.

Samplers:

At about 7 p.m. penultimate Wednesday, a couple was robbed while they were trapped in a terrible traffic jam near Toyota Bus Stop, along the ever-busy Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. It was learnt that after the couple was dispossessed of their cash and other valuables, they were so rattled by the encounter with men- of- the- underworld at that time of the evening, that they abandoned their car along the express road and fled. The red-coloured car was still at the spot where it was abandoned when Vanguard Features (VF) arrived the spot at about 9 p.m.

A day earlier, there was mayhem on the section of the same road which runs through Mile Two Bus Stop- where the road is a fly-over. A gang of dare-devil robbers had descended on several motorists who were caught in another nerve breaking traffic jam at about 8 p.m.

The gang fired several volleys of shots into the air before they began robbing motorists in the traffic jam. An eyewitness who identified himself as John Odion told VF that the car that was in front of his was being robbed when himself and all other occupants of his car sneaked out and took to their heels.

Akin Idris a resident of Aboru area of Alagbado was not so lucky few weeks ago when hoodlums invaded the area and shot him in the abdomen. VF learnt that a large gang of robbers had invaded Idris’ neighbourhood one Thursday evening and had successfully raided several houses in the area. It was gathered that the robbers were already on their way out of the vicinity and were apparently looking for a get- away- car, when they ran into Idris who had just arrived at the front gate of his house.

When the robbers accosted Idris, they ordered him out of his car but he refused. Instead of complying with their instruction, Idris was said to have challenged the robbers and engaged them in an argument. This was said to have infuriated one of the gangsters who immediately shot him in the abdomen and fled from the area. It was the shrill screams of the injured man’s wife that alerted their frightened neighbours that somebody had been shot by the fleeing robbers.

Residents of the area who rushed to Idris’s rescue took him to several hospitals in the area but he was refused treatment for fear of incurring the wrath of the police which had some years ago issued a directive to medical institutions in the state to refrain from treating persons with bullet wounds without clearance from them.

It was also gathered that most victims of the bandits' raid on the area were residents of tenement houses popularly called face-me-I-face-you, who were mainly robbed of their cash and mobile phone handsets.

At nearby Opeilu, which is in the neighbouring Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, residents of the area have continued to thank God that men of the underworld who raided the area last week did not put a bullet through anybody. But nonetheless, some of them remain traumatised by the events of penultimate Sunday when a horde of hoodlums stormed the area at about 9 p.m. The gangsters had invaded a hotel in the area and robbed both guests and staff they met there. The robbers had caught their victims unaware. However, hoodlums operating in the area have not always had the last laugh. Some of them met their waterloo two Mondays ago.

On that day, police in the area arrested seven of them who had been terrorising residents of Abule-Egba and Alagbado.

The hoodlums were robbing their unsuspected victims at Kollington Bus Stop when policemen from Alakuko Police Station received a distress call around 5 p.m. revealing that some robbers were dispossessing passers-by of their valuables. The bandits were overpowered when a team of Anti-Robbery Policemen from the station swiftly raced to the scene and arrested seven members of the gang.

Some of the items recovered from the robbers included a mobile telephone handset, one cutlass and some cash.

Police spokes person in the state, Mr. Olubode Ojajuni (SP) who confirmed the incident in a press statement, stated that the arrested suspects had made useful statements and that the case was undergoing investigation.

A member of another gang of hoodlums who recently robbed some passengers in a commercial bus along Ikorodu Road was caught by the police while he was trying to escape.

The police arrested the gangster believed to be a member of a notorious catch-on-the air armed-robbery gang popularly called one chance, along Ikorodu Expressway while two others escaped. The armed bandits had boarded a commercial bus with registration number XB 271 DGB which was said to be heading to Ikorodu.

However, while the vehicle was in motion, the hoodlums had robbed the unsuspecting passengers of their personal effects ranging from assorted handsets, jewelries, wristwatches and cash including the N6,500.00 which the bus driver and his conductor made for the day. One of the victims reportedly put a distress call to policemen in the area who swiftly raced to the scene and intercepted the bandits. The robbers on sighting the police took to their heels but luck ran out on one of them who was identified as residing at Ketu as he was caught and taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba. A locally made pistol was recovered from him.

At Apapa area of the metropolis, a gang of robbers which operate with motorcycles nearly succeeded with their nefarious operation three weeks ago when they attempted to rob a middle-aged man who had just withdrawn a huge sum of money from one of the banks in the area.

The man had withdrawn the money from a bank at Westminister Bus Stop -a section of Apapa/Oshodi Expressway- and was heading towards Mile Two when the armed bandits attacked him after which they ordered him to hand over all the money he had on him.

The victim was said to have obeyed the robbers but was reportedly shot by one of them after handing over all the money he had. But a team of policemen from Trinity Police Station attached to one of the new generation banks in the area, heard the gun shot, raced to the scene and engaged the bandits in a gun battle.

The ensuing gun fight which lasted for about 15 minutes ended when the robbers reportedly surrendered to the superior fire power of the police and were forced to escape, abandoning their unconscious victim and a bag containing the total sum of N639,600.00, one Nokia hand set and two identity cards one of which bore the name Adelani Wasiu. The victim was later rushed to an undisclosed hospital where medical personnel confirmed he was alive.

Freedom of Press Threatened in Abuja as Government Destroys TV/Radio Stations

Nigeria's leading independent broadcast network says it will take the government to court next week after authorities demolished three new station facilities in the capital, Abuja.

African Independent Television (AIT) plans to sue for damages after the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a local government entity, last week bulldozed without warning three structures, including a digital studio, a technical operations office, and a common room for news anchors.

The FCT said the station contravened city planning rules and encroached on neighboring property when it built the structures over the past year, Issa Shuaid, FCT director for urban development, told CPJ. He also accused the station of using commercial premises for residential purposes.

The FCT charges regarding the land encroachment were announced for the first time on the day of the demolition, said Ladi Lawal, head of operations for Dar Communications, AIT's parent company. He denied the other charges, saying the station altered its building plans in July 2006 at the direction of authorities, who then inspected the site on several occasions.

AIT Chairman Raymond Dokpesi said he believes the demolition was politically motivated and was intended to intimidate the station because of its critical coverage during the recent elections in May. The station, for instance, aired a public forum during which members of Nigeria's assembly critically appraised former President Olusegun Obasanjo's tenure.

AIT, which broadcasts across Africa, has several other facilities in Lagos and Abuja.

"We are deeply disturbed by this arbitrary demolition," said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. "African Independent Television had no chance to defend itself against the charges brought by the authorities. Given the station's history of critical reporting, it is hard to escape the conclusion that there is more behind the razing of its new offices than a planning code violation."

AIT has been the target of frequent harassment in connection with its broadcasts. In April, intelligence agents raided its studios in Abuja after the station aired a paid political program that was critical of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.cpj.org

Asari Owed Money, He Says (Daily Champion)

LEADER of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Muhajeed Dokubo-Asari has warned that unless Federal Government pays N137 million owed him two years ago, militants in the region would not surrender their arms.

Speaking in Yenagoa, he declared that, he would not allow himself to be deceived this time around as the government was still indebted to him to the tune of N137million which was to be paid to him when militants in the Niger Delta surrendered their arms two years ago at different occasions.

"Nobody will surrender arms this time unless it is paid for. The last time we were disappointed. These arms were bought with money," he declared

The Ijaw militant leader who disclosed this last Sunday in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, however assured that militants in the region have resolved to sheathe their swords for the interest of peace and development in the area.

He charged state governments and oil companies operating in the region not to pay ransom to kidnappers, just as he condemned the recent attack in Yenagoa and Otuoke residence of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.

Describing the action as senseless and cowardly, he said "people should not use the name of the struggle to blackmail in order to make money. I condemn hostage taking, it is not part of the struggle. For 11 months we fought in the Nigerian nation, some of us died. We never took anyone hostage."

We are going to do everything to eradicate this evil that has crept into our struggle.

Asari regretted that former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was the only person languishing in prison, among all the impeached governors in the previous administration.

He added that "the others are walking freely even when some committed more grievous crimes. "All those who were impeached and went to court had their cases tried and they returned to their government houses. Monies stolen in office were neither accounted for nor returned. What sort of selective justice is this," he queried.

While he said this must be addressed, he appealed to people of the Niger Delta and the Ijaw nation to give Vice President Goodluck Jonathan the chance to enable him succeed, especially as he is one of their own;.

According to him, "our enemies will exploit our refusal to give Jonathan the needed support. I will not like another Ijaw man to be betrayed."

The militant leader however called on Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State to ensure that massive industrialization was achieved in the state so as to create wealth for the people, and attract development to the predominantly riverine state.

Youth Leader Killed in Port Harcourt (Daily Champion)

Unknown gunmen in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital have assassinated a youth leader in Rumuolumeni in Obio/Akpor local government Area, Mr. Golden Isi.

The Killing of the youth leader which happened on Sunday night in the community left the villagers in a panic situation as most people are fleeing to neighbouring communities for safety of lives and property. The killer of the youth leader allegedly escaped arrest.

Speaking to Daily Champion on the incident, the chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC) of the area Mr. Innocent Nwani called on the security operatives in the state to check the activities of criminals in the community.

Mr. Nwani also appealed to the police to properly investigate the real killers of the youth chairman and bring them to book.

Contacted on the incident, the director of the state security services of the state (SSS), Alhaji Kolawale Adesina while confirming the incident appealed to the youth's in the area to remain calm promising that investigation into the matter would be carried out.

He assured the community and the public that peace would soon return to the area.

It will be recalls that, a prominent chief in Ikwere land was killed last week by unknown gunmen in Port Harcourt and no arrest was affected by the police in the state.

The killing of the Ikwere chief which forced women in the community to stage a peaceful protest to the governor Sir celestine Omehia at the government house to reduce the high level of killings, kidnapping and criminal activities in the state.

Nigeria Security Update #1 210607

Strike Begins to Affect Oil Sector

Following the nationwide strike, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday withdrew key staff of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) from oilfields and export terminals.

The Congress, which spared oil production and exports yesterday, being the first day of the indefinite strike action, made the withdrawal at midnight yesterday.

According to branch Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), “between now and 12 midnight, we will withdraw our members from all DPR locations, including oil exports terminals.”

The union members went on with the strike despite series of concessions offered by President Umaru Yar'Adua, who faces the first major test of his government three weeks after assumption of office.

Offices of Western oil companies in Nigeria were closed, along with most other businesses and government offices, but oil production and shipments remained uninterrupted, company officials said.

One executive was quoted as saying, "all our offices are locked up, but there has been no interference in our operations yet."

Unions ordered workers to go on "total strike,” but leaders of the oil unions said it would take time to shut the industry down.

Oil companies use non-unionised staff to maintain essential operations, but some union members are required to sign-off on exports, and this is where unions hope to put pressure.

Also, some international and domestic flights had been cancelled because of shortage of jet fuel.

Army and Militants Set to Square Off (This Day)

The sad episode that led to the massacre and the sacking of Odi community in 1999 is set to repeat itself as the Nigerian Army is set to lay siege to Ogboinbiri community where 12 soldiers were killed on Sunday.

Unlike that of Odi, however, the militants are ready to do battle with the military as youths are said to be trooping in to the embattled community from as far away as Warri, Burutu, Bomadi and Patani in Delta state and Okirika in Rivers state.

The movement of the boys followed reports that the federal government has deployed several hundreds troops to Ogboinbiri to recover the bodies of soldiers killed and those held as Prisoners of War by the militant when the Ogboinbiri flow station belonging to Italian oil company, Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) was invaded by rampaging militants.

Even as the youths are converging at the community, Troops from the Elele Amphibious Battalion of the Nigerian Army yesterday started moving to Yenagoa.

The movement, THISDAY checks reveals, is part of the Army’s effort to warn the people on the consequences of their children action and to call them to order as the Army is ready to do battle with the boys at the expiration of the 48 hours ultimatum given to them.

The ultimatum was handed over to the state Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva by the Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Brig. Gen. Lawrence Ndagene on Tuesday afternoon.

All effort to get the Commander of the JTF, Gen Ndagene and his Public Relations Officer, Major Omale Ochagwuba to comment on the rumour making the rounds that a State of Emergency may be imposed on the state if the military option was carried out proved abortive.

Contacted however, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Timipre Sylva, Mr. Ebimo Amungo dismissed the rumour.

He clarified that the ultimatum issued by the federal government on the return of the soldiers was issued to the militants not the state government.

According to him, the Governor is not in charge if security at the flow station or anywhere at all, adding that all the state government can do is ensure that all is well in the state.

Amungo said the Governor has been meeting with all arms of security in the state to ensure that situation returns to normal.

He admitted that the militants are still occupying the flow station and efforts are still on to persuade them to vacate facility peacefully.

Reacting to the Ultimatum issued by the federal government, a Non-Governmental-Organisation (NGO), Government of the People (GOP), lamented the sad turn of events in the state.

In a statement made available to THISDAY in Yenagoa and signed by its coordinator, Dr. Youpele Banigo, the GOP described the Reports that Federal Government has “issued a-48 hour ultimatum to the Bayelsa State Government to produce 21 officers and oil workers, or face the full wrath of a full military action” as a worrisome development.

It would be recalled that on Sunday June 17, 2007 militants invaded an oil flow station belonging to the Italian company AGIP located at Ogboinbiri, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and engaged security personals protecting the facility in a gun battle.

Earlier in the week, soldiers deployed to protect the facility killed nine youths in the area, an action which was follwed by Sunday reprisal action by the youth.

The GOP lamented that the situation is that “a sad replay of history appears to be on the way. In the early days of the first civilian/democratic government a similar event occurred at Odi when youths allegedly killed police officers, which culminating to the killing and destruction of Odi, and the rest is now history. But suffice it to say that we have not learnt from history, and may likely repeat that costly mistake.

Already tension is mounting in the area as the local people, including children are said to be fleeing from Ogboinbiri and the neighbouring communities following the elapse of the ultimatum.
‘Government of the People’, is deeply concerned about the situation and we are compelled to call on all and sundry, especially the Federal Government, State Government, the communities leaders, the youths, and the Nigerian military to be extremely cautious so that we to avoid another Odi or Odioama.”

The group said “Ogboinbiri borders Amasooma where the Niger Delta University is located. The University accumulates a considerable large number of people from around the country including students, scholars, researchers and other non-academic workers.
We therefore call whoever that is holding these officers and workers to immediately and unconditionally release them on humanitarian grounds and also to avoid a military reprisals.”

Gangs Clash with Police and Soldiers in Lagos (This Day)

As the nation witnessed another round of industrial action called by the Nigeria Labour Congress, armed hoodlums yesterday took to major areas in Lagos metropolis to prevent people from going about freely. At the end, no fewer than five soldiers and a police officer were said to have been injured and are presently on the danger list following the injuries they sustained when some suspected street urchins attacked their vehicle at the Iyana Ipaja end of Lagos State.

This is even as some armed rampaging hoodlums yesterday stormed the ever busy Maryland bus stop end of Ikorodu Road to disperse workers who came out in search of commercial vehicles that would take them to their respective places of work.

Eyewitness account alleged that the soldiers who may be on their way home ran into an unofficial road block mounted by some hoodlums at Ipaja area.

Also the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bashiru Azeez, yesterday paraded atleast 23 suspected armed robbers who were said to have operated within the Lagos metropolis within the past one month.

Though, the soldiers were said to have held their cool when they got to the road block, but that some of the urchins got irritated when they eventually discovered the true identities of the occupants of the vehicles.

Some of them opened fire at the vehicle as the soldiers attempted to escape from the scene when it became obvious that the hoodlums were not going to allow them go.

“Some of them sustained severe bullet wounds while a few of them had matched cuts. They were said to have been rushed to an undisclosed hospital by a team of mobile police officer drafted to the area” the source added.

In the same vein, some suspected street urchins, about 50 held some workers hostage at the Mary Land end of Ikorodu Road. St the end one Mobile policeman attached to mopol 20, Keffi was said to have been injured in the crisis.

The injured persons, majority of whom were said to be on their way to their respective places of worker were chased back to their house by some armed hoodlums who had allegedly laid siege on top of the Mary Land bypass.

The hoodlums were said to have fired sporadic gun shots into the air to scare away the workers and some filling station operatives who were selling fuel in jerry cans to buyers.

The incident which started at about 7am yesterday later spread to Onipan area/
It was at Onipan that one policeman who was said to be on his way to work ran into a story bullet fired by the suspected urchins.

Though, normalcy has been brought to both areas by the presence of armed mobile policemen, but uneasy calm still hover around the areas, but the situation may get worse from tomorrow when the few stations that had the products would have run out of stock, a marketer one of the filling station attendant told THISDAY at Maryland.

However, policemen were kept busy through out the better part of yesterday in Lagos, as commercial and vehicular activists were brought to a halt. This may not be unconnected to the fear that urchins might eventually take over the struck to carry out their criminal activities.
The few commercial vehicles that were on the road collected trice the original amount from commuters.

Unconfirmed reports alleged that about ten persons were arrested and that they are currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti Street, Yaba for further interrogation. Though how truthful this was could not be ascertained as the Command Headquarters were said to be parading about 23 armed robbe4ry suspects at the Command Headquarters at the time the crisis were on in the State.

Armed policemen from Mopol 29 and 22 also disrupted some protest match said to have been embarked on by organized Labour.

Some of the suspects arrested in Lagos were could not be identified as police sources said investigations was still on as to the involvement of the crisis in Ipaja and Maryland where five soldiers and one policeman were injured.

The protesters were coming from a rally held at various places in Lagos and were heading for the National Headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Yaba, when they encountered the police.

As early as 3pm, policemen from the state police command were sighted on major roads of the state capital, while intense and thorough search were
Conducted on private vehicles.

While Police were battling to curtail the activities of hoodlums in some parts of the metropolis. The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bashiru Azeez, paraded about 23 suspected armed robbers who have been operating within the state in the past one month.

Addressing journalists at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja, he some most of them have made useful confessional statements that will aid the police.

“The fine turned crime strategy was strengthened by the nine way test of the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro in his determined war on corruption and crime” he said.

Willbros Workers Protest Treatment by Company (Scoop)

WITH oil production activities still being largely disrupted in the Rivers State axis of the Niger Delta, amid incidents of sporadic gun shooting by rival cult cum militia cells in most parts of the state, a United States (U.S.) oil firm is currently heightening the worsening security situation in the oil and gas region of Nigeria.

The management of Willbros Nigeria Limited, one of the frontline U.S. oil servicing companies operating in the Niger Delta, is locked in confrontation with over 1000 of their junior and intermediate workers who are protesting against the U.S. firm's alleged breach of their Collective Agreement.

Some top functionaries of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) who made this known to our correspondent in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, on Tuesday night, are alleging that Willbros management response to the workers demands was not encouraging. The protesting oil workers are being branded as ''terrorists'' by the U.S. company.

Already, security agencies in the oil region are beginning to in guarded whispers that the impasse at Willbros has the potential of spiraling into a full blown crisis that could impact negatively on the larger sector of Nigeria.

Concerned labour leaders in the oil and gas region are also worried that the protesting Willbros workers have been defined by their management, through an alleged publication of ''seditious information'' in some key embassies and governments in Nigeria.

Chibuzor Nanwu, Chairman of the Willbros branch of NUPENG and his Treasurer, Alex Agwanwor, are alleging that the company has breached the agreement they reached in May 2006, by putting them on perpetual standby without pay. The U.S. company is also being accused of selling its greater portion to ASCOT Offshore Nigeria Limited, without settling the workers.

According to the union leaders, the workers are being owed over nine months pay. They are also accusing the company of defrauding the workers to the tune of over N50million pension deductions.

In the mean time, each of the affected workers are demanding a settlement package of N5.00million. For the 1000 of them, this is likely to be in the region of N5.00billion. ASCOT, the company that is buying up Willbros is said to be owned by one of the immediate past governors of the Niger Delta.

For those who know better, the alleged unwholesome acts of the American firm is heightening the security situation in the oil region as those being laid off, put on standby ''are sons and daughters of the oil region whose economic lives have been rendered impotent''

NUPENG says children of the protesting oil workers are being chased out of schools for want of money to pay school fees. According to the union, the Willbros workers ''are now subjects of landlord attacks for want of money to pay house rents, they are now malnourished for want of money to buy food with which to feed and a lot more serious suffering''.

But Willbros is keeping sealed lips on this accusations. Public Relations Officer of the company, Solomon Aluge, says he is not competent to speak on the issues being raised by the workers.

Soldiers in Warri Arrest Nine (Nigerian Tribune)

Nine persons have been arrested by men of the Joint Military Task Force (JMTF) in connection with last Tuesday’s violent clash between youths and elders of Abitiye and Benikrukru communities in Warri South West Local Government area of Delta State over

what to do with N150 million compensation paid to them by Chevron Nigeria Plc.

The oil company was said to have paid the money to the elders on behalf of the communities in its areas of operations for an oil spill from Abiteye flow station that destroyed the property of the people, especially fishing equipments in October last year.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that one person was allegedly shot during the clash with the youths reportedly firing indiscriminately in protest against the elders who were accused of shortchanging them in the sharing of the money said to have been paid last Monday.

The sources said that as part of the strategies to get what was due them, the youths invaded the Abiteye flow station on Monday, disrupting activities of the oil company to show that their elders should not be relied upon in settlement that may come up in future.

But the elders were said to have invited soldiers of Operation Restore Hope to protect the flow station from being vandalised and that it was during the intervention by the soldiers that some of the youths were arrested.

JTF spokesperson, Major Omale Ochagwuba, confirmed the incident but did not give further details.

The Scramble for Africa's Oil - Analysis (The New Statesman, Christopher Thomas)

The Pentagon is to reorganize its military command structure in response to growing fears that the United States is seriously ill-equipped to fight the war against terrorism in Africa. It is a dramatic move, and an admission that the US must reshape its whole military policy if it is to maintain control of Africa for the duration of what Donald Rumsfeld has called "the long war." Suddenly the world's most neglected continent is assuming an increasing global importance as the international oil industry begins to exploit more and more of the west coast of Africa's abundant reserves.

The Pentagon at present has five geographic Unified Combatant Commands around the world, and responsibility for Africa is awkwardly divided among three of these. Most of Africa - a batch of 43 countries - falls under the European Command (Eucom), with the remainder divided between the Pacific Command and Central Command (which also runs the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). Now the Pentagon - under the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the defense department - is working on formal proposals for a unified military command for the continent under the name "Africom." This significant shift in US relations with Africa comes in the face of myriad threats: fierce economic competition from Asia; increasing resource nationalism in Russia and South America; and instability in the Middle East that threatens to spill over into Africa.

The Pentagon hopes to finalize Africom's structure, location and budget this year. The expectation is that it can break free from Eucom and become operative by mid-2008.

"The break from Europe will occur before 30 September 2008," Professor Peter Pham, a US adviser on Africa to the Pentagon told the New Statesman. "The independent command should be up and running by this time next year."

A Pentagon source says the new command, which was originally given the green light by the controversial former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is likely to be led by William "Kip" Ward, the US army's only four-star African-American general. In 2005, Ward was appointed the US security envoy to the Middle East and he is reportedly close to President George W. Bush. He also has boots-on-the-ground experience in Africa: he was a commander during Bill Clinton's ill-fated mission in Somalia in 1993 and he served as a military representative in Egypt in 1998. Ward is now the deputy head of Eucom.

America's new Africa strategy reflects its key priorities in the Middle East: oil and counter-terrorism. Currently, the US has in place the loosely defined Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative, incorporating an offshoot of Operation Enduring Freedom that is intended to keep terrorist networks out of the vast, unguarded Sahel. But the lack of a coherent and unified policy on Africa is, according to some observers, hampering America's efforts in the Middle East. US military sources estimate that up to a quarter of all foreign fighters in Iraq are from Africa, mostly from Algeria and Morocco.

Moreover, there is increasing alarm within the US defense establishment at the creeping "radicalization" of Africa's Muslims, helped along by the export of hardline, Wahhabi-style clerics from the Arabian peninsula.

"The terrorist challenge [has] increased in Africa in the past year - it's gotten a new lease on life," according to Pham.

But it is the west's increasing dependency on African oil that gives particular urgency to these new directions in the fight against terrorism. Africa's enormous, and largely untapped, reserves are already more important to the west than most Americans recognize.

In March 2006, speaking before the Senate armed services committee, General James Jones, the then head of Eucom, said: "Africa currently provides over 15 per cent of US oil imports, and recent explorations in the Gulf of Guinea region indicate potential reserves that could account for 25-35 per cent of US imports within the next decade."

These high-quality reserves - West African oil is typically low in sulphur and thus ideal for refining - are easily accessible by sea to western Europe and the US. In 2005, the US imported more oil from the Gulf of Guinea than it did from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined. Within the next ten years it will import more oil from Africa than from the entire Middle East. Western oil giants such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, France's Total and Britain's BP and Shell plan to invest tens of billions of dollars in sub-Saharan Africa (far in excess of "aid" inflows to the region).

But though the Gulf of Guinea is one of the few parts of the world where oil production is poised to increase exponentially in the near future, it is also one of the most unstable. In the big three producer countries, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Angola, oil wealth has been a curse for many, enriching political elites at the expense of impoverished citizens. Angola is now China's main supplier of crude oil, supplanting Saudi Arabia last year. The Chinese, along with the rest of oil- hungry Asia, are looking covetously at the entire region's reserves.

Realpolitik of What Suits

Looming over West Africa is the spectre of the southern Niger Delta area, which accounts for most of Nigeria's 2.4 million barrels a day. Conflict here offers a taste of what could afflict all of sub-Saharan Africa's oilfields. Since 2003, the Delta has become a virtual war zone as heavily armed rival gangs - with names such as the Black Axes and Vikings - battle for access to pipelines and demand a bigger cut of the petrodollar.

Oil theft, known as "bunkering," costs Nigeria some $4bn (£2.05bn) a year, while foreign companies have been forced to scale back production after kidnappings by Delta militants. Such uncertainties help send world oil prices sky-high.

The Pentagon's new Africa policy is to include a "substantial" humanitarian component, aimed partly at minimizing unrest and crime. But the reality is that a bullish China is willing to offer billions in soft loans and infrastructure projects - all with no strings attached - to secure lucrative acreage.

"It's like going back to a Cold War era of politics where the US backs one political faction because their political profile suits their requirements," says Patrick Smith, editor of the newsletter Africa Confidential, widely read in policy circles. "It's a move away from criteria of good governance to what is diplomatically convenient."

According to Nicholas Shaxson, author of Poisoned Wells: the Dirty Politics of African Oil, "[Africom] comes in the context of a growing conflict with China over our oil supplies."

Africom will significantly increase the US military presence on the continent. At present, the US has 1,500 troops stationed in Africa, principally at its military base in Djibouti, in the eastern horn. That could well double, according to Pham. The US is already conducting naval exercises off the Gulf of Guinea, in part with the intention of stopping Delta insurgents reaching offshore oil rigs. It also plans to beef up the military capacity of African governments to handle their dissidents, with additional "rapid-reaction" US forces available if needed. But - echoing charges leveled at US allies elsewhere in the "war on terror" - there are fears that the many authoritarian governments in sub-Saharan Africa might use such units to crack down on internal dissent.

Raising Hackles

The increased US military presence is already apparent across the Red Sea from Iraq, where, in concert with Ethiopia, Washington has quietly opened up another front in its war on terror. The target: the Somalia-based Islamists whom the Americans claim were responsible for the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Earlier this year, US special forces used air strikes against suspected al-Qaeda militants, killing scores.

"Hundreds of terror suspects have been held incommunicado since Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia in December last year."

FBI interrogators have also been dispatched to Ethiopian jails, where hundreds of terror suspects - including Britons - have been held incommunicado since Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia in December last year, according to Human Rights Watch. The problem with this more confrontational approach in Africa is apparent. "There's definitely a danger of the US [being] seen as an imperial exploiter," says Shaxson. "The military presence will raise hackles in certain countries - America will have to tread lightly."

Nonetheless, the Pentagon is hoping that Africom will signal a more constructive foreign policy in the region and a break with the past. "Politically [Africa] is important and that's going to increase in coming years," says Pham. "It's whether the US can sustain the initiative."

African Oil: the Numbers

22% of US crude oil imports came from Nigeria in the first quarter of 2007

25% of US crude imports came from Saudi Arabia in the same period

75% of the Nigerian government's income is oil-related

800,000 Nigerian estimate for barrels of oil lost each day through leaks, stoppages or theft by rebels

$2.3bn cost of building Chevron's Benguela Belize platform off the coast of Angola