Nigeria Security Update #1 200707

Armed Men Kill Expatriate in Port Harcourt (Reuters)

Suspected armed robbers shot dead a Lebanese businessman in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta, the local police commissioner said on Friday.

Felix Ogbaudu said the robbers locked the apartment block's security guard inside his post and entered the Lebanese man's house, took some of his belongings and shot him dead. He said it happened at about 3 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Friday.

Ogbaudu said armed robberies were commonplace in that part of the city but it was unclear why the attackers had shot the man, who had a private furniture-making business. No one else was harmed.

Kidnappings of foreigners are frequent in the oil-producing delta and many abductions have taken place in Port Harcourt, but it is unusual for expatriates to get killed.

Port Harcourt is the main city in the delta. It has become increasingly dangerous since early 2006, when militants demanding control over oil revenues stepped up a campaign of attacks on the oil industry.

The militants have attacked oil facilities and kidnapped oil workers, cutting Nigeria's exports by about a fifth and prompting thousands of expatriate workers and their relatives to leave the region.

But numerous criminal gangs have used the unrest as a cover to abduct foreigners for ransom or carry out armed robberies. The delta, including Port Harcourt, is also plagued by violent youth gangs called "cults" who frequently clash for reasons that usually remain obscure.

HIV & The Niger Delta (This Day)

When the news of the discovery of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the resultant Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) broke out in the mid 1980s, most Nigerians never gave it a second thought. Even when the disease was found to have led to the death of several East and Southern Africans, many still claimed that HIV and AIDS were a mere whiteman's coinage and disease.

But today, some two decades after, the killer disease has taken an awesome toll on Nigerians, and even killed neighbours next door, and rendered many, especially children, orphans. That infection, which was a whiteman's disease in 1986-87, has now become a vanquished misery to many families in Nigeria, particularly amongst people of Niger Delta, where its prevalence rate has been high. The states of the South-south are already hitting epidemic proportion in the spread of the virus as a result of favourable socio-economic conditions in the region. Now, the people are at crossroads and a workable solution has to be found to immediately curb the whirlwind and save our beloved brothers and sisters from the pandemic. The figures are indeed, alarming, and concerns are rising. In the South-south zone, Akwa Ibom has the highest prevalence rate of 8.0 per cent, with Cross River following closely with 6.1 per cent (showing a drastic reduction in the last five years from 8.2 per cent), while Rivers ranks third with 5.4 per cent. In the same vein, Edo is rated fourth with 4.6 per cent, Bayelsa ranks fifth at 3.8 per cent while Delta comes last with 3.7 per cent.

A deeper x-ray of the statistics sadly reveal that rural communities in the zone are effectively competing with urban centres in the spread of HIV and the concentration of AIDS cases. In Akwa Ibom, for instance, HIV prevalence rate in rural areas has overtaken the number in urban centres with a 9.3 to 7.3 ratio, just as rural communities in Bayelsa State have toppled the towns with a 4-point lead to 3.7 for urban centres.

The case of Rivers is not an exception either, as the rural mass already has a 5 per cent prevalence rate, just a little below the 5.5 per cent rate for urban centres. Cross River State also has a 5 per cent rural spread of the virus against the cities's 6.7 per cent, Edo maintains 3 per cent rural prevalence rate compared to urban centres' 5.3 per cent while in Delta, 2 per cent of the rural poor are already infected against the present 4.5 per cent rate for the cities.

A careful analysis of the distribution pattern in the zone shows an unequal network of centres when compared to the prevalence rate in each state of the South-south. For instance, both Edo and Cross River states have three ART centres each while Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states have one site each.

This situation becomes more disturbing when it is realized that there are now 210 ART centres across the country (using current NACA figures). With all the centres in the cities, it becomes crystal clear that the rural dwellers have immense problem of access to the available centres for the direly needed treatment, care and support services. This has made it expedient for government and other concerned agencies to put strategies in motion to establish ART centres in the rural communities to check the spread of the pandemic. And these centres are needed mostly in the rural communities in the South-south, albeit, the Niger Delta, where the spread of HIV/AIDS has been rising systematically.

The strategic foundations forged gave impetus to the formation of the National Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (NACA), now National Agency for Control of HIV & AIDS, and the setting up of the various state implementing bodies -SACA as well as those of the local government areas, LACA. As coordinating and implementing platforms for HIV & AIDS policies and programmes in Nigeria, these bodies have battled with donor and partner organisations including some corporate bodies to redress the menace. But given the number of HIV/AIDS victims, the number of ART sites and the dearth of professionals in the sector, it is clear that the burden on government is overwhelming.

It is against this background that other players in the Nigerian economy have intervened in one way or the other to reduce the impact of the spectre on the national psyche. One such example, is the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), which has bought-in on all national policy frameworks for tackling the HIV & AIDS pandemic in Nigeria , particularly in the Niger Delta region.

One of the ways through which the company has contributed, as a responsible corporate citizen of Nigeria, and indeed, the Niger Delta, is the adoption of an organisational workplace policy on HIV/AIDS for staff in line with government's strategy. This is in addition to active participation of the company in the annual World AIDS Day celebrations, the sponsorship of media-based campaigns on HIV & AIDS, organised sessions for 10,000 students and 250 teachers, drama and distributed notebooks branded with HIV/AIDS prevention messages, organized seminars/workshops and sensitization fora on the scourge for staff, health workers, faith-based and civic society groups, host communities, among others. Besides, SPDC has also sponsored Shell AIDS School .

But beyond all these, SPDC has taken a quantum leap in its intervention strategy by investing in initiatives to complement government's efforts to scale up access to ART through the upgrading and equipping of five of the 27 health facilities to provide HIV and AIDS care, treatment and support services to PLWHAs in the Niger Delta. Conceived under the Niger Delta AIDS Response (NiDAR) project, the initiative targets Otuasegha Cottage Hospital in Bayelsa, Erhoike Cottage Hospital in Delta, Oben Cottage Hospital in Edo , Owaza Cottage Hospital in Abia and Edagberi Cottage Hospital in Rivers. The project will also strengthen Okolobiri General Hospital as well as Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, all in Bayelsa, to deliver HIV comprehensive care services to victims.

The goals of SPDC, Dr. Babatunde Fakunle, corporate community health manager, SPDC, said are to strengthen the human resource and capacity of the affected health facilities to provide high quality and comprehensive HIV and AIDS care services as well as establish strong linkages of the various components of HIV and AIDS care services within the facilities and other available HIV & AIDS programmes in the states.

Dr Fakunle said at the maiden NiDAR Project Stakeholders Roundtable in Port Harcourt, last month that the deliverable benefits of the new intervention strategy, include the provision of access to HIV/AIDS services to over 50,000 people in the first year alone while serving as a catalyst for the development of HIV/AIDS strategic response framework for the Niger Delta. He also listed other benefits to include increased access to HIV/AIDS -related information and prevention activities, reduced HIV/AIDS transmission, improved healthcare delivery and overall quality of life for host communities as well as PLWHA, and to further boost relations between SPDC and communities in the region.

The community-level response strategy is seen as the first of its kind in the country's effort to sustain integrated care, treatment and support services for HIV/AIDS victims. The NiDAR Project, Fakunle noted, is part of SPDC's bold step to "support FHI and the various state action committees on AIDS" and other specialized NGOs to improve "access of the communities to comprehensive and quality assured HIV/AIDS care and treatment services". He said this will increase the number of ART centres as well as check the prevalence rate in the rural communities in the Niger Delta. This, again, shows SPDC's leadership in responding to the needs of the people of Niger Delta.

In his presentation at the roundtable, the corporate community health manager highlighted three key objectives and deliverables of the forum, which include to adequately inform key stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS on the scope and operations of the NiDAR project; to garner the support of key players at community, state and national levels for effective implementation of the project; and to agree on workable/practicable modalities for achieving qualitative results as set out by the project.

One exciting aspect of the NiDAR project is the commitment of SPDC to provide funding for all activities as listed in the proposal document; provision of logistical support for the project management team; renovation and appropriate re-allocation of space in the five cottage hospitals; infrastructural and laboratory upgrading and provision of equipment for the facilities; provision of logistic support for manpower training as well as plans to boost on-going support for procurement of essential drugs, reagents and consumables. These are not all that the SPDC's NiDAR Project promises the people.

Dr Akin Fajola, public health adviser,SPDC, catalogued other special initiatives in the project, among which are the funding of the Bayelsa State Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS with technical assistance from FHI, plans to set up voluntary counseling centres in five of six SPDC-supported health facilities, provision of HIV/AIDS care services in three facilities, and on-going arrangements to set up groups to support PLWHA. Further steps, he said, are on to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in target communities, conduct orientation workshops for healthcare providers on social mobilization and community participation in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and design, produce and distribute Information Education and Communication materials.

Another milestone of the roundtable was the formation of a central hospitals advisory committee drawn from each of the participating states and facilities, and SPDC. With these achievements, the concerns of stakeholders on the rising spate of HIV/AIDS in the region's rural areas are half addressed. But more could be done, if other corporate organizations think along that line. This is the best approach!

Police Commissioner is not Throwing a Tea Party for Criminals (The Sun)

The new Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, has warned criminals that he is not in the state for a tea party.Addressing officers and men in the command, he said there was no hiding place for criminals.

He said that policemen would be rewarded to encourage them to do their best. Indeed, as a starter, 15 policemen were given letters of commendation and cash reward for their act of gallantry in combating robbers.

According to him, his action was also in line with the first item on the nine-way test resolution of the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, to operate a transparent and accountable administration. He said: "I want the good people of Lagos State to know of our further determination to protect them. Henceforth, policemen who excel in the performance of their duties will be openly commended as a motivational tonic to ginger them for higher performances."

The CP added that any policeman who does not excel would not get any commendation. He seized the opportunity to reveal that more than 47 suspected robbers were held in six days of his assumption of office. He said 25 assorted arms and 102 ammunition and various magazines of AK47 rifle, two barreta pistols, five pump action guns, one revolver pistol, one max pistol model 1950 and 17 locally made single and double barreta guns were recovered from them.

The bandits were held by the 15 brave policemen from different divisions. Among those arrested was a four-man gang who usually snatched flashy cars from victims in traffic snarl in the Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos. One barretta pistol and three locally made pistols were recovered from them.

While revealing that he would, from time to time, pay unscheduled visits to police commands to make sure that policemen were on their toes, Abubakar further said: "The inspector general of police has directed and empowered police officers to arrest and prosecute bullion van drivers, unauthorized individuals and companies that use siren to intimidate other road users. Henceforth, violators of this directive will be sanctioned in Lagos State."

According to him, the hide-outs of suspected criminals were raided during the week and 640 suspects held. He said after investigations, 101 were charged to court, insisting that the exercise was a continuous process of cleansing the state of criminals.

Abubakar disclosed that additional 312 street urchins were held within the period under review.

"The command is in a serious discussion with the state government on modalities of rehabilitating majority of the social miscreants."

The new CP also has good news for those whose cars may have been snatched or stolen.

"Recently, 36 stolen vehicles were recovered in different parts of the state. Owners of these recovered vehicles were advised to check newspapers for their locations for collection or crosscheck from the office of the police public relations officer."

The CP said accurate and reliable information on criminals was required for a proactive policing as well as detection of crime. He promised to treat such information with utmost confidentiality.

He added: "My administration will operate an open-door policy where all and sundry will have unhindered access to me on all important issues that will make the command sustain its war on criminals."

He wants people to call these numbers 01-7745705, 01-7745706, 08034420406, 08023335749 and 08060357795 if they have information for the police.

Nigeria Security Update #1 180707

Shell Pipelines on Fire

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HISTORY OF PROTESTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Shell Gas Plant Shut Down

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Freedom Fighters Demand Kingdom

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

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

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

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

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


Cultist Warfare Plagues River State

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kidnapping as Business (Vanguard)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Hopes for Peace in Niger Delta (ISN)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All-out war

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inalienable rights

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nigeria Security Update #2 100707

Camp Attacked, Militants Repelled (Reuters)

Nigerian troops repelled an attack on a construction site run by Korean firm Daewoo in the Niger Delta early on Tuesday, killing one of the attackers, a military commander said.
The attack took place at Mbiama, on the outskirts of the delta's main city of Port Harcourt, where Daewoo are doing contract work for Italian oil firm Agip .

Daewoo staff including some foreigners live on the site and the military commander said they were the target of the attack.

"The gunmen came in a bus to abduct some foreigners who were in the camp at the time but my men repelled the attack," said Lawrence Ngubane, head of the Joint Task Force responsible for security in the Niger Delta.

"We killed one of the attackers and arrested one. We also seized the bus, some weapons and ammunition," he said.

None of the Daewoo staff was hurt or kidnapped, Ngubane said.

Abductions for ransom of foreign oil workers are extremely frequent in the Niger Delta, as are attacks on oil production facilities. About 200 expatriates have been kidnapped since the start of 2006, of whom at least 16 are still being held.

Oil output from Nigeria, the world's eighth-biggest exporter, is down by over 20 percent because of these attacks and thousands of expatriate workers and their families have left the region since the violence intensified at the start of 2006.


Cults Clash, Houses Destroyed (Wire Reports)

Several people were injured and many houses and vehicles were destroyed in two days of fighting between two rival cult gangs in southern Nigeria's volatile Ogoniland, police said Tuesday.

Riot police were brought in to break up the violence which erupted Sunday between the Deewell and Deebam gangs in Bane in the Khana local government area, Rivers state police spokeswoman Ireju Barasua told AFP.

"Several people were injured while vehicles and houses were razed" in the fighting which continued until Monday, she added.

Local press said at least two people were feared killed.

Bane is the home town of the late environmental campaigner and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was killed along with eight other Ogoni activists by the military in November 1995 over a trumped up charge of killing four fellow Ogoni chiefs.

Oil-rich Ogoniland is a hotbed of civil unrest in the restive Niger Delta, home to Nigeria's multi-billion-dollar oil and gas resources.

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, which is Nigeria's leading producer, was forced to quit Ogoniland in 1993 because of community unrest.

Residents of Ogoni communities accuse foreign oil companies, especially Shell, of destroying their ecosystem without paying adequate compensation.



VP Says Niger Delta's Security Top Priority (This Day)

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that his main assignment in the first six months of the life of the administration is to stabilise the Niger Delta area.

He also said the lack of coordination that proved quite unhelpful in solving the crisis and other related matters in the Niger Delta in the past is already being taking care of by the Yar'Adua administration.

The Vice President said these yesterday at the Aso Rock State House when he received a six-man delegation on a courtesy visit from the parent company of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (ENI), led by its Chief Operation Officer, Mr. Stefano Cao.

He also said the deplorable security situation in Lagos State would also be given adequate attention so that Nigerians could sleep peacefully at night while their businesses and investments thrive without fear from the men of the underworld.

The Vice President told the visiting group that the Federal Government has made appreciable progress in the Niger Delta area by securing the understanding of the leaders of those agitating for a better deal in the region.

He said several talks have already been held with all the stakeholders in the area to ensure that such meetings have far reaching effect in resolving the crises.

On the security situation in Lagos State, Jonathan said "we will ensure that security situation in the Niger Delta area is improved soon, even Lagos State security situation will be looked into, so that business and investment can thrive and people can sleep safely at night".

Nigeria Security Update #1 070707

Swamp of Despair (London Times)

The threat to kill the three-year-old British girl kidnapped in Nigeria’s Delta region brings a dangerous new element to the violence and lawlessness endemic in this impoverished oil-producing region. Until now, the campaign to force the Government and international oil companies to return some of the wealth to the polluted and ravaged villages of the Delta has largely targeted foreign oil workers, regularly seized as hostages and exchanged for ransom. This year more than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped, and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) has just called off its moratorium and resumed attacks on the oil workers. But in recent months dozens of splinter groups, most of them ordinary criminal gangs, have also resorted to hostage-taking. Margaret Hill, the daughter of a Nigerian mother and British father, is the latest victim of this downward spiral into lawlessness.

Local support for Mend and other militant groups is understandable. Although the Delta accounts for 90 per cent of Nigeria’s export income, the swampy region gets almost no return on the money. The infrastructure has collapsed, roads have become impassable, once-thriving businesses have moved away, farmlands have been destroyed and fishermen thrown out of work, while the miasma of oil pollution hangs over all. The federal Government in Abuja has regularly promised to revive the region, but corruption, tribal antagonism and conflicts in other parts of the vast country have thwarted all plans.

The international oil companies, long pilloried for their indifference, have made great efforts in recent years to clean up the pollution and spread the benefits of their activity. But they have been unable to prevent the theft of oil from pipelines (often with disastrous consequences), the corruption of local administrators and the growing number of attacks on their staff. Shell, by far the biggest foreign company, is now so constrained by violence and criminality that its operations have been affected severely. Oil production is down by 25 per cent this year and Nigerians fear that the multinationals will leave with catastrophic results for Africa’s most populous nation.

Before leaving office, former President Obasanjo drew up the Niger Delta Master Plan, replacing an earlier plan that failed to produce results. His successor, President Umaru Yar’Adua, has promised to tackle the problems of the Delta. But although he proved to be a competent governor, free of the stain of corruption, the flawed election that brought him to power has already constrained his authority. The problem for Abuja is that it cannot afford to return the oil profits to the Delta, as this would hurt the already cash-strapped federal Government and lead to increased unrest in other part of the country, especially the restive Muslim north.

The prospect of spreading violence in Nigeria, where tribal divisions undermine many federal attempts to fight corruption and improve local administration, is deeply disturbing. The country has suffered one devastating civil war and numerous coups since independence. It cannot be allowed to become Africa’s largest failed state. Multinationals must persist in attempts to improve conditions in the Delta, and Mr Yar’Adua must focus on this endemic dispute. The first step is to ensure the release a small, vulnerable girl, whose seizure is a symptom of all that is wrong.

Nigeria's President Appeals to Kidnappers

The President of Nigeria, Umaru Yar'Adua, has appealed for the immediate release of a three-year-old British girl kidnapped by gunmen.
Mr Yar'Adua has ordered the Nigerian security services to ensure that Margaret Hill is returned unharmed to her family.

The girl's parents said the kidnappers were demanding a ransom.

Margaret Hill was snatched from a car on her way to school in Port Harcourt, in the volatile Niger Delta region.

Officials said that security forces would not resort to violence in order to free the girl.

A statement released by the president's office said "President Yar'Adua... appeals once again for a total cessation of all acts of violence in the region, the release of little Miss Margaret Hill and all other hostages."

"He has directed the security agencies to make every possible effort to ensure that she is returned to her family unharmed and he remains in touch with all efforts being made to secure the girl's release," the statement said.

Her mother, Oluchi, says the kidnappers have threatened to kill Margaret unless her husband takes the girl's place.

Crying

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

The kidnappers telephoned Mrs Hill and said they would free the child but only if her father, Mike, took her place.

Mrs Hill, a Nigerian national, told the BBC that 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.

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

"They say I can bring my husband to swap with the baby," Mrs Hill said.

"He wanted to go down for his baby but the police commander told him not to."

Mrs Hill said the kidnappers threatened to kill Margaret if Mr Hill did not come within three hours.

After the deadline had expired, Mrs Hill said Margaret was being fed just "bread and water".

Ransom demanded

The family says the kidnappers have also asked for money.

Nigerian national police chief Mike Okiro has gone to Port Harcourt, where he held meetings with security officials.

The region's main militant group - the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) - has offered to help find the child.

"We will join in the hunt for the monsters who carried out this abduction and mete out adequate punishment for this crime. We abhor all forms of violence against women and children," the group said in a statement.

The UK's Foreign Office has called for Margaret's "immediate safe release".

The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says Mr Hill is ill and had been due to fly to the UK for medical treatment.

He says that no hostage has ever been killed by kidnappers in Nigeria and more than 200 have been taken by armed groups in the last 18 months.

Almost all were freed after a ransom was paid.



Cultists and Port Harcourt (Vanguard)

Gunmen suspected to be cultists go on a shooting spree in the oil city, leaving no less than 20 persons dead at different locations of the Rivers State capital

IS there any part of Rivers state that is safe? This is the question on many lips since Sunday evening when suspected cultists took over major streets in the state capital shooting sporadically. And at the end of the shooting spree, no fewer than twenty persons lay dead at different locations.

It was wailing that night in many homes. It was not clear if it was a cult clash but the shooting according to eye witnesses started around Water lines, a place where most travelers to Lagos, Calabar etc board vehicles. Sources could not speak on how the assailants came to the area, but they said what they heard were shootings from all directions. And as usual those around scampered for safety. Nobody could say if any life was lost but they said many people sustained severe gun shot wounds.

The shooting spree later spread to Diobu area of the state capital at about 6.45 pm where scores of people lost their lives. At Njemanze about six persons reportedly died, including a little girl said to be assisting the mother to sell roasted corn by the road side. At Emenike, a lady was reportedly killed. Meters away from her corpse was that of another girl that was shot on the chest.

At Abakaliki Road , a pregnant woman was allegedly killed by stray bullets in a church where she had gone to seek the face of her creator. Another lady who was on her way to get drugs at a drug store on Okija street met her untimely death in the hands of the gunmen. Three friends said to be drinking at a beer parlour were also shot dead.

The total death toll at press time could not be confirmed. When Saturday Vanguard went round some of the streets the following day families were seen crying and wailing that they had not seen some of their relatives.

“I have not seen my brother since that night. We went round some of the corpses people drew our attention to. I just pray he is still alive’, somebody who gave his name as Akpan said.
The shooting lasted about three hours. In almost all the nooks and crannies of Diobu that black evening people scampered for safety. Families lucky to be indoors when it started quickly locked themselves inside. The market that springs up at Mile one every evening hurriedly packed up with traders and buyers fleeing at different directions. By 7.30 p.m. that evening, vehicles had disappeared from the busy Mile One to Mile Three portion of Ikwerre Road. Few motorists on the road were forced to drive through Okija and other adjoining streets because the Police Station in Mile One quickly barricaded a portion of the road with vehicles, ostensibly to protect the station from any invasion.

It was hell for passengers that were caught in the cross fire that night as no commercial vehicles were in sight to pick them. Most of them had to be begging motorists racing to safety for lift.
“I never pray for this kind of evening even for my enemy. That I came out alive was God’s grace. No taxi or bus to pick any of us. The few private cars on the road were on top speed to see how they too could disappear from the shooting scene. Bullets were flying over our heads from all directions. I had to trek miles that night before I could manage to get a bus’ one of them told the Vanguard.

When contacted the following day for the actual figure of the dead, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu who said he was in Abuja said the police were yet to come up with a tally of casualties, because they recovered about seven that night and the following day they were still recovering more corpses.

But why will any sane mind open fire at a market place, not minding if a relative could be hit is one of the issues that have been agitating the minds of many since that black Sunday evening in Rivers state.

Some people said the shooting was a reprisal attack on another cult group by their rival body. But again, many had thought that if it was truly a reprisal action then the assailants should have limited themselves to their targets. But in this case several of those consumed by the shooting were innocent passers-by. For instance what business will a little girl of about thirteen who was roasting corn with the mother by the road side have to do with cultism? Well! for some others, the whole tragic drama that night was aimed at creating an atmosphere of tension in the state. Again , what kind of tension? Because the state in the opinion of many has been tension soaked even before the mindless killings that night.

Conjectures will never end on the reason behind the callous and brutal killings of many innocent and defenseless Nigerians that night by their own brothers but one thing that cannot be given to the realms of speculations is that the state is not safe. There is need to declare the area a security emergency. In the same week a paramount ruler was murdered in Kpor, Khana local government by suspected cultists. According to the Police Commissioner, he was accused of having aided a cult group in the area. His death triggered off reprisals that claimed several lives.

The Kpor incident came barely days after a similar one in Rumuolumeni where the alleged killing of a youth leader sparked off a crisis that also claimed several lives and destroyed properties running into millions. When the crisis thickened in the area most residents had to vacate their houses for safety. As at press time peace had not fully returned to the area. Residents who fled were still not set to move back. One of them Mr. John Bull said he was not sure peace had truly come to the place.

“Peace has not returned. Was it not last week they came again in the midnight to kill two persons. The trouble is still very fresh in the minds of many of assailants there. So it is not safe to go back now”.

Just when many thought the Rumuolumeni trouble was enough headache was when unknown gun men stormed a private school in the state capital to abduct a three year old son of a female legislator. They reportedly threatened to blow up the head of the house help who took the child to school if he was not released to them. They later reportedly fled with the lad and kept him away from his parents for days, until according to sources close to the family money exchanged hands before the child regained his freedom.

Disturbed by the insecurity problem in the state wife of the governor, Mrs. Tonia Omehia publicly called for prayers to rescue the state and the region from the “satanic” grip. She decried the action of those who kidnapped the three-year old child. Her lamentation is just one in several millions. The cry for peace in the state is so loud that governments, both at the state and national levels must rise to do something to save the state.

For most residents, government should take bold step to stem the tide of cultism, after all according to them it was a monster created by the political class in the state. They argued that before 1999 the state was calm and peaceful. But with the advent of democracy cultism was institutionalized as another arm to provide security for politicians and also secure political victories for them .

There is also appeal to soldiers to assist in curbing the situation. Flash points like Emenike, Ojoto round about, Azikiwe street, Nnsuka, Njemanze should be manned daily by security operatives. Again, they urge police to clamp down on brothels in these areas. More often, shooting had always started from these red light spots.
A stitch in time they say, saves nine.

Nigeria Security Update #1 030707

Violence in Port Harcourt Kills 20 (Daily Sun, Reuters, Nigerian Tribune, Vanguard)

NO fewer than 20 persons lost their lives Sunday night in Port Harcourt when gunmen took over major streets, shooting sporadically. The cause of their action was still unclear at press time.

The shooting started from Water lines, an area where most travellers from the state capital board vehicles. There was panic while the shooting lasted. Sources said several persons sustained gun shot wounds.

Blood flowed in Mile One, Diobu area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, on Sunday night, when unknown gunmen shot randomly in the street. Among those killed were two ladies and an elderly man, while about 20 others, who were badly injured, have been hospitalized.

At press time, it was not clear where the gunmen came from or who they were, but eye witnesses told Daily Sun that they first came to Elechi Beach Street, in Diobu, in an unmarked Mercedes Benz car from where they drove to No.1 Abakiliki/Ojike Street, where they shot and killed three young men. In Abakiliki Street, relatives of the victims, told Daily Sun that Ikuroa Briggs and Biobele Princewill had gone to visit their friend, Dokubo Grandvill, when the gunmen opened fire on them without notice.

The dead including a woman who was hit in her car by a stray bullet, were killed in the high density Diobu district of the city where the rival gangs clashed late on Sunday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the local police chief as saying.

At Njemanze, about six persons were feared killed, including a little girl said to be assisting her mother to sell roasted corn by the roadside. At Emenike, a lady was shot dead in her Mercedes Benz car, and just some metres away from where her car was parked another corpse laid dead on the ground.

On Abakelike road, a pregnant woman was reportedly killed by stray bullets in a church where she had gone to worship. Another lady in Okija Street allegedly died on her way to buy drugs at a nearby chemist shop.

Families lucky to be indoors locked themselves. Market that springs up by the roadside in Mile One every evening hurriedly packed up with traders and buyers fleeing in all directions. As at 730 p.m., the Mile One-- Mile Three part of the busy Ikwerre road was free of traffic. The few motorists around the Mile One part of the road were forced to go through Okija Street and other adjourning streets as the Police at their Mile One station blocked the road to traffic.

Passengers were left stranded as commercial buses and taxis were not in sight.

The fighting, which raged until the early hours of Monday, was the latest example of violence in Nigeria's lawless southern delta, where attacks on oil facilities, kidnapping of foreigners and gang bloodletting have increased since 2006.

Gang clashes are a common occurrence in Port Harcourt, the main city in Nigeria's oil heartland and gunmen frequently engage in turf wars to assert their supremacy.

Two people were killed in the city when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a crowd last month, while at least four died in clashes between rival gangs in April.

Violence over the last 18 months has prompted thousands of foreign workers to flee in the Niger Delta, a maze of mangrove-lined creeks that is home of Nigeria's oil wealth, and shut down about a third of the country's production capacity.

Poverty and endemic corruption in government is at the root of much of the insecurity in the region, where impoverished fishing villages host Africa's biggest oil industry.

It was further gathered that the gunmen drove to Njemanze Street, where they shot two persons to death, including an elderly man. In Okija Street, the hoodlums killed a lady and two men. The yet-to-be identified lady, was killed inside her dark blue 504 Peugeot car, with registration number, Rivers AV 270 PHC at No 2, Okija Street, while the two men, identified as Ifeanyi, a welder and Clement Nwene, were killed a few blocks away.

Another lady, whose name was simply given as Rose and two men said to be Hausa were killed in Gambia Street, near Okija, while some other victims were said to have died at Teme Clinic where they were taken for treatment.

Following activities of militants, living in Port Harcourt has become risky as hoodlums are fast changing the metropolis from its Garden City status to a city of blood. Concerned residents are expressing worry over this development. According to them, there is hardly any day that passes without one form of killing or another in various parts of the city.

The residents said that the killings had become so rampant that human lives seemed to have lost value in the city. They said that the current killings took a different dimension, as no rival group seems to be fighting with each other.

More than 30 other people, mostly unconnected with the groups, were said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries in the shoot-out.

The cultists, who took over the streets of Diobu for more than 40 minutes from around 7:00 p.m., shot indiscriminately, leading to the killing of some innocent people.

Nigerian Tribune gathered from security sources that a group known as “Klansmen” stormed the Diobu area, which they believed was the stronghold of another cult group, the notorious De Bam cult group.

According to a source, the Klansmen had accused the De Bam group of invading Ogbakiri community in Emohua Local Government Area of the state earlier in the year, during which it killed many of their rivals, among whom was Prince Igodo, a gang leader.

According to reports, the group moved from one area of Diobu to another, attacking both their enemies and any other person who was unlucky to cross their path.

Two bodies were picked up from Okija Street, three from Abakaliki/Ojike Streets, about seven from the Water Front and about two from Wokoma Street.

Sources informed the Nigerian Tribune that one of the two victims on Okija Street was a woman who was shot in her car. According to the sources, “I gathered that her husband is in prison, may be they had marked that car. I learnt they sprayed nothing less than ten rounds of ammunition on her.”

When contacted for details of the attack on the area, the Divisional Police Officer for Mile One Police Division, Mr. Emmanuel Asufi, confirmed the incident.

According to him, “we came across them around Ojoto and my men opened fire on them. When they saw that the fire was too much, they turned back and headed for Abakaliki to Ojike.

“We were still after them when I received a call that three people had been killed at Abakaliki. There is no way I would hear such a message that I won’t want to go back to see the situation.

Lagos Airport Radar Down (Nigerian Tribune)

THE radar at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, has partially broken down following an electric power surge which blew up the screen of the radar system last Friday.

The incident, according to investigations, has hampered air traffic at the airport.

As a result, air traffic controllers have been coping with separation of flights in and out of the Lagos airport, while the relevant agency, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), has been making frantic efforts to rectify the problem.

While confirming the incident, sources in the agency disclosed that there was no cause for alarm as the management had been working round the clock to put the radar back in order.

“The management has moved in to quickly rectify the situation, just as you know that providing excellent air traffic services is one of the top priorities of NAMA,”the sources said.

An air traffic controller who spoke on condition of anonymity admitted that the “failure is seriously hampering air traffic control.”

Floods Inundate Lagos Last Week (Vanguard)

LAGOS, the acclaimed centre of excellence, literally prostrated to floods last week following persistent heavy downpour in the city. Commuters were stranded in various parts of the city as drivers took their rickety vehicles off the roads.

The few who plied the roads charged outrageous fees and many got stuck in the deep craters along the roads. Stranded passengers who could not make it back home slept in their offices while others who made it home did so way into midnight due to the terrible jam. Houses, particularly those built near drainage channels, were submerged and several residents had to scoop flood out of their living rooms.

The rain, which started late Wednesday continued until Friday, sacking many families from their homes in the flood-prone areas. Many motorists, unable to navigate their way out of the heavy waters, got stuck on the popular flood-prone Ahmadu Bello Way, Adeola Odeku and other parts of highbrow Ikoyi and Victoria Island.

Also flooded were Agege, Yaba, Gbagada, Ajao Estate, Amuwo Odofin, Oworonsoki, most parts of Surulere, Bariga, the ever-busy Lagos-Apapa expressway and the Lagos-Badagry expressway. The slum neighbourhoods of Ajegunle, Orile, Sari Iganmu, Amukoko, Isale Eko, where the drainage channels have become totally blocked, were, however, the worst hit. Commercial motorcycle operators in various parts of the city also suffered heavy losses as they were forced to stay away in order not to cause damage to their engines. They even turned down heavy financial inducements from passengers.

Our ordeal by residents

Narrating his ordeal to Vanguard Features (VF), Mr. Sunday Okonu, who lives in a two-room apartment in a tenant building in the Aiyetoro area of Ajegunle, said: "We were fast asleep when I suddenly noticed that the room I slept in with my wife was flooded. I rushed into the other room where my children were sleeping on the rug and found them already soaked. The furniture was also wet. It was a very bitter experience which I have not had since the past eleven years that I have lived in that yard. I had to take my children to our bed while I spent the entire night trying to scoop the flood out".

Miss Ijeoma Duru, who lives with her uncle in another Lagos suburb, was luckier than Mr. Okonu. She also recounted her experience to VF. "When we noticed that flood has found its way into our neighbour's flat, we decided to stay indoors in order to safeguard most of our valuables. My auntie suddenly turned into a prayer warrior as she called upon God to intervene since my uncle travelled. Her little children, who were apparently excited with the whole drama, laughed at her. But, God heard her prayers and prevented the flood from entering our flat", Ijeoma said.

For Lagos residents, the rainy season is, indeed, the most dreaded period of the year. The season comes with the perennial problems of heavy flooding, traffic snarl, buildings collapse and destruction of property worth several millions of Naira.

Environment experts who spoke to VF on the drainage and flooding problems in the state, painted a gloomy picture of the obstruction of the free flow of the drainage system which has aggravated flooding on Victoria Island, a highbrow residential-cum-commercial hub. Lagos lies below the sea level. Despite this, the State government has aided private developers to embark on high-scale land reclamation and the result is the enormous damage to the ecosystem. When it rains, most homes are often flooded because garbage blocks the canals, making it difficult for the water to flow. The flood sweeps up plastic bags and other trash that washes into the rooms of people living close to the canals. As the population of Lagos keeps increasing geometrically, there is no corresponding improvement on the infrastructure to deal with the waste they generate. Most of the garbage and sewage collected by private operators, as well as the effluents from industries, end up in the lagoons and creeks. The rest is burned, either in the numerous illegal rubbish dumps that dot the landscape or in the three official dumps run by the government.

Implement drainage master-plan

President of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), Dr. Femi Olomola, hinged the perennial problem of flooding in Lagos on three main factors - Government has failed to faithfully implement the drainage master-plan; most drainages and canals in the State are blocked as well as illegal erection of houses, kiosks and containers on drainage channels.

Olomola, who is a past Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners and the current President of the Association of Town planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), explained that the drainage master-plan took care of things like the generation and flow of water as well as their acidity, but lamented that "like most other master-plans in this country, it is being implemented on ad-hoc basis".

Dr. Olomola tasked the drainage department in the State Ministry of Environment to stop the usual complaint of dearth of funds and brace up to the challenges of, at least, ensuring that blocked canals and other drainage outlets are cleared for free flow of water to be made possible.

Said he: "When it rains, the flood (water) from the smaller drainage should empty into the bigger channels and into the lagoon or ocean. When these channels are blocked, the water will overflow and spill onto the streets."

Flat topography, blocked drains responsible for flooding

Immediate past President of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE), Mr. Kunle Adebajo, also spoke on what causes flooding in the city.

"The water level of Lagos is high and it is, to a large extent, surrounded by water. The topography of the city is relatively flat and flat terrains do not give much room for the design and construction of proper functional self cleaning drains in terms of minimum allowable slopes, etc. In such a situation, very deep drain sections would normally be required and, yet, the high water table does not facilitate this.

This is generally the reason behind having shallow drains in the Lagos environs, he explained Continuing, Engr Adebajo, a Senior Partner with Ove Arup & Partners, (a firm of structural engineers), posited that the forces of nature are against Lagos. "Apart from the water that naturally drains into the ground, majority of the water would normally be expected to be channelled towards storm water outfalls. The main outfalls for storm water runoff in Lagos are canals and the lagoon. Unfortunately, they are also characterised by high water levels. In addition, the existing condition of the main storm water outfalls is very poor and most of the canals are stagnant".

Engr. Adebajo explained that "if we now add to this the lack of an effective general storm water drainage system in Lagos and the indiscriminate dumping of refuse both on the roads and in the existing drains, wherever they exist, we now have a recipe for disaster and that is the reason why so much chaos is wreaked out by the onset of the rains. When you have blocked canals, the result will surely be the persistent storm water flooding, as experienced in Lagos, as this results in impeded and reduced discharge of storm water runoffs".

Mr. Adebajo also faulted the unauthorised erection of structures on the drainage alignments and canals, saying that they further compound the problem of flooding in the State.

He stated that some of the existing drains were poorly designed in terms of their discharge capacity.

Asked what it takes to dredge the canals, he replied thus: "Firstly, it requires commitment. There is no doubt that it is capital intensive and, for this reason, I would always recommend that proper feasibility studies and engineering designs be carried out first before embarking on the actual work. Illegally located buildings and structures will also need to be demolished and this will mean that people will end up having to be displaced. The drainage system will, however, be dramatically improved and, considering the benefit to all who live in Lagos, and, indeed, the benefit to the economy of the entire nation, this is by no means is too great a sacrifice to pay.

He canvassed the construction of more drainage structures to compliment the existing ones which also have to be kept functional. "A proper storm water drainage master plan needs to be prepared for Lagos and, of course, faithfully implemented. Only qualified Civil/Structural Engineers should be involved in the design and execution of drainage works.

Existing structures built, whether legally or illegally, on any drainage alignments needs to be demolished. Future developments on drain lines must not be allowed. Where possible, roads and building levels should to be raised well above the nearest canal maximum tidal level. Indiscriminate dumping of refuse must continue to be discouraged and Government policy on this needs to be strictly enforced. In this regard, it is important that every single resident of Lagos has a role in keeping the environment clean and clearing all drains of refuse" he advised.

MEND Insists on Resource Control (Daily Champion)

A militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has said that no amount of blackmail or intimidation would force it to abandon the struggle for resource control.

Spokesman of the group, Jomo Gbomo who stated this in a press statement made available to Daily Champion in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, noted that the group and other genuine ones are fighting for the just cause of the Niger Delta, which includes resource control and a better deal for people of the region; adding that MEND is not concerned about the release of an individual.

"Until our demands are met, we will continue with our campaign, utilizing tactics we deem necessary," he noted.

Reacting to a recent statement credited to leader of the Niger Delta Vigilantes, Mr. Tom Ateke that groups in the oil rich region would cease hostilities going by the release of Ijaw militant leader, Alhaji Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo, he said that Ateke was not working with them.

On alleged claims by some groups that they represent MEND, Gbomo said the movement does not fraternize with media professionals or journalists warning impostors to desist from seeking cheap publicity before they are dealt with.

VP Says Niger Delta a "War Zone." (Daily Champion)

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday described the Niger Delta region as a war zone, insisting that the problem of the area is beyond pipeline vandalisation and hostage taking.

Jonathan who stated this in Port Harcourt, Rivers State while inaugurating the Niger Delta Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee of the oil-rich region to the era of a civil war, with armed youths controlling affairs of their communities.

Lamenting the poor living conditions of indigenes of the region.

Dr. Jonathan however absolved immediate past governors of the Niger Delta States of being insensitive to the developmental needs of the people.

The Vice President pointed out that there is erroneous impression among many Nigerians that the Niger Delta neglect, marginalization and underdevelopment started eight years ago and that the immediate past governors collected so much money and did not do anything to improve the conditions of their people.

Although he admitted that there might have been some leakages in the way finances were manage in the past eight years, he argued that does not means the Niger Delta crisis started then.

Jonathan recalled that the crisis came to public knowledge before independence of Nigeria and the colonial government did not do anything about it and subsequent federal administration neglect of the area gave rise to the present situation in the oil-rich region.

He pointed out that if the situation is left unchecked, most companies operating in the region may leave even as he appealed to all stakeholders to come together to see how the issue could be resolved.

Inaugurating the committee, Jonathan noted that issues like hostage taking cut across borders of the various states as expatriates kidnapped in one state are usually taken to other states.

He explained that each state would have its own committee based on its local circumstances while the one inaugurated would serve as a coordinating committee working with the various states committees.

Dr Jonathan listed the committee's terms of reference to include liaising with and coordinating activities of the various states committees, monitoring of organization whose activities cut across the region, liaising with state government to carry out responsibility that may be assigned to it by the vice president or the president.

The committee which has Senator David Briggidi as chairman has a life span of 12 months which may be reviewed at its expiration as well as its terms of reference.

Other members include Mr. George Timmimmiand Mr. Godwin Ebosa representing Delta State; Chief James Jephtap and Mr. Joshua Benamesia, Bayelsa; Arc Esoetok Ikpong Ikpong Etteh and Elder Bassey Ekpa, Akwa Ibom; His Royal Highness [Colonel] Asakara Ekanem Ita Umoh [rted] and Barrister Bassey Ukim, Cross River; Prince Francis Iyasere and Mrs Florence Gbinije-Erhabor, Edo while Mr. Kingley Kuku of NDDC is the secretary of the Committee.

The oil companies as expected to nominate four members of the committee, NNPC, Police and the State Security Services are to nominate a member each.

In his remarks, the Rivers State Governor, Sir Celestine Omehia described the inauguration as historic and a show of commitment of the people to find peace.

Omehia said the people of Niger Delta have gathered to publicly demonstrate that they are ready to take the challenge of finding solution to a problem that is confronting the region.

The ceremony was attended by governors of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers states.