Nigeria Security Update #1 310707

Pakistani Construction Manager Kidnapped (VOA)

Seven gunmen abducted a Pakistani construction manager in southern Nigeria on Tuesday and demanded a ransom, a local rights activist said citing sources at the man's company and witnesses.

The attack takes to at least 12 the number of foreigners being held hostage by armed groups in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where crime and militancy have surged since early 2006.

The gunmen, dressed in red, arrived by boat at a road construction site run by Italian firm Gitto near Bodo community in the Ogoni area of Rivers state, said Patrick Naagbanton, coordinator of the local Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development.

Bodo has been plagued by deadly fights between two rival "cults" or youth gangs and the gunmen's red clothes suggested they may be members of Deebam, one of the cults.

"They held everyone at gunpoint before seizing the Pakistani manager and taking him away by boat," Naagbanton said by telephone from Rivers.

The abducted man was in charge of dredging for Gitto's road project, which is financed by the federal government. The road will cross several creeks and rivers.

Contacts at Gitto said the kidnappers called demanding a ransom but they did not disclose the amount, Naagbanton said.

Militants who criticised the neglect of the impoverished delta and demanded local control over oil revenues launched a violent campaign against the oil industry in early 2006.

They have forced the closure of several oilfields and oil output from Nigeria, the world's eighth-biggest exporter, is down by about a fifth.

But violence has spiralled out of control with numerous criminal gangs using the militancy as a cover to carry out abductions for ransom and armed robberies.

Over 200 expatriates have been kidnapped since the start of last year and almost all have been freed in exchange for money.

Chronology of Recent Abductions

Below is a chronology of some major attacks and kidnappings involving the Nigerian oil industry since President Umaru Yar'Adua was sworn in on May 29.

• June 3 - Gunmen kidnap six staff of United Company RUSAL, the Russian aluminium giant, in Ikot Abasi in the southeast. The men were working at the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria.

• June 15 - Gunmen kidnap two Lebanese men, working for Italian firm Stabilini, near Ogara in Delta state.
  
• June 16 - Militants release 10 Indian hostages held since June 1. The hostages included at least three senior executives of Indonesian petrochemical company Indorama.
  
• June 23 - Four hostages, from Britain, France, the Netherlands and Pakistan, employed by oil services giant Schlumberger are released unharmed. The men were abducted on June 1 from Port Harcourt.
• June 25 - Two Indian construction workers, kidnapped near Sapele in Delta State on June 15, are freed.
  
• July 4 - Armed men attack a Shell facility at Soku and abduct five expatriates, two from New Zealand, one Australian, one Venezuelan and one from Lebanon. They are released on July 11.
  
• July 5 - A 3-year-old British child, Margaret Hill, is abducted in Port Harcourt. She is released on July 8.
  
• July 7 - Oil major Royal Dutch Shell said one of its teams had been attacked in Rivers state in the delta and two Nigerian workers taken hostage. The Nigerians are released on July 11.
  
• July 8 - A Briton was among two foreign workers kidnapped from a production barge near Calabar in Cross River state.
  
• July 12 - Francis Samuel Amadi, the 3-year-old son of a traditional ruler in the community of Iriebe, is kidnapped near Port Harcourt. He is released the next day.
  
• July 31 - A Pakaistani man, a manager in charge of dredging on a construction site run by Italian firm Gitto, is kidnapped near Bodo community in the Ogoni area of Rivers state.

Predicted Peace May Make Oil Flow Again (Reuters)

Nigeria's new government and militant groups in the oil-producing Niger Delta are moving towards talks that could restore lost output from the world's eighth-largest oil exporter.

An 18-month campaign of guerrilla attacks on Western oil facilities has prompted thousands of foreigners to leave Africa's top producer, reduced output by a fifth and helped oil prices rise to record highs.

But since taking office two months ago, President Umaru Yar'Adua has moved swiftly to engage the militants. He has met two of their demands by freeing two jailed leaders of the Ijaw ethnic group, the most populous in the Niger Delta.

In response, 25 armed groups have joined into a united front for talks with the government. The two sides are now working on preconditions for formal talks to address militant demands for more regional control over the delta's oil.

"I am very optimistic. The militias are ready to cease fire and give negotiations a chance," said Dimieari Von Kemedi, an Ijaw activist involved in the talks.

A truce called by several armed groups has held since Yar'Adua's inauguration on May 29. However, a crime wave continues to sweep the delta's largest city of Port Harcourt, posing a threat to the peace drive, he added.

Armed groups protesting against neglect and poverty in the vast wetlands region have stepped up violence against oil workers and industry facilities since the 1990s.

But the line between militancy and crime is blurred and dozens of criminal gangs use militant rhetoric as a cover to kidnap foreigners for ransom or steal oil from pipelines.

BLIP?

Security consultants working for international oil companies are split over the significance of the peace moves. Some see them as a temporary respite in a long-term decline in the vast region of swamps and mangrove-lined creeks.

"Though violence has eased in the last few weeks, the perception of companies is still negative," said one security consultant working for Western multinationals.

"Companies see a long-term deterioration in security. It may not be linear, but each cycle of violence is worse than before," added the consultant, who is not allowed to talk to the media.

There are still good reasons to be worried.

One powerful militant who leads a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has so far refused to take part. His fighters have been responsible for some of the fiercest attacks over the past 18 months.

"The government is attempting to resolve the unrest in the delta through selective appeasement. This will secure a cease fire but how long this 'peace' will last, I cannot tell," said the leader, who uses the pseudonym Jomo Gbomo, in an e-mail.

"They will attempt to stall and pacify dissenting voices financially. Let's watch and see where things go. We will attack without further warning if there is a need to," he said, adding that he saw no prospect of better use of resources in the delta.

Despite these concerns, some projects and investments that had been on hold because of a surge in attacks in the first half of the year are now going ahead.

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has moved some workers back to its western delta oilfields, where 500,000 barrels per day has been shut since they were evacuated in February 2006.

It has resumed pumping 36,000 barrels per day from one oilfield and two tankers are expected to load from the Forcados terminal in August, the first shipments in 18 months.

U.S. oil giant Chevron has lifted a ban imposed in May on non-essential staff in offshore operations, industry sources say. And construction workers have begun setting up work sites to start building a new $1.8 billion highway across the delta, which had previously been frozen by security concerns.

Nigerian Army Retires 40 Top Officers (AP)

The Nigerian Defense Ministry has asked 40 top army officials to retire, a Nigerian defense spokesman said on Tuesday, two months after the country swore in a new president.

"There's no big deal about it. It's a continuous process," said Col. Mohammed Yusuf, who said the process was routine.

He said that under new Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, the armed forces would be sticking strictly to rules that said members must retire at the age of 60, or after 35 years of service.

"They will now try to follow the process very properly, like it did not happen before. Once it is time, there is nothing you can do," he said.

Yusuf said the retirements had no political motive.

"There is nothing like mass retirement," he said, pointing out that classes of officers often graduate over 100 at a time.

He refused, citing national security concerns, to say how many generals were in the Nigerian armed forces or how many generals were among the 40 top officers being retired.

Nigeria has undergone several tumultuous decades of military rule and seven coups since wresting independence from Britain in 1960, but last April's elections that marked the country's first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power.

The elections were widely condemned as rigged by domestic and international observers, but some Nigerians were simply grateful that there was a peaceful transfer of power at all. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had also previously been a military ruler of the country in 1975. He returned to power in 1999 on the back of a popular vote and also proceeded to retire a number of generals shortly afterward.

Most Nigerians do not believe that a coup is currently likely.

Before he promoted current President Yar'Adua as his protege, several of Obasanjo's supporters tried to force through a constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to run for a third term.

Although the country receives tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues annually and is rated as one of the most corrupt in the world by Berlin-based Transparency International.

Bank Manager, 3 More Killed By Armed Robbers in Lagos (Daily Champion)

ONITSHA branch manager of a second generation bank (name withheld), Nnamdi Obi and two policemen were killed by yet-to-be identified gunmen in separate incidents Sunday in Onitsha and Enugu, respectively.

Similarly, armed robbers yesterday stormed the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, (MMIA), Lagos, leaving an unidentified man dead, and several others wounded after their operation.

Daily Champion gathered that Obi who hailed from Nawfia in Njikoka local government area of Anambra State, was shot dead inside his car near the abattoir in Onitsha where he had accompanied his wife to.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Anambra command, Mr Felix Agbo, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) confirmed the killing.

He told our correspondent on telephone that investigation was on-going to unmask the killers.

Other gang of armed robbers Sunday night shot and killed two policemen in what appeared to be a planned attack on a police check point along Ogui Road, Enugu and about a 100metres from the police station on the same road.

The hoodlums also snatched the service rifles of the slain cops after, as eyewitnesses recounted, hurling abuse on and kicking their corpses.

The police check point had been mounted near two popular fast food shops and restaurants that are the favourite haunts of Enugu's rich and famous and had been targets of armed robbery attacks in the past.

The permanent police presence there had helped to keep the hoodlums at bay. The weekend's attack on the check point is widely viewed as an act of vengeance by the criminals against the men who had prevented them from operating freely in the area.

Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred at about 8.30 pm when the robbers who were travelling in a flashy car whose make could not be ascertained suddenly opened fire on the unsuspecting policemen as they approached their checkpoint. The hoodlums were said to have climbed down from their cars and after molesting the corpses of the cops, took their service firearms.

"It all happened in a flash, we suddenly heard gunshots and the next thing we saw were some people climbing down from a car and rushing at the policemen who were already lying on the ground. They kicked at the bodies and shouted insults at them before taking their guns and escaping in the car", said one witness, who pleaded anonymity.

Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Mike Abattam, who confirmed the incident, said the bodies of the two dead cops had been recovered, adding that a massive man-hunt for the hoodlums had commenced.

"We have alerted all units to hunt down those hoodlums and I can assure you, we will get them in no distant time. They cannot escape", he said.

The hoodlums are also suspected to have been behind several robbery incidents in different parts of the city on Sunday night shortly after the attack on the policemen.

It also came barely a week after robbers killed a policeman and wounded another in a failed attempt to rob a bank at Nsukka.

Daily Champion learnt that the robbers, who started their operation at about 2am, tied up the six security operatives on duty and the three plain clothed caps seizing the gun of one of the victims.

According to some of the workers the alleged mad man was also shot dead on the spot. It is not the bureau de change office when he accosted the armed robbers.

What the rampaging hoodlums carted away, extensive damage to most of the offices and the vehicles that were parked there.

The chairman of the bureau de change, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, who spoke with Daily Champion confirmed the incident and stated that there have been strict orders to everyone at the bureau de change not to keep money overnight.

"We have a very strict order that nobody should keep his money overnight in the compound, so that order has been very helpful; because nobody kept money and the robbers did not find any money in the safe that were forced open," he said.

According to him, three safes opened and almost all the offices in the bureau de change were broken into by the bandits who went on a rampage riddling bullets on vehicles and windows when they found nothing to steal.

Airport Command police authority are yet to comment on the incident not reacted to it.

It is recalled that a similar incident took place early in January at the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) where over N120 million was carted away and the suspects not been captured.

Unlike Sunday afternoon's robbery in Isolo, Lagos where the robbers allegedly trailed the bullion vans, yesterday's robbery in Lagos witnessed the raiding of some bureau de change offices at MMIA.

A police officer's rifle was allegedly snatched during the operation.

Nigeria Security Update #1 300707

Armed Robbery Suspects Gunned Down (The Tide)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another Missing Ship (Nigerian Tribune)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Report from the Creeks (Vanguard)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is there any proof of that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Organizing of prayers

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

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

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

So they need to involve us more.

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

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

What practical solution do you expect from the prayer sessions?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nigeria Security Update #1 280707

Speaker's 70-year-old Mother Still Being Held (Daily Champion)

The whereabouts of Mrs Hansel Seibaragu, mother of the Speaker, Bayelsa state House of Assembly, kidnapped Wednesday by yet-to-be- identified gun men at Akaibiri in Epketiama, Yenagoa local government area, is still unknown 48 hours after the incident.

Meanwhile, investigations by Daily Champion revealed that the family of the speaker, Hon. Werinipre Seibaragu, has relocated from their Yenagoa residence to an unknown area for security reasons.

This is as some youths sympathetic to the plight of the speaker have headed for Ekuluoma in Southern Ijaw local government area, where it is alleged that Madam Hansel is being held hostage by her captors to possibly secure their release.

Also, economic activities have been paralyzed in the entire Akaibiri community, following the abduction of the 70-year-old Madam Seibaragu, just as a close security source said the family of the speaker may have gone into hiding.

But when contacted on telephone, special assistant to the speaker on media, Mr. Jonah Okah, said he was not aware of such development, but stated that, "well for somebody of his status the provision of security would not be out of place especially in the present circumstances," but added that the family is working with the security agencies to ensure the release of the speaker's mother.

Okah, however said his boss who had traveled to South Africa along with some principal officers of the assembly for a parliamentary conference, is due back in Yenagoa, the state capital today.

On the whereabouts of the speaker's wife, Okah said, Mrs. Seibarugu had just been delivered of a baby, and should be left out of the current travails. He, however expressed optimism that the old woman would be released soon, saying she is innocent and had not done anything to deserve what she is presently passing through.

The state police spokesman, Mr. Iniobong Ikpokette in a telephone chat with Daily Champion said the command was yet to trace the whereabouts of madam Seibarugu, but noted that one of the suspects arrested in connection with the kidnap was making useful statements to the command. He, however, revealed that all security outfits in the state have spread their dragnet to track down the kidnappers.

Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayesla State who only yesterday sent his words of consolation to the speaker, had travelled to Abuja.

Kidnappers Now Targeting Nigerians (News 24)

More reports are emerging of kidnapping rings targeting wealthy Nigerians - perhaps because foreign oil workers are getting harder to snatch.

The children of five prominent families had been seized in southern Rivers State in the past two months; a powerful politician in nearby Delta state was kidnapped and beheaded over the weekend; and gunmen seized the mother of a local official in Bayelsa State on Tuesday.

Kidnappings in Nigeria's south - which was rich in oil, but underdeveloped - first began after impoverished communities took oil workers hostage to protest pollution or failed development projects. Now, criminal gangs had moved in, and kidnappings were on the increase.

Damke Pueba, an activist with civil society group, Stakeholders Democracy Network, said: "No one feels safe anymore. This last year has really been the worst."

New gang members get incentives

Pueba added: "There are lots of groups that you can hire to settle scores with anyone...almost all of them are backed by one corrupt politician or another."

Pointing to a recent scheme announced by the state government to reward gang members who renounced their membership with cash, Pueba said, "that is just an incentive for people to join the gangs".

State officials were not available for comment on the plan.

A Nigeria-based analyst with private security company, Armorgroup, said that the payment of ransoms, relatively low arrest rate and the relocation of many foreign oil workers might also be encouraging kidnappers to turn to Nigerian victims.

He said it was impossible to track kidnappings of Nigerians without reliable statistics, but as oil companies restricted staff movements, more reports of kidnapped Nigerians who were not associated with oil companies were surfacing in local papers and in security circles.

Port Harcourt 'Nigeria's biggest oil city'

He said: "As expatriate targets get harder or rarer, criminals will have to look elsewhere if they want to carry out kidnappings ... anybody with wealth is a target."

Foreign workers in the Delta typically travelled in armed convoys, lived and worked in floodlit compounds protected by high walls and barbed wire, and were forbidden to go out after dark.

Residents of Nigeria's biggest oil city, Port Harcourt, had dubbed the heavily guarded compounds "the Green Zone", a wry reference to the Baghdad area that was home to the United States embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters, an island of relative - and heavily guarded - calm in Iraq's chaos.

Nigeria is Africa's largest crude producer and an important supplier to world markets. But the oil wealth has been stolen or squandered by the country's leaders.

More than 250 foreigners had been seized in the oil-rich south in the last 20 months, and an unknown number of Nigerians.

Amid accusations that government officials took a cut of ransoms they helped negotiate, some kidnap victims preferred not to report incidents to the authorities.

Shell Donates Boats to Bayelsa Community (The Tide)

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has donated three 12-seat speed boats to Fantua Community in Bayelsa.

The company’s Area B Community Interface Coordinator, Mr Suoton Amade, said during the handover Ceremony in Port Harcourt that the donation was to enable the community to start a commercial water transport scheme.

Amade said that the scheme, if properly handled, would employ 19 members of the Fantua community and positively affect their lives.

He explained that SPDC had already held business literacy and technical skills training for those who would handle the scheme.

He called on the community leaders; to ensure judicious use of the boats.

The coordinator noted that the three boats were built by an indigenous boat company, Epenal Boat Builders Ltd., at a total cost of N11.5 million.

The boats were given to the community with a spare 75 horse power engine and complete safety kits and N100,000 as initial working capital.

The community was also given N60,000 to transport the boats home.

Responding, Chairman of Fantua Community Development Committee, Ogbomo Allen thanked Shell for the gesture.

He expressed the community’s readiness to effectively utilise the boats.

Nigerian Navy Officers Booted for Bunkering Oil (Reuters)

Nigeria's navy has retired 10 officers, including a rear admiral, because of evidence they were involved in smuggling stolen crude oil, the chief of navy staff was reported as saying by the official news agency.

Nigeria is the world's eighth biggest exporter of crude oil but a sizeable proportion of its output is stolen by thieves who either drill into pipelines or hijack barges loaded with oil. The theft and smuggling of oil are known as "bunkering".

Industry experts say much of the violence that plagues the oil-producing Niger Delta is connected to bunkering.

Armed gangs fight turf wars over bunkering territory, they say, while corrupt government officials and members of the security forces protect the gangs in exchange for a cut of the profits. Proceeds from bunkering fuel crime and militancy.

It is rare for the Nigerian armed forces to recognise that any of their own are involved, however, or to comment on the problem.

"They (the navy officers) were involved in oil bunkering," Chief of Navy Staff Ganiyu Adeyeye was quoted as saying by the News Agency of Nigeria late on Thursday.

He was answering questions from a House of Representatives committee investigating the retirement of a rear admiral and nine other officers. He said the navy had "formal intelligence reports" against them.

Proceeds from bunkering are a major source of funding for militants in the Niger Delta who often killed naval ratings and officers, Adeyeye said in his presentation.

The Niger Delta has become increasingly anarchic since early 2006, when militants alleging neglect by successive governments launched a wave of attacks on the oil industry and kidnappings of oil workers to press for local control of oil revenues.

The violence spiralled out of control as bunkerers, armed robbers and ransom seekers all sought to take advantage of the breakdown in law and order. More than 200 foreigners have been abducted, mostly for money, and thousands of others have fled the region.

Nigeria's oil output is down by about 20 percent because of the violence.

Exxon Mobil Profits Slip (Washington Post)

Exxon Mobil profit slipped about 1 percent in the second quarter, disappointing analysts as higher exploration and production costs, and lower oil and gas production offset big earnings in the refining and marketing end of the business.

Though the $10.26 billion in profit was the fourth-largest quarterly profit for a public company in U.S. history, Exxon's stock fell $4.56 a share, or 4.9 percent, to $88.23 a share. The company's shares are still up 15 percent this year. Earnings per share were $1.83, up from $1.72, after $7 billion in share buybacks, but earnings fell short of analysts' estimates.

Revenue was $98.35 billion, down from $99.03 billion.

"Exxon obviously was a big disappointment because they spoiled us" with consistent profit gains, said Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Sons. He compared the company to New York Yankees star third baseman Alex Rodriguez. "When A-Rod strikes out, people say, 'My God' in disappointment because he's hitting a home run every other time," Gheit said.

Exxon's results capped a week of big profits reported by most of the world's largest oil companies. Thanks to a series of refinery fires, breakdowns and maintenance shutdowns, combined with low industry inventories of refined products, profit margins in the refining and marketing end of the business soared. Though U.S. refining output at Exxon dropped by 128,000 barrels a day, compared with the second quarter of 2006, refining and marketing profit jumped 37 percent. Refining and marketing profit also rose 42 percent at Royal Dutch Shell Group and 38 percent at ConocoPhillips Co.

The quarterly reports also showed signs that the industry faces spiraling costs and political problems getting access to oil prospects as existing fields gradually decline.

ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that it took a $4.5 billion write-off in the second quarter for Venezuelan operations taken over by the Caracas government. Exxon said that its output in West Africa was trimmed 9 percent because of quotas from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. And Royal Dutch Shell, which gave in to pressure to sell half its stake in a Sakhalin Island oil project to Russia's Gazprom last quarter, said that 195,000 barrels a day of its Niger delta oil production has been curtailed because of insurgent attacks.

This comes amid gradual declines in output from aging fields. For example, Conoco's production for the quarter averaged 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 2.1 million. The company blamed the decrease on normal field declines, planned maintenance in the North SeaDubai. Its exit from Venezuela will cut production further in the third quarter, the company said. and its decision to leave

Companies are turning to new ways to keep production up. Royal Dutch Shell said that it managed to limit its production decline to 2.3 percent thanks to unconventional projects such as oil sands in Canada and a gas-to-liquids venture in Qatar.

Exxon said that it would explore for oil in Madagascar and New Zealand, not usually considered among the world's best prospects. It also said yesterday that it had drilled the longest well ever, more than seven miles, to reach a subsea oil field on Russia's Pacific coast.

Royal Dutch Shell Chairman Jeroen van der Veer yesterday would not rule out a natural gas development project in Iran, despite pressure from the U.S. government for European firms to help isolate the Tehran regime. He said that the company would "take political considerations into account," but that it was still studying how to follow up on a tentative agreement it reached with Iran last year.

Gheit said that the big oil companies would have trouble matching the second-quarter results. He noted that in the past four weeks, profit margins at refineries had plunged about 50 percent. But production earnings should remain high thanks to high oil prices. The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange neared an 11-month high before dropping to $74.95 a barrel yesterday.

Nigeria Security Update #1 260707

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Bayelsa Speaker's Mother Abducted (This Day)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The incident occurred at about 11pm last Tuesday.

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

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

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

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

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

The killing of Elder Elendu came in controversial circumstances.

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nigeria Security Update #2 240707

Guns, Gangs & Drugs Fuel Delta Violence (IRIN)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Worst violence since 2004

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

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

Politicians armed gangs?

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

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

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

Drugs to the fore

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Social crisis

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

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

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

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


Gunmen Kill Two at Politician's Party (AFP)

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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