Nigeria Security Update #1 060707

Militant Kidnappers Use Dynamite in Attack

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She was confident they would emerge safely from their ordeal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kidnappers Stoop to a New Low (AP, BBC)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nigeria Security Update #1 240607

Unions End Fuel Strike (BBC)

Nigeria's trade unions have called off their general strike over a recent rise in petrol prices, after talks with government officials.

Union leaders said they had accepted the government's proposal to freeze petrol prices for at least a year.

The government had already agreed to reduce its increase in prices as one of a series of compromises offered before the strike began on Wednesday.

The stoppage had brought Africa's top oil producer to a standstill.

Unions had called the strike over rises in fuel prices and value-added tax and the sale of two major oil refineries.

The unions were angry at a series of measures pushed through in the last days of the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, who stepped down last month.

The price of petrol was increased from 65 naira (51 US cents) a litre to 75.

"There is no winner or loser," Babagana Kingibe, who led the negotiations for the government, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

"If there's a loser, it's the Nigerian people."

Saturday's move could be seen as a victory for the unions, but not a total one, the BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says.

Sensitive issue

In the end, the unions accepted a series of government compromises offered before the strike started and ditched their initial demand for a complete reversal of the recent hike in the price of subsidised fuel, our correspondent says.

He says the price of fuel is a sensitive issue in the country because it is one of the few benefits Nigerians get from the government, which receives billions of dollars in oil revenues but fails to provide even basic amenities.

New President Umaru Yar'Adua has emerged from this first major test just about intact, our correspondent says.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer but has to import most of its petrol because of the poor state of its refineries.

AGIP Threatened with Reprisal Attack (Vanguard)

The Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), an umbrella body of the militant groups in the Niger Delta has threatened to carry out a reprisal attack against the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NOAC) in Ogboinbiri, Southern Ijaw in Bayelsa State.

According to Cynthia Whyte, spokesperson of the JRC, the reprisal attack would be a response to the clash between the militants and the military in Ogboinbiri, where 12 youths were allegedly killed.

Berating Ijaw elders for keeping mute while such injustice was visited on them, the militants vowed to visit the oil company and any other interest group that was party to the killings, promising to inflict the same number of casualties they suffered in the attacks.

Whyte in an online statement said the attack was a move to recapture the flow station earlier seized by the militants with casualties recorded on both sides. But the statement from the militants only spoke of 12 of their members being killed by soldiers on Thursday, June 21, 2007.
Whyte however said the planned attack was only for reprisal purposes and would not vitiate the earlier promise by JRC to cease hostilities against the Nigerian State and its interests following the release of their leader, Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo.

"It is with great sadness that we announce that hours ago, precisely in the very early hours of Thursday, June 21 2007, the security forces of the Nigerian state once again attacked and killed 12 youths of Ogboinbiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area in Bayelsa State, who were protesting against the unwanted and criminal killing of their kinsmen weeks earlier by the armed forces of the dubious Nigerian state.

"This unfortunate incident has proved beyond all doubt just how far the Nigerian state and her agents can go to ensure that they sit tight on our God-given resources. Let us therefore inform all those who were party to this evil against our people that they will get their rewards in time to come. Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) will be visited by the same number of casualties, pain and misfortune," they threatened.

The militants said the killing of their members at a time they had promised to keep the peace was a proof of the desperation of the Nigerian State to hold on to their land. "We will not forgive this," read the statement.

"Let us also inform all men of goodwill that all measures and reprisal actions taken against AGIP and her conspirators will be in no way related to our earlier decision to cease hostilities against the Nigerian state. This will simply be a 'payback' activity and will cut across AGIP's operations in Rivers and Bayelsa States.

"The death of these young men must be repaid in the same manner. Justice must be done by any means necessary and however crude!" they concluded.

Four Hostages Freed

Four foreign hostages employed by oil services giant Schlumberger were released unharmed on Saturday after more than three weeks in captivity, security sources said.

The men, from Britain, France, the Netherlands and Pakistan, were abducted on June 1 from the company's residential compound in Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt by kidnappers disguised as riot police.

"They are unharmed but said they had been threatened during captivity," an official of a private security firm said.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Nigeria's oil producing Niger Delta since the beginning of last year, and militant attacks have closed about a quarter of the OPEC nation's oil output.

Militants who say they are fighting for regional control over the delta's oil wealth have been responsible for some of the violence, but the instability has been exploited by criminal groups and most kidnappings are motivated by ransom.

Effects of Strike Around the Nation (The Sun)

Abuja

Aminu is a staffer of one of the numerous construction companies owned by foreigners in Nigeria. He survives on a daily pay of N450. Like most workers in Abuja, he works in the metropolis but resides in Mararaba, a suburb in Nasarawa State, which is about some 15 km from Abuja city centre.

Like every other day, he woke up by 5.a.m last Wednesday, a time he considered early enough to enable him catch the long truck, which ordinarily are designed to convey anything but human beings, but which convey them to work every morning.

On getting to the bus stop, Aminu did not find the truck. Sensing that he may have been left behind that morning, he quickly jumped into a waiting bus. To his amazement, a bus that usually charges between N70 and N80 to Area 1, in Abuja, insisted that the commuters part with N200.

Aminu, who had thought that the strike called out by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) would not hold, got to the site in Area 1 disappointed as he later found out that the strike was for real. He ended up sleeping in the site with the security guards as he had no means of returning back to Mararaba.

Aminu's predicament is no doubt a representative of what most artisans suffered in Abuja following the strike called by the NLC. In fact those of them, who went to work on Wednesday, did not contemplate it the next day.

For instance, a motor mechanic told Sunday Sun that he decided not to go to work on Thursday because he felt he wasted the transport fare he used to go to work the previous day, as no customer visited his workshop Wednesday.

A few filling stations that sold fuel in the early hours of the morning, though at N75 per litre (even after the Federal government had announced a reduction in price by N5) had somewhat eased movement of vehicles in the early hours of the morning. But once the union leaders and National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), led by the NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar, began a procession through major areas in Abuja to monitor compliance, a few of the filling stations that had opened for business immediately closed their gates, apparently to forestall any attempt by the labour leaders to picket their business premises.

On why some of the filling stations had to open for business, one of the petrol attendants, who identified himself as simply Ojonugba told Sunday Sun that "You know some of us got our supply based on the fact that we would sell N75 per litre. Now, you know that the government has brought the price down to N70. If we don't come and sell today, we will be running at a loss after the strike because you people will not agree to buy it N75 after the strike.

"Abi you think say we know like the strike? If no be say government reduce the price, my brother, na sleep I for dey sleep for house. Because for this Abuja, especially for people like us and una wey be Journalists wey no dey get Saturday and Sunday, na period like this person dey get to rest. Abi I lie?," he asked rhetorically.

Ibadan: patients shut out of public hospitals
BY AKEEB ALARAPE, IBADAN

As at late evening of Monday, the people of Oyo state were still hopeful the strike might eventually not be, especially with the announcement that the Federal Government had conceded some grounds to the aggrieved workers. This led to few people preparing for the strike period.

But by Wednesday, it was glaring that the labour group meant business. A survey by Sunday Sun across the state showed that the decision of the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Allied Institutions (SSATHRIAI) to join the industrial action worsened the situation at the foremost University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, as Staff Nurse, Nursing Officers and Senior Nursing Officers (SNOs) stayed off duty.

The resultant effect was the closure of the clinic section of the hospital manned by the senior workers. Also, serious cases of accident and other ailment could not be attended to as the senior staff to handle such cases were no where to be found.

Same situation obtained at the state-owned hospital, clinics and maternity centres as workers in these government health centres refused to report for work.

Individual experiences of the strike also revealed lost of huge revenue and productive hours due to the strike as relayed to Sunday Sun by some people in the capital city of Ibadan. Pharmacist Alani Azeez, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Alan Pharmaceuticals, Iwo, Osun State, said he was already in Ibadan to book a flight to Abuja for a three-day workshop organized by Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) when he got a call that the workshop has been called off as a result of the impending strike.

Lamenting his loss in term of time and financial commitment to the trip, Alan as popularly called, disclosed that the workshop was meant for Pharmaceutical Inspection Committee of PCN.

“Now, all preparations made for that trip are now waste. By the time the organizers fix another time for the workshop, one has to start fresh preparations again”, he lamented. He also disclosed that a similar event being sponsored by the United Nations’ Drug Control Department in conjunction with NAFDAC centering on drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking had to be postponed at the last minute due to the strike.

Edo: Benin residents brave odds, want strike to continue
By Tony Osauzo, Benin

The fall-out of the lingering labour strike is having a telling effect on Nigerians, but in spite of this, a Benin resident said that his family was n total support of the industrial action.
Mr. Edosa Okunbor, a Correspondent of Midwest Herald said: “I am buying fuel now for N130 a litre. That constitutes a big drain on my purse. Cost of living has taken a toll on the entire family, including my immediate and extended families. Before the increase, we used to spend a minimum of N7, 000 a week on feeding and miscellaneous housekeeping. That amount hardly lasts two days now.

Okunbor, however, supports the strike as he hopes that its outcome would be beneficial. “I am all for the strike. Man dies but once. If the strike will yield good results and make life more bearable, we support it. I want government to revert the price of fuel to N65 a litre and to make kerosene available to the common man,” he said.

Also speaking, former chairman of Newspapers Sales Representatives in Edo State, Mr. Ayo Oisemaoje, said the strike has affected sales of his wares badly. “The strike has affected us badly, especially in sending papers to our outstations. Many of our vendors are not turning up because of high cost of transportation. The reading public is also not responding and sales are low. We are losing heavily,” he complained.

Sokoto: Delayed toll in the Caliphate, environs
By AHMED OYERINDE, Sokoto

In Sokoto, the impact of the action was yet to be fully felt by the third day Friday.
However, Chairman, Sokoto State chapter of NLC, Comrade Garba Liman said that the strike would take its toll yesterday and the days ahead, in the event that it was not called off before today.

Aside from a few banks that closed their offices and some Federal Civil Servants that stayed away from work, all other public offices, schools, business premises including markets remained opened for normal business activities with a litre of fuel (PMS) selling for N110.

A state civil servant who pleaded anonymity said: “I blamed our union leaders here for this lukewarm attitude. They are not very effective. We definitely have a peculiar problem here.”

Plateau:Jos residents face hardship
By Mariam Aleshinloye Agboola, Jos

Life has been difficult for residents of Jos and environs in Plateau State since the beginning of the strike Wednesday.

Business premises including banks, shops, markets and motor parks have remained closed since that date, making it difficult for residents to purchase items or move about.
Apparently caught napping, some residents of the Tin City complained that they did not believe that the industrial action could be sustained that long hence they did not make adequate preparations. “We had taken it that one way or the other labour would settle with the Federal Government and they would not go on strike. We did not go to the bank to withdraw money for use, yet we did not have food in the house,” a civil servant lamented.

Commuters were, in the circumstance, compelled to trek long distances as public transporters withdrew their vehicles from the road.

Where fuel was found at all, a litre sold for between N130 and N140.

Meanwhile the Civil Liberty Organization (CLO) applauded the NLC and NUC for the action.

The CLO in a statement by its President, Titus Mann urged the two parties not to waver on the demand for “total reversal of the cruel and insensitive fuel and VAT rate increases as well as the brazen theft of Kaduna refinery in the name of privatization” as the only condition for ending the strike.

Enugu
Labour, police clash over enforcement
By GODDY OSUJI, Enugu

The strike reached its climax in Enugu Friday as the executives of various industrial unions moved into town to ensure compliance, forcing markets, petrol stations, banks and other private business establishments to close down. The union executives were, however, challenged by the police for forcing people to comply.

Chairman of NUPPRO, Daily Star chapter, Mike Ohagwu, cheated death by the whiskers as the DPO of Awkuananaw Police Station allegedly ordered him to be shot for challenging his orders. But the timely intervention of the State chairman of NLC, Comrade Eugene Ugwu averted the near tragedy.

The union leaders, Sunday Sun gathered, were later moved to the State Police Headquarters on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Charles Dawodu who after consultation with his lieutenants, interrogated them and later pleaded that the number be reduced as they were constituting a public nuisance.

According to Mr. Gordon Ekeugo, an Enugu based businessman: “Everybody knows what is involved when there is strike. Generally, it has not been easy for me because of the fuel scarcity that has affected every segment of my business.

“The arbitrary increases in the cost of foodstuff and transportation. Everybody is suffering and I do believe that the way I feel is also how every other person feels it in his own home.”

Delta
Citizens feel the pinch, lament govt’s insensitivity
By BUCHY ENYINNAYA, Asaba

The adverse effect of the nation-wide strike took its toll on the residents of Asaba, Ibusa, Agbor towns, and their environs in Delta State, as the action paralyzed economic activities in the state.
Banks, public schools, filling stations and other establishments remained closed while transporters withdrew their vehicles from the roads in compliance with the NLC and TUC order.

At the Ogbogonogo Market along Nnebisi Road in Asaba metropolis, traders were seen lamenting poor patronage.

Operators of Cold Rooms in Asaba also bemoaned their fate as their businesses were being gradually crippled like several other sectors of the economy with unavailability of fuel to power their generating sets and unreliable public power supply.

They lamented “the Federal Government’s insensitive to the plight of the masses” by failing to yield to the demand of labour.

Anambra
Social, economic activities grounded
By NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha

In Onitsha, the commercial nerve center of Anambra State, social and economic activities were badly affected by the strike.

Although most private business premises were open in the commercial town during the period, the traders lamented poor patronage.

The major reason was inability for the prospective buyers to access their funds in the banks. A litre of petrol sells for between N130 and N140.

Commenting on the development, President-General of Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association (ASMATA), Mr. Sylvester Odife (Jnr) said that the markets were opened because the leadership of labour did not sensitize and carry them along.

Rivers
Commerce, families suffer in P.H
By Henry Chukwurah, Port Harcourt

The story is no different in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State. As at last Friday, the third day of the nationwide strike, commerce and family life in the Garden City had tumbled.

Leading to the scarcity of petroleum products in the State, residents experienced excruciating difficulties going about their private business even as public offices remained closed.

With few vehicles on the road, those who ventured out of their homes either paid as much as thrice the normal fares or resorted to trekking long distances.

A trader, Mrs. Grace Tamuno lamented thus: “Very few people bother to come to the market these days. It is either they bought enough to last them for some time or they have run out of cash.”

Abia
Customers shun fast food joints
By CHUKS ONUOHA, Umuahia

Activities in Abia State have been grounded to a standstill as the nationwide labour strike prolonged beyond their expectations.

Helpless, most people chose to stay at home, to conserve the little funds they had at the onset of the industrial action.

In fact, fast food eateries that used to have good patronage thinned out while the strike lasted. The reason, Sunday Sun was told, is because of limited cash in circulation.

Dan Okonkwo, a welder at Nkwoegwu said he had cut down their expenses as he was sure when the strike would end.

Nigeria Security Update #4 200607

Labor Leaders Vow to Continue Strike (DPA, Forbes)

Boys juggled soccer balls in deserted streets and cars jockeyed for position at filling stations Wednesday as Nigeria's labor unions launched a strike aimed at overturning government price hikes on gasoline in Africa's oil giant.

Nigeria is one of the world's leading crude producers, but virtually all of its gasoline is now imported after years of graft, mismanagement and violence rendered refineries inoperable.

Heavy government subsidies keep reimported petroleum products cheap in a country whose citizens complain they get little else in the way of services from a notoriously corrupt government. Unions launched their strike in hopes of forcing the government to roll back a 15 percent increase on automobile fuel.

"Our government makes us suffer too much. They never do anything to release our pain, they just keep piling on more suffering," said Funmi Olowu, a 32-year-old school teacher. "I support the strike, I want it to go on until the government completely reverses the increases."

Oil receipts account for some 80 percent of Nigeria's total government revenue and the unions are threatening to close the taps of Nigeria's energy industry, which is the biggest in Africa and the eighth-largest worldwide, sending crude prices toward nine-month highs on international markets.

While there were no immediate reports that the first day of the strike halted oil exports, the strike appeared to hold in all the country's regions. In the Muslim north, union workers enforced the shutdown by turning commercial passenger buses away from main cities and in the capital, Abuja, they blockaded a main road with tires and tree branches.

On the streets of Lagos, banks, schools and larger businesses were shuttered. While salaried employees could afford to stay home, many petty traders continued selling their dried peppers, roasted corn and smoked fish. For them, a day without earnings likely means a night of hunger.

"The strike is justified. We can't be taken for granted. The masses are suffering," said Freewheel Finesi, who had declined to join the strike. The 51-year old was hurrying through empty streets, his briefcase filled with spectacles. "I have to go to work. I'm an optician and a man needs his glasses."

With fuel deliveries mostly shut down and filling stations empty, most cars stayed off the streets, calming Lagos' notorious traffic jams - the furious, fuming pileups known as "go-slows" that typify the daily commutes in an overcrowded megalopolis of 13 million.

Boys converted empty streets into soccer pitches, sending shots between goal posts made of wooden stools that would normally seat the keepers of nearby market stalls. Others juggled balls alone, sending them bouncing from feet to thighs, to shoulders then onto upended foreheads.

Vehicles jostled for pole position at the few filling stations still selling fuel. Many customers cursed signs that still carried the official price - 75 naira, or about 60 cents, per liter.

Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo jacked the price up only days before handing over power on May 29 to Yar'Adua, who prevailed in elections rejected as rigged by the opposition and deemed not credible by international observers. Obasanjo stepped down because of term limits; Yar'Adua was the candidate of Obasanjo's party.

Yar'Adua's new administration, its legitimacy undermined by the accusations of a flawed election, engaged the unions and offered to roll back the 15 percent fuel price increase by about half - despite the drain on government coffers that the subsidy represents. The government is trying to liberalize the economy and abolish anticompetitive tactics.

But in a move widely viewed as a probing tactic to gauge Yar'Adua's strength, the unions insisted on a complete repeal of the new measures, which also included Obasanjo's last-minute sale of two refineries to a pair of rich supporters.

Many Nigerians treated the first day of the strike as a welcome diversion from their daily duties, but warned that irritation would increase if supplies ran short due to an extended work stoppage.

For Finesi, the optician, less work was the opposite of what his countrymen need. "Why can't the government put on the refineries?" he asked, rhetorically. "It's just poor maintenance."

Nigeria's labour unions insisted the strike which began Wednesday would continue, with Labour Congress President Abdulwaheed Omar declaring: 'There is no going back.'

The opposition Action Congress party meanwhile berated the government's attitude to the strike as 'insensitive and arrogant'.

The strike impacted heavily on social service, but did not immediately affect crucial oil exports.

Workers in the crude-oil production sector went about their normal businesses, but an official of Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell, said there was no guarantee the situation would endure.

Secretary to government, Babagana Kingibe, had accused labour of intransigence and being uncooperative to dialogue with government. 'Government's charges are untenable and diversionary, Omar insisted.

He commended what he called 70 per cent compliance to the strike directives by Nigerians and said labour would move out early Thursday to ensure that compliance was total across the country.

Omar said the refusal by government to invite labour to another round of talks was another indication of its ignorance and said government was daring the Nigerian people.

The opposition Action Congress party, in a statement issued in Abuja by spokesman, Lai Mohammed, slammed a statement by Secretary to government Babagana Kingibe that the strike was partisan and designed to serve political ends.

Mohammed argued that 'only those who neither buy fuel for their vehicles nor shop locally with their hard-earned money could author such a careless statement as the one credited to Kingibe.'

He expressed dismay that President Umaru Yar'Adua's administration would want to 'cast aspersions on the integrity of labour leaders for taking up the gauntlet on behalf of the toiling masses, who have been pauperised by the anti-people policies of the immediate past government of President Olusegun Obasanjo'.

'Matters concerning fuel prices and VAT touch everybody, except top government officials, whose huge foreign travel allowance allow them to shop abroad when they travel, and whose cars are fuelled at the expense of the government,' Mohammed stressed.

AC reiterated its earlier call on government to move swiftly to meet the demand of the unions by cancelling the inexplicable hike in fuel prices and VAT rates, quickly implementing the 15 per cent salary increase for workers and reversing immediately the underhand sale of two key refineries and the ?Egbin' power station in Lagos.

Earlier in the day, Omar led a protest march of labour to picket petrol stations and banks that opened for business.

In the march was a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Abuja, Ade Shinaba, who led a team of policemen to ensure peace.

Shinaba told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that 12,000 policemen and women were deployed to the march 'to ensure that hoodlums do not hijack the exercise to foment trouble.'

He commended labour for ensuring that its protest march was held peacefully.

The NLC, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and the Joint Action Forum, a coalition of civil society groups, had called an indefinite strike.

It was to demand for a reversal of pump price of petrol to 50 cents a litre, instead of the 59 cents a litre imposed by ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo 48 hours before he left office on May 29.

The strike was also to demand a reversal of value-added tax rate to 5 per cent instead of 10 per cent imposed by Obasanjo.

Labour also demanded a 15 per cent wage increase for government workers and the reversal of the sale of two of the country's refineries by Obasanjo.

President Umaru Yar'adua Tuesday conceded to the reversal of VAT rate, a 50 per cent decrease on the increase in the pump price of petrol and the payment of 15 per cent wage increase to workers, with effect from January.

Government, however, referred labour to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, in charge of its privatisation programme, for negotiations over the sale of the refineries.

Oil-rich Nigeria has no functional refinery and imports its petroleum products. In spite of its oil wealth, most Nigerians cannot make ends meet as they live on under one dollar a day.

Nigeria Security Update #3 200607

Strike Report (AFP)

A general strike gripped Nigeria Wednesday, posing the first significant test for the new president and putting oil markets on edge over possible disruption to supplies from one of the world's top crude exporters.

The main labour unions decided to go ahead with the strike after the government of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who was only sworn in late last month, refused to reverse a 15-percent hike in the price of petrol.

"The general strike and mass protest continue tomorrow (Thursday). As we have earlier announced, the strike will be indefinite until the federal government returns the price of petrol to 65 naira (0.51 dollars, 0.38 euros)," Abdulwaheed Omar, head of the blue-collar Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), told reporters.

He urged workers to set up compliance squads countrywide "to ensure all work places are shut down".

"The burden of fixing Nigeria and removing the landmines planted by former president Olusegun Obasanjo rests on President Yar'Adua. This responsibility cannot be shifted or repudiated merely on the excuse that the problems were inherited."

He was referring to a series of unpopular measures such as the fuel price hike introduced by Obasanjo in his last days in power.

"President Yar'Adua needs to appreciate that it is not a sign of weakness to listen to the people and act in accordance with their will," Omar added.

In the commercial capital Lagos, streets that are normally jammed were virtually free of traffic, with the impact of the strike worsened by heavy rain.

Some workers complained they had tried to come into work but said they had been turned back by union officials at impromptu roadblocks. Others said they could no longer afford the cost of transportation which has risen threefold in the past few days.

In the administrative capital Abuja only a few senior government officials showed up for work. Union officials turned out to enforce compliance with the strike, preventing some service stations selling fuel from doing so.

Union officials in the northern commercial capital Kano forced some shops to close and obliged passengers to get out of the few minibuses still circulating.

Most government schools were closed across the country, as were banks. Many flights were suspended or disrupted, but markets, street food stalls and some supermarkets stayed open.

By Monday fears of the walkout, which unions had been threatening for two weeks, and which could further hamper oil exports from Nigeria -- Africa's biggest oil producer and the world's sixth largest exporter -- had sent crude prices to their highest levels in nine months.

But initially at least there were no signs of production, much of which is offshore and automated, being affected.

"There's still no sign of anything being paralysed for the time being," one oil industry source said.

"There are no reports yet of a halt in exports," Shell's spokesman Precious Okolobo said.

"Our employees are complying with the strike action. There are no reported disruptions in production yet," said Chevron's spokesman Femi Odumabo.

A spokeswoman for Total likewise said production was not affected.

One quarter of Nigeria's total daily output of 2.6 million barrels is already lost due to unrest in the southern Niger delta region.

Union officials said it was just a matter of time until exports are hit.

"Compliance .. will come up gradually till it reaches its peak. This is just the beginning," Elijah Okougho, secretary- general of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the blue-collar oil workers' union, told AFP.

US Consulate Warden Message - Strike U.S. Embassy, ABUJA U.S. Consulate General LAGOS NIGERIA June 20, 2007 Warden Message Caution Advised for the Duration of Labor Strikes


This Warden message is being issued to advise American citizens that Nigerian labor leaders have called for nation-wide strikes beginning today, Wednesday June 20, 2007, to protest the recent increase in the price of petroleum products, taxes, and other related issues.

Strike actions have already taken place in Nigeria, public transportation has been disrupted, and many domestic airline flights have been delayed and cancelled. We have received reports of roads being blocked in and around Abuja as well as in other areas. Demonstrations have occurred in the vicinity of government offices in Abuja, and major transportation routes, and police have responded by clearing the blocked roadways. The duration and scope of these labor strikes are uncertain and have the potential to turn violent; therefore American citizens are urged to avoid areas of demonstrations if possible and to exercise extreme caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations. The police are staffing checkpoints at strategic locations around the Lagos metropolitan area. Nonetheless, travelers should restrict their intra-city movements to essential travel only as the security environment could deteriorate rapidly and without prior notice.

In response to these events, effective immediately, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria has placed the following restrictions on all official personnel serving in Nigeria as follows: (1) no discretionary travel by road outside of the city limits of Abuja and Lagos, and (2) no discretionary domestic travel by air. This restriction will be in place until such time as the current situation improves and the Mission rescinds the restrictions.

Deliveries of gasoline have been delayed or suspended. Due to the likelihood of fuel shortages continuing for an indeterminate period, American citizens should conserve fuel and avoid unnecessary travel, and ensure that sufficient food supplies are available. Transportation may be severely affected, and additional police checkpoints are likely to appear on many roads.

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria advises all American citizens to exercise caution, avoid demonstrations and large crowds, and carefully assess local conditions and act accordingly. The United States Embassy in Abuja and the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos expect to remain open during this period of labor strikes; however, as conditions dictate, services may be limited or suspended. Any American citizen having consular business that cannot be postponed should contact the respective Consular Sections before coming to either the Embassy or Consulate General.

We have recommended that our staff evaluate their current personal contingency/emergency planning and at a minimum take the following precautions:

1) Fully fuel and inspect motor vehicles to ensure they are properly functioning;

2) Stock up on food and water so that you have sufficient stores to last several days;

3) Check locks and doors and remain in positive control over all keys to entry ways, doors, and locks;

4) Ensure mobile phones are fully charged; and

5) Have on hand a basic first aid kit.

We continue to advise all Americans to review their security procedures, remain vigilant to their surroundings, and report specific incidences of targeted violence to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja or the U. S. Consulate General in Lagos at the numbers below.

For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs internet website at http://travel.state.gov/, where the current Worldwide Caution, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Up to date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. Federal Holidays.)

U.S. Embassy Abuja is located at Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive, Central Business District, Abuja; the telephone number is 09-461-4000. E-Mail: ConsularAbuja@state.gov

Check Flight Information

Today at Mohammed Murtala International Airport -- Inbound KLM is delayed three hours and outgoing flight tonight is still on. KLM web site in Netherlands no update on cancelled flights. BA web site same.

Today -- Two Virgin flights to Lagos cancelled.
Today -- Emirates Air flight from Lagos will fly to, Kano for refueling and then to Dubai.

Nigeria Security Update #2 200607

Rumors of Civil War Becoming a Reality? - (BBC News Archives)

Nearly four decades after Nigeria's bloody civil war ended, some young men calling themselves "freedom fighters" are trying to re-open old wounds.

They want to revive Biafra's crushed secession bid, launched on 30 May 1967, because, they say, they can no longer tolerate being marginalised by the Nigerian state.

But federal authorities have dismissed members of the separatist Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob) as "common criminals" and "armed robbers".

Massob wants a separate country for the Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria.

For the government, Massob revives memories of the horrors of the Biafran war, in which more than one million people died.

But the Massob fighters - mostly traders and university graduates - have come up with some creative ways to press home their demand.

"They go into a market and order market women to pay parallel Biafran taxes instead of those approved by Nigerian government," says the BBC's Yusuf Sarki Muhammad, who was recently in the region.

New demands

A few years ago, the banned Biafran currency, the pound, re-surfaced in some markets in the region, until a government crackdown forced the perpetrators underground.

Now, the rebels are out of hiding with three simple demands and a deadline.

They are demanding the release of their detained leader Ralph Uwazuruike, arrested in 2005 and being held on treason charges, and oil militant Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, from the Niger Delta, who is facing similar charges.

Their third demand is one that many others have made: a re-run of Nigeria's recent general elections which local observers say were a "charade".

Although the Massob fighters threatened to disrupt Tuesday's inauguration of President Umaru Yar'Adua if both men were not freed, they did not get round to it.

But they have said they are prepared to "die for the cause of justice".

Futility

The group appears to be losing relevance as their recent call for a "sit-at-home" strike failed to win any support among their traditional supporters - market women and unemployed Igbo young men.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, 74, who led the initial Biafran secession bid, has not come out publicly to reprimand Massob, but he is now old enough to see the futility in trying to do what he could not achieve as a 34-year-old army colonel.

Mr Odumegwu-Ojuwkwu's participation in Nigeria's recent presidential elections is often cited by analysts as proof that the Oxford University-educated former warlord has abandoned the idea of Biafra.

But south-eastern politicians watch their words whenever the subject is Massob.

They do not want to openly support the group for fear of incurring the wrath of the central government.

But they also do not want to be seen as betraying the Igbo cause.

Setting sun

"Look, the truth is that every true-born Igbo man or woman secretly desires what Massob is trying to achieve," a senior Igbo journalist, who lived through the horrors of the Biafran war as a child, told the BBC News website.

"But many of them are also smart enough to realise that it is foolhardy to let themselves to be identified as supporters of Massob," he said, requesting anonymity.

"I don't want to comment on what Massob is trying to achieve," says Uche Chukwumerije, a senator who used to be head of the Biafran propaganda machinery.

"But what I can say is that the long-term political stability of this country lies in a very drastic restructuring of the Nigerian state."

Other Igbo leaders, who do not believe in the practicability of Massob's ambitions, however, say the fighters have succeeded in drawing attention to the "continued marginalisation of the Igbo people by Nigeria".

Despite Massob's agitations, the reality is that the sun may have set permanently on Biafra once called "the land of the rising sun".

Strike Brings Nigeria to a Standstill but Doesn't Effect Flow of Oil (Reuters)

A general strike over a rise in fuel prices brought much of Nigeria to a standstill on Wednesday but oil exports from Africa's top producer were initially unaffected.

Unions pressed on with the strike despite a series of concessions offered by President Umaru Yar'Adua, who faces the first major test of his government three weeks after taking office.

The offices of Western oil companies in Nigeria were closed along with most other businesses and government offices, but oil production and shipments from the world's eighth largest exporter of crude were uninterrupted, company officials said.

"All our offices are locked up, but there has been no interference in our operations yet," said a senior executive at a Western multinational.

Unions ordered workers to go on "total strike", but leaders of the oil unions said it would take time to shut down the country's economic lifeline.

"Essential operations are continuing this morning. If we affect production that will bring maximum pressure on the government," said Peter Esele, head of the PENGASSAN oil union.

Oil companies use non-unionized staff to maintain essential operations, but some union members are required to sign off on exports and this is the most vulnerable link in the chain.

Shipping agents said work was continuing normally at the export terminals.

London oil futures, which have been supported by fears of a disruption from Nigeria, fell by 50 cents to $71.34 a barrel.

Yar'Adua inherited the crisis from his predecessor, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, who unexpectedly lifted fuel prices, doubled value-added tax and privatized two oil refineries days before leaving office on May 29.

NO FUEL

Streets in the main cities were deserted, but this was partly due to a five-day-old strike by road tanker drivers which has left most of the country without fuel.

Very few buses were operating. Banks, schools and most government offices were closed. Some international and domestic flights were cancelled because of a shortage of jet fuel.

Unionists barricaded streets in the southern oil capital of Port Harcourt and ejected workers who turned up for work at government offices in the capital Abuja.

Yar'Adua agreed to reverse the tax increase and to implement a public sector pay rise as demanded by the unions, but talks broke down over the fuel price.

Unions rejected the government's offer to reduce pump prices by 5 naira (4 cents) a liter, saying only a full reversal of its 10-naira increase would avert the action.

Previous strikes in Nigeria have had a limited impact on oil operations, because they tend to build strength slowly and are normally resolved within a few days.

Many Nigerians support the strike because the majority lives below the poverty line. Fuel subsidies are seen as one of the few benefits they receive from a government that has failed to deliver power, water, healthcare or schools.

Nigeria's four oil refineries have been shut for months because of sabotage and mismanagement, and Africa's largest producer of crude oil is entirely dependent on imports to meet its fuel needs.

Fuel Scarcity Paralyzes Economy (Daily Champion)

Following the protracted fuel scarcity in parts of the country including the Federal Capital Territory( FCT), Abuja , socio-economic activities may suffer serious set back as commuters are bound to encounter herculean task getting to their various places of busines this week.

The unending fuel scarcity in the country re-surfaced in Abuja Friday evening and worsened at the weekend as most filling stations were under lock and key claiming to have ran out of stock.

Blackmarketeers have also utilised the sad situation to make brisk business as fuel stations with some stock prefer to deal with them in the nights, selling above the official pump price per litre.

In turn, the blackmarketeers sell to the public at very exorbitant prices. For instance a litre of fuel yesterday sold between N300 -N400 leading to a hike in transport fares by more than 100 per cent increase .

Most commercial bus operators spent most of their time in queues in anticipation of possible supplies of fuel while some private vehicle owners also suffered the same fate to the extent of sleeping at filling stations in desperate bid to buy to facilitate their movement this week.

Yesterday in Abuja metropolis, there was dearth of commercial vehicles while numerous passengers were at various points haggling with conductors of available vehicles as well as cyclists within the satellite towns.

Transport fares have skyrocketed as most places which normally take about N80, now takes as much as N150 , some places that cost about N50 now take not less than N100. Within the Satelite towns , the commercial motocycle operators were also having a field day charging exorbitant rates,

The fear now, given the continuing fuel scarcity is the possibility of peddling of adulterated products.

ENI Declares Force Majeure (Business Day)

Italian oil company, Eni has declared force majeure on 37,000 barrels a day oil shipments from Ogbainbiri flow station in Bayelsa State after the facility was attacked on Sunday, a company spokesman said yesterday.

This latest assault brings to 750, 000 barrels a day the quantity of crude oil lost to the Niger Delta crisis.

The declaration of force majeure allows companies to suspend contractual obligations to customers, such as deliveries of oil and gas, following unforeseen events without incurring penalties.

The flow station was one of two oil plants invaded by armed men on Sunday and according to Eni spokesman, the force majeure was declared after the attack.

Eni’s chief executive Paolo Scaroni said that because of the occupation, 37,000 barrels per day of production was shut-in, of which 5,500 barrels a day is net to Eni.

The militants last Sunday shattered the relative peace expected in the restive Niger Delta region following the release of Mujahid Dokubo-Asari as they attacked the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, a unit of Eni’s flow station.

Eni confirmed that 27 people including 11 soldiers were being held hostage at Ogbainbiri flow station after the facility.

No one was confirmed harmed or killed in the invasion of the station.

It was gathered that at the time of the attack there were 24 workers and 51 soldiers within the premises.

However, 40 soldiers and eight staff managed to leave the flow station while the rest are being held.

The attack came barely 24 hours after men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) killed eight militants in the same Ogbainbiri area in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the State.

The armed youths who invaded Chevron’s flow station at Abiteye on Sunday complained that 150 million naira ($1.2 million) paid to them under a previous compensation scheme was poorly spent.

The youths had left yesterday, but a company spokesman said Chevron would resume 42,000 barrels per day of output there only when it was safe to do so.

Meanwhile, supply disruptions in the country, the world’s eighth-largest oil exporter, have helped crude oil prices climb to 10-month highs of more than $72 a barrel this year.

This is happening as a general strike threat by the organised labour and hostage takings in the Niger Delta extended the market’s gains to a fourth session.

The country came into limelight in the international market yesterday after the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) said they would start an indefinite strike today.

The government however offered series of concessions, including reducing fuel price hike and suspending the value-added tax.

Nigeria Security Update #1 200607

Nigerian Government Issues Ultimatum (Daily Sun)

The Federal Government on Tuesday issued a-48 hour ultimatum to Bayelsa State Government to ascertain the whereabouts of 12 soldiers and nine oil workers declared missing after an encounter with the militants in the state on Sunday.

The government said the soldiers and oil workers must be produced dead or alive before the expiration of the ultimatum.

Consequently, the government threatened a military operation in the state on the expiration of the deadline.

Already, the Commander of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Restore Hope, Brig.-Gen. Lawrence Ngubane, visited Government House, Yenogoa, on Tuesday, to convey the latest development to the state government.

It was not, however, clear if Ngubane, who departed 93 Battalion, Effurun, headquarters of JTF on Tuesday morning, met the state Governor, Mr. Timipre Silva - Sam.

The militants attacked Ogboinbiri flow station of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company on Sunday, apparently to avenge the killing of their kinsmen on Wednesday by soldiers on surveillance duty on the oil platform.

It was gathered that nine out of the 11 unarmed youths who were on their way to a community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area in Bayelsa State were allegedly killed by the troops attached to the JTF.

Although the authorities of JTF were hopeful that the soldiers and the oil workers were still alive, investigation revealed that they might have been killed by the militants.

The spokesman of JTF, Major Omale Ochagwuba, declined to confirm if the soldiers were killed or abducted.

However, our correspondent learnt that the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Owoye Azazi, who supervises the JTF, contacted Ngubane on Monday evening and intimated him with the position of the federal government on the incident.

Azazi reportedly directed Ngubane to convey the position to Silva-Sam in Yenagoa on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, uneasy calm reigned at JTF‘s headquarters in Effurun, Delta State , on Tuesday due to fate of the troops of the outfit.

Officers and men of the security agency met in groups discussing the fate of their colleagues amidst reports that the authorities were preparing for a military operation to dislodge the militants from the oil platform.

Ngubane, in a telephone interview on Tuesday, confirmed that he visited Yenagoa but he declined to give details of his mission in the area.

”I am in Yenogoa and I am in a meeting now. I don‘t have time to entertain questions at the moment,” Ngubane said before he hung the phone.

But a senior officer of JTF confirmed the ultimatum to Bayelsa state government by the federal government.

The source, who craved anonymity, said Ngugane was mandated to deliver the deadline to Silva - Sam.

In a related development, nine Ijaw youths were on Monday night arrested by the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Restore Hope, on the Abiteye production platform of Chevron Nigeria Limited in Delta State .

Also, the American oil firm regained the facility on Monday night, shortly after the protesting youths from Benikrukru community were dislodged from the platform by the troops of JTF.

The troops of JTF were supported by some indigenes of the community.

Our correspondent learnt that reinforcement sent to the platform by the Commander of JTF, Brig.-Gen. Lawrence Ngubane, overpowered the youths and freed the facility on Monday night.

Strike Still On, Oil Prices Rise (Associated Press)

Oil prices inched up Tuesday, setting a nine-month closing high, after labor unions in Nigeria rejected the government's efforts to avert a nationwide strike. Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and one of the top overseas suppliers to the United States.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose a penny to settle at $69.10 a barrel, the highest close since Sept. 1.

Labor unions on Tuesday rejected the Nigerian government's offer to halve a price hike on automobile fuel, only hours before its strike protesting the increase was set to begin.

The unions are threatening to target the strike action at the oil industry, with the aim of stanching oil exports that count for 90 percent of the government's income.

Continued violence in Nigeria also has kept oil prices within striking distance of $70 a barrel.

Recent attacks by villagers and gunmen cut supply at two Nigerian oil facilities. Hundreds of angry villagers chased workers away from a Chevron Corp. oil-transfer facility Monday in southern Nigeria. Gunmen also seized some two dozen Nigerian workers and security forces at a flow station operated by Italian energy giant Eni SPA's subsidiary Agip.

Militant leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, freed on bail, said Tuesday that armed groups in Nigeria's restive south will stop attacks on oil facilities to give the new government a chance to deal with the region's problems.

However, he warned there would not be an immediate end to the seizure of foreign workers.

Also supportive of crude prices is news of a potential strike by oil workers in Brazil. Workers at state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, may go on a five-day strike beginning July 5, Brazil's main oil workers' union said in a news release.

"In a bullish market, every thimble full of oil counts," said Peter Beutel, president of U.S. energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover. "Every little bullish feature will loom large."

Traders are also looking ahead to the weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration due out Wednesday. According to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires, gasoline supplies, which were unchanged in last week's report at 201.5 million barrels, are expected to increase by an average of 1 million barrels.

A rash of refinery disruptions in the last several months have reduced gasoline supplies, which have been at the low end of historical averages during the summer driving season.

Refinery utilization is expected to increase by an average of 0.6 percentage point to 89.8 percent of capacity, following two straight weeks of declines.

Analysts estimate an average gain of 900,000 barrels to 123.5 million barrels for distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel. Oil inventories are expected to fall by an average of 150,000 barrels.

Brent crude lost 34 cents to close at $71.84 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other trading on the Nymex, gasoline futures slipped 2.97 cents to settle at $2.2346 a gallon. Heating oil futures dropped 0.74 cent to end at $2.0268 a gallon, and natural gas prices fell 17.1 cents to $7.519 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Nigerian Army Deploys More Troops in Niger Delta (Daily Sun)

The Nigerian Army has sent more troops to drive militants from an oil plant they have occupied in Bayelsa State since they abducted 27 people there at the weekend.

"Following the reverses we have suffered in our attempt to secure the platform with minimum force, we decided to increase the number of our troops and the grade of armament, so as to save a very bad situation," a military officer told AFP on Tuesday, on condition of anonymity.

Suspected rebels attacked a flow station operated by Agip, a subsidiary of Italian oil company, Eni, in the southern Bayelsa State on Sunday in what military sources said was a reprisal for last week's killing of nine militants by soldiers.

Eni said that 16 of its Nigerian employees and 11 soldiers guarding the facility had been seized in the attack while another eight employees and 40 soldiers escaped.

An industry source, meanwhile, said on Tuesday, he doubted the soldiers would be able to dislodge the militants from the facility. "It won’t be an easy task to dislodge the boys. What they do is that they mine the platform as soon as they take it over, and they challenge the soldiers to dare (to) fire a shot. If a shot is fired, the entire area will go up in flames," the source said.

Kidnappings and armed attacks have intensified in the Niger Delta region, where some 200 foreigners and scores of Nigerians have been abducted since the start of 2006. These kidnappings, coupled with acts of vandalism and sabotage, have cost Nigeria an annual revenue loss of 4.4 billion dollars.

Asari - "I can't stop hostage taking" (Vanguard)

Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDVF), says he is not in a position to stop hostage taking by militants in the Niger Delta.

He told reporters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, yesterday that he could not stop the act, “since it was precipitated by the Federal Government."

The NDVF leader said it was the responsibility of the Federal Government to take appropriate measures to stop the trend.

He, however, said he had been rallying the various militant groups in the Niger Delta to find a lasting solution to commercial hostage taking and forge a common front for advancement of the region’s struggle.

Speaking at a reception held in his honour by Niger Deltans in Lagos, he said he had spoken to leaders of some Niger Delta militant groups including Ateke Tom and that soon a meeting would be held to fashion out a way forward for the region.

He also solicited support for Vice President Goodluck Jonathan whom he described as “a good man,” adding that Jonathan’s emergence as the nation’s Vice President had put a “K-leg” in the Niger Delta Struggle.

“On the issue of hostage-taking, I want to condemn it in all its ramifications. It is not because anybody asked me to condemn it. You cannot claim to be doing justice when you are doing injustice to another person. The people who came to work in the Niger Delta were brought by an unjust law,” he said, adding: “When you catch people and you confine them and you ask for money not for the struggle, it is sinful. If it is for the struggle, it is a different matter.”

He also asked for the release of MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, saying his (Dokubo’s) freedom would not be complete without the release of Uwazurike.

Dokubo, accompanied by his lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, also reiterated his position that former President Olusegun Obasanjo be prosecuted for his evil deeds while in power. He insisted that the former President must be made to account for all monies made during his eight-year administration, adding that the nation has not felt the impact of huge sums of money made during Obasanjo’s administration.

Coordinator of Ijaw Monitoring Group, organisers of the reception, Mr Joseph Evah, said Dokubo was in Lagos to thank the press, the civil society and the Niger Delta people for their role in ensuring that he regained his freedom. He said the struggle in the region had just begun.

Speakers at the reception included Comrade Ayodele Akele, Festus Keyamo, representatives of the Arewa Youths Forum, Oodua People’s Congress, MASSOB, Northern Friends of the Niger Delta, among others.

On what he was expecting from the Yar’Adua’s government, Dokubo said the only solution to the problems of Nigeria was the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference, adding that Nigerians were ready to dialogue on the future of the country.

According to him, the leadership of the country had always shied away from dialogue because many want the status quo of oppression and suppression to continue.

Former Governor of Lagos State Praises Asari Dokubo (Vanguard)

The immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Sen Bola Tinubu has faulted the existence of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as a panacea to solving the Niger Delta problems, saying it is not the solution to the region.

Tinubu, who spoke during a “thank you” visit on him at his Lagos residence by the just released leader of the NDPVF Asari Dokubu explained that the commission is just “a patronage organization which can not solve the problem” of the region.

He emphasized that it is by conveying “a forum of the stake holders, which would involve the oil companies, leaders of thought and traditional ruler in the area” that a lasting solution can be found to the recurring problem.

He praised Dokubo for his unrelenting efforts towards the cause of his people despite his 21 months incarceration, while asking Dokubo to immediately seek medical attention.

“We are the same; we work towards the same goal. We have a common conviction.
“You have been honest in your cause. But you have ill-health; you need to urgently take care of yourself.

“It is agreed unanimously that there is high degree of environmental degradation and high degree of injustice. We must come together to find a permanent solution that would promote the emancipation of our people.

Responding, Dokubo thanked Tinubu for his support, pledging to be steadfast in the quest to salvage the people of the area, saying “I cannot be free when my people are still in bondage”.

Dokubo recalled Tinubu’s humanitarian gesture towards his family while he was in detention and apologized to the former governor for turning down some of his offers.

“I want to thank you for the love you showed to my family. When I was in detention, you provided accommodation for my wife and children in Lagos and you paid my children’s school fees.

“We have never met but you showed me love. I am sorry that I asked my wife not take up the accommodation. It is not out of disrespect.

“It is only proper that my family remain within our locality to continue the struggle.

“If they had moved to Lagos, people will say they fled and the struggle would have been defeated”, the militant leader said.

He emphasized that “no amount of intimidation, detention, or killings would make me abandon this cause”.

Earlier, the facilitator of the visit, Prince Tonye Princewill, who was the gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress (AC) in Rivers state during the last April polls, urged the duo of Tinubu and Dokubo to build a common front in other to achieve democratic goals for the citizenry.

“You have both faced intimidation, you have both been oppressed by a dictatorial government and your coming together to face a common enemy will make Nigeria a better place to live in”, Princewill said.

As Other Companies Flee, KBR Opens a Nigeria Office in Lagos

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KBR (NYSE:KBR) announced today the founding of KBR Nigeria Ltd. in Lagos, Nigeria. The establishment of KBR Nigeria Ltd. will enable KBR to more fully support its Nigerian customers and further its commitment to meeting the country’s goals for increased local content.

KBR has a 30-year history working in Nigeria and a continuous presence for the last 15 years, which includes ongoing EPC work for the country’s major LNG projects and for its first GTL facility. KBR has additionally performed work for a number of Nigeria’s refining, ammonia, and onshore and offshore oil and gas production and processing projects.

The Nigeria operation will enable KBR to build local support for its clients while ensuring close coordination with its global engineering centers. “Our decision to establish KBR Nigeria Ltd. is strongly aligned with our commitment to helping develop local capabilities and delivering world-class projects in Nigeria and in all of the places where we serve our clients,” said John Rose, executive vice president, KBR. “KBR Nigeria Ltd. will allow us to more fully integrate local engineering talent while maintaining close coordination with our global execution centers to support our ongoing projects.”

The joint venture team of KBR, JGC, Technip and Snamprogetti, was recently awarded the project specification/front end engineering and design (FEED) contract for the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) SevenPlus project, to be constructed at Bonny Island, Nigeria. NLNG is a partnership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Shell, Total and ENI. The award of the FEED is part of a competitive bid for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, which is expected to be awarded by the end of 2007. The joint venture of KBR, JGC, Technip and Snamprogetti was chosen to design and build the first six trains for NLNG, beginning in 1989. Trains one through five are complete, and train six is under construction and is expected to be completed on schedule by the end of 2007.

KBR is a global engineering, construction and services company supporting the energy, petrochemicals, government services and civil infrastructure sectors. We offer our wide range of services through our Energy and Chemicals (E&C), Government and Infrastructure (G&I), and Ventures business segments. For more information, visit www.kbr.com.