Foreign Worker Kidnapped in Nigeria, Ending Months of Relative Quiet

A foreign worker has been taken hostage by gunmen in Nigeria's troubled oil-region. This is the first kidnapping of a foreign national for almost five months and it has raised fears that a period of relative calm in the Niger Delta could be coming to an end. For VOA, Sarah Simpson has more from Lagos.

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A Nigerian separatist rebel brandishes his weapon in a show of strength for reporters (file photo)

Gunmen kidnapped a foreign construction worker near the city of Port Harcourt in the oil-rich Niger Delta Tuesday. The assailants killed at least one soldier who was escorting the worker, according to private security officials speaking on anonymity.

The German-Nigerian construction company Julius Berger confirmed to VOA that the hostage was an employee, but it refused to provide the person's nationality or any further details.

This is the first recorded hostage-taking of a foreign national in the troubled region since October, though hostage-taking of Nigerians has remained a persistent problem.

Last year, more than 150 foreign nationals were abducted for ransom by criminal gangs operating in the oil-rich south.

Incidents fell after thousands of foreign workers and their families were evacuated or relocated from the oil-producing region. Security for those who remained was tightened.

Fresh peace talks between the government of new President Umaru Yar'Adua, inaugurated in May, and militant groups operating in the Delta also contributed to the relative calm.

But the main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has threatened a return to violence after one of its leaders was extradited to Nigeria by Angola, where he had been detained on gun-running charges.

MEND attacks on oil installations, including the blowing up of pipelines and kidnapping of foreigners, slashed Nigeria's crude production by about 20 percent and forced up oil prices worldwide.

MEND says it is fighting so a greater share of the national oil wealth is distributed to the Niger Delta.

But analysts say the violence has spiraled out of control and hostage taking has become a lucrative criminal enterprise in a region awash with guns and beset by poverty.

Nigerian rebels say leader extradited from Angola

LAGOS (Reuters) - A rebel faction from Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta said on Friday its leader, Henry Okah, had been "illegally" extradited from Angola where he was arrested on gun-running charges last September.

There was no immediate comment from Nigerian authorities. Nigeria had previously said it wanted Okah extradited but that would be difficult as the two countries did not have an extradition treaty.

Okah's arrest had sparked a wave of attacks on oil facilities and the armed forces in the Niger Delta, undermining the new government's efforts to negotiate a peace deal with several militant groups in the anarchic delta. His extradition is likely to increase tensions in the delta.

Angola's state-run ANGOP news agency said Okah and another Nigerian facing similar charges were both extradited on Thursday and a ceremony was witnessed by Nigerian diplomats.

"Two Nigerian nationals who had been arrested by Angola's national police over alleged trafficking of arms and explosives in the country to carry out terrorist activities in the world were extradited Thursday from Luanda," ANGOP reported.

ANGOP did not say where Okah was taken to. His militant faction said he was being detained in northern Nigeria, though it did not say how it knew this.

"The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is following keenly the moves of the government to pin on Henry bogus and unfounded charges," the rebel group said in an email sent to journalists late on Friday.

"Such actions are unacceptable to the Supreme Command of MEND. For now, we appeal for calm to the peace loving people of the Niger Delta as we all watch to see the government's next line of action," the group said.

Okah, who has been described by other militant leaders from the Niger Delta as a powerful arms dealer, led a faction of the MEND whose attacks on oil production facilities in early 2006 shut down roughly a fifth of Nigerian output.

He said he was fighting to redress decades of injustice in the impoverished delta, where oil extraction has polluted the land and water and enriched corrupt politicians but brought few benefits to the people.

Many armed groups in the Niger Delta make similar claims, although the lines between militancy and crime are blurred. Such groups often profit from hostage taking and a lucrative trade in stolen crude oil.

The MEND has repeatedly splintered and alliances have shifted between rival leaders. A faction loyal to Okah, angry about his arrest in Angola, has shunned recent talks with the government and continued to blow up ships and pipelines.

Militants attack on Shell facility: Death toll rises to 11

MENDS PRISONERS OF WAR

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The militant group behind a wave of attacks on Nigeria's oil industry claimed responsibility Monday for a weekend attack that officials said killed three soldiers.

The attack "dispels the false impression being given by the Nigerian government to investors that peace has been restored after a fraudulent peace deal," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in a statement e-mailed to journalists.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC said the attack near one of its oil-pumping stations late Saturday or early Sunday did not affect production.

The militant group said the "minor attack" marked five months since the arrest of one of its leaders, held in Angola on gunrunning charges.

Gunmen often launch attacks in the vast area of mangrove swamps and creeks where oil is produced in Africa's biggest petroleum industry.

Some are involved in the illegal theft of oil from wells and pipelines, while others claim political motivations for deadly raids, seeking the release of jailed comrades or demanding more money for the deeply impoverished region.

Increased militant attacks on oil personnel and infrastructure since early 2006 have cut Nigeria's regular daily output of 2.5 million barrels by about one quarter.

The federal government has promised to hold talks with the militants to find a permanent end to the long-running conflict, but little progress has been made.

Government officials weren't immediately available for comment Monday.

Nigeria's Oil Morass

After insurgents attacked a link to a key oil export terminal on the Forcados River in Nigeria's Delta region in February 2006, it took a year and a half for Royal Dutch Shell to make repairs and get part of it running again. It took just two months for insurgents to shut it down again.

The result: Just when oil-consuming countries want more high-quality petroleum to cool off high oil prices, a group of insurgents in the West African nation forced oil companies to stop pumping an average of 475,000 barrels a day last year, and at times as much as 600,000 barrels a day.

Yesterday Royal Dutch Shell, the biggest foreign company in the strife-torn Niger River Delta, said it would take a $716 million charge against earnings largely because of the security situation there. Industry sources say that in addition to the production shutdown, about 435 miles of pipeline and thousands of barrels a day of crude oil and condensates have been stolen. Much of the pipeline has been used for pillars in house construction.

(High oil prices nonetheless bolstered Shell's worldwide earnings. Profit was $8.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up 60 percent from the comparable period a year ago, even though production dropped and refining margins fell.)

With the exception of Saudi Arabia's spare production, Nigeria's unpumped oil accounts for the biggest untapped capacity in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which meets today to review prices and supply. All indications from OPEC ministers and diplomats point to no change in oil production, despite President Bush's plea for more output during his visit to Saudi Arabia two weeks ago.

In Nigeria's case, restricted production is not a matter of choice. A group called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has been blowing up pipelines and attacking or kidnapping foreign oil workers for several years, demanding that the companies and Nigerian government share more revenues with the deeply impoverished region. There is also a bitter history of environmental disputes in the region with Shell and other oil companies.

The topography of the Niger Delta makes it hard to protect. It is an area the size of England, mostly swamp, with about 1,000 wells and 3,750 miles of pipeline. Little progress has been made in negotiations with the insurgents, and Nigeria's military has been incapable of, or uninterested in, defeating them. Oil industry sources say some Nigerian navy boats in the Delta sell insurgents spare parts for their speedboats while ignoring illicit sales of bargeloads of stolen oil to foreign tankers.

Fixing the situation does not seem like a high priority for the Nigerian government, which keeps changing the person in charge of negotiations and postponing summit talks.

"It's one of the puzzling aspects," said Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "If the Gulf of Mexico were in the condition of the Niger Delta, or some portion of the gulf were in semi-permanent Katrina-like condition with lots of guys with weapons running around stealing things, it would be a political issue."

One reason for official inertia may be that with oil prices hovering around $90 a barrel, the Nigerian government is flush with cash. Long saddled with foreign debt, it has paid off its foreign creditors and accumulated reserves of about $50 billion, according to the World Bank.

Nonetheless, Nigeria's government is not paying its share of joint-venture investments, another reason for Shell's charge against earnings. In November at the OPEC summit in Riyadh, Odein Ajumogobia, Nigeria's energy minister, said that "the government clearly cannot fund its portion." He said it had budgeted only $5 billion of the $9 billion it was supposed to invest in 2008.

Because Nigeria's government does not want outside mediators to help negotiate with insurgents, oil companies are among the only ones searching for solutions. Shell, for example, has hired several hundred "community liaison officers" to help solve grievances. The company has sent storage tanks and generators to 21 towns and villages.
But some U.S. human rights groups say that some oil company payments may simply fuel insurgent arms purchases. Last month, MEND advertised ahead of time that it would attack an oil installation. In an e-mail sent to reporters and others, it said: "An attack on the Nigeria oil industry that will cause an economic tsunami in the world oil markets is imminent. This will herald the real emancipation of the Niger Delta." An attack then took place on two pipelines, one for oil and one for waste water, southwest of the town of Warri.

Now MEND is threatening to widen its targets to reach outside the Delta -- perhaps to Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, or to oil installations offshore, where Nigeria's pumps another 2.2 million barrels of oil each day.

Oil industry sources say that MEND is really a coalition of smaller armed bands, but there seem to be half a dozen or so groups outside MEND's umbrella too. One example is the Niger Delta Vigilante Movement, whose leader, Ateke Tom, attacked a hotel in Port Harcourt on New Year's Day. In an interview with Newswatch, a Nigerian magazine, Tom said he was retaliating because government troops attacked and burned down his house and allegedly took $46,000 in cash. He did not say why he was keeping that much cash on hand, but he wanted it returned.

"It's a difficult situation," said Ajumogobia, the energy minister. "There are complications from criminal elements that have infiltrated the process and are trying to break the process."

He said that the government was going to triple its budget for the Niger Delta. It currently gives 13 percent of oil revenues to the governments of oil-producing states.

Analysts say that most of the money allotted for the Delta region doesn't get there. The former governor of Delta state, James Ibori, has been charged with 129 counts of money laundering and other financial crimes. Human rights groups say Ibori provided key financing for the campaign of President Umaru Yar'Adua last year and that Ibori's influence was one reason why the president recently took the country's top prosecutor off the job and sent him on a training program.

A Human Rights Watch report last year reported that the $1.3 billion for Rivers state had little impact on ordinary people. The governor had a $65,000-a-day travel budget, the report said, and $92,000 a day for "grants," "contributions" and "donations." One local government spent 2 percent of its share on its crumbling primary school and 30 percent on its own salaries and offices. Another local chairman claimed to have spent huge sums on projects, including a fish pond with neither fish nor water.

"There are a lot of opportunities for diversion and corruption," said Monica Enfield, a West Africa analyst at PFC Energy, a Washington consulting firm. "So you have communities with no hospitals, roads or schools, and that creates a lot of anger against the government and the operating companies there."

Analysis: Shell to shut again in Nigeria

Nigeria's oil production -- already well below capacity due to ongoing violence -- is set to take another hit totaling 225,000 barrels per day, according to a leading producer in the West African country.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. announced earlier this week that it would shut down production at the Bonga offshore oil field in March for routine maintenance.

While the cutback is reportedly supposed to be temporary -- lasting 10 days, according to Shell officials, Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper reported -- there are lingering concerns that the Anglo-Dutch oil firm might keep the facility offline indefinitely due to the continuing militant attacks in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

While attending the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Shell CEO Jeroan Van der Veer said, "We are prepared for whatever we face" regarding the numerous production setbacks the oil giant has faced in recent years in Nigeria.

"Conditions must improve for us to restart production," said Van de Veer, "and we're not there yet."

Shell is among the foreign energy firms hardest hit by the violence that has persisted in the delta since the end of 2005 when the leading militant group known as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta began attacking oil and gas installations and taking foreigner workers hostage.

Attacks by MEND, other militant groups and armed gangs are blamed for decreasing Nigeria's once growing oil production by 20 percent to around 2 million barrels per day.

The Shell CEO said he wanted to speak with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua about tackling the militant issue and funding for additional projects that would improve oil production in the country.

The scheduled shutdown at Bonga isn't the first time that Shell has cut back production in Nigeria citing the militancy issue.

Earlier this month Shell shut down operations at its Forcados terminal following pipeline attacks that threw its 100,000 barrel-per-day production offline.

The terminal had already been shut down once before because of violence and reopened in October 2007 after more than a year of halted production. Since its reopening, the facility, which can produce some 450,000 barrels per day, had been operating at a fraction of its capacity.

MEND and other militant groups have in recent weeks made good on promises to increase attacks on petroleum installations, raising fears that already hampered production would be stymied further.

The attacks came amid efforts by Yar'Adua to negotiate a peace settlement with the militants. For months, it appeared Yar'Adua's efforts would pay off as MEND said it would honor a cease-fire brokered while the president attempted to make good on promises to improve the lives of the residents of the impoverished delta.

Despite generating more than $300 billion worth of crude from the southern delta states over the last three decades, poverty and high unemployment persists. Environmental degradation due to oil and gas extraction, and a lack of basic resources such as fresh water and electricity, have angered some of the region's youth and incited them to take up arms.

Meanwhile, unrest in the delta is also causing a serious shortfall in oil for Nigeria's domestic needs.

Nigeria's refineries are reportedly only producing 20 percent of the oil needed for domestic use, forcing the country to import the rest at rising global prices on the international market, wrote Leonard Lawal for African Energy.

"Paralyzed refineries, unsustainable government price subsidies and far-reaching corruption all contribute to a disastrous situation where one of Africa's leading crude producers cannot meet domestic needs," said Lawal.

Though Yar'Adua has promised to tackle the domestic need issue, the growing concern over discontentment among oil firms like Shell should preoccupy his time for the coming months leaving the shortfall issue on the back burner until the militancy problem can be curtailed, if not controlled.

Nigerian Militants Invite Clooney

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Militants in Nigeria's restive oil region on Saturday invited actor and peace activist George Clooney to visit the area and asked for U.N. intervention in their conflict.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon designated Clooney as a U.N. "messenger of peace" Friday to promote the world body's activities, especially in its far-flung peacekeeping missions. The 46-year-old actor has been campaigning for an end to the 4 1/2-year war in Darfur and for humanitarian aid for the millions caught up in the conflict.

Nigeria's Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta congratulated Clooney on his appointment and invited him to visit their impoverished region, which has been wracked by two years of fighting, bombings and kidnapping of foreign workers.

"Mr. Clooney, MEND extends an invitation to you to see things for yourself and is willing to work with you and other credible peace makers of international repute to stop Nigeria from plunging into the abyss of war," the group said in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

It said the unrest in the region was building up to a crisis that would dwarf Darfur's.

Clooney was not immediately available for comment.

The group asked for the United Nations to take a role — which it did not specify — in the conflict.

"We suggest that the U.N. should take a proactive step to nip the Niger Delta unrest in the bud before it is too late. Your role as a Messenger of Peace makes it imperative to consider the Niger Delta as a potential time bomb waiting to explode for which urgent steps must be taken."

The call for foreign intervention was unusual, as the militant group has so far used Africa's biggest oil industry as a leverage point to pressure Nigeria's government to meet its demands.

Those include more oil revenue for the region, and the release from prison of some of the group's top leaders. Attacks since early 2006 have cut Nigeria's oil production by about one quarter, helping send oil prices to historic highs.

Nearly 200 foreign workers have been kidnapped in the region in the past two years; they normally are released unharmed after a ransom is paid.

The militants have offered a unilateral truce if one of their leaders is released from prison in Angola, where he is being held on arms-smuggling charges. The group said Saturday the man was sick and they asked for an international envoy to visit him in prison.

While many U.N. agencies have goodwill ambassadors to promote activities ranging from helping children and refugees to promoting human rights, "messengers of peace" are selected by the secretary-general to promote the broader work of the United Nations

MEND takes responsibility for latest Nigeria oil town attack

LAGOS (AFP) — The most prominent armed group in southern Nigeria has claimed responsibility for a dynamite attack Monday night on the convoy of a port authority official in Nigeria's oil hub city Port Harcourt.

"Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) ... volunteers, answering the call to fight against injustice and oppression in the Niger Delta, carried out the attack on the convoy of a general manager with the Nigeria Ports Authority in Port Harcourt," the group said Tuesday in an email.

Sotoye Etomi's convoy was attacked with dynamite after it dropped him off. The attack left the driver of the pilot vehicle and two police escorts dead.

Etomi had appeared on a local television channel saying that a fire Friday on a tanker ship berthed in Port Harcourt was caused by a "marine accident".

MEND had insisted it had set the tanker ship ablaze using an explosive device.

The MEND email said that Monday night's attack on Etomi's convoy "was meant to show that nothing happens by accident in the Niger Delta, including the bomb explosion on the oil tanker vessel".

"The government wants to deceive the world that it can guarantee security and peace in the region. Foreign investors should take a prudent cue from A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, ... which has stopped its vessels from calling at Nigerian ports until normalcy returns," MEND continued.

MEND, which claims to be fighting for a fairer share of the Niger Delta's hydrocarbons to go to local communities, again criticized the behavior of the troops responsible for policing the Niger Delta, accusing them of "theft, extra-judicial killings, rape and brutality against civilians".

The group warned it intends to step up its campaign of violence, saying attacks would "soon become a daily occurrence".

Nigerian Militants Threaten More Attacks

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's main militant group said Thursday it fired on six oil industry ships and threatened an attack that will cause an "economic tsunami" in the world's oil market.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, whose attacks have crippled oil production in Africa's top exporter, said it fired at the ships Tuesday on the Bonny River, but provided no details.

The group, known as MEND, also warned in an e-mail sent to journalists that "an attack on the Nigeria oil industry that will cause an economic tsunami in the world oil markets is imminent."

Militant groups in Nigeria's oil-producing states say they are fighting for a greater share of the country's oil wealth. Although the Niger Delta produces billions of dollars in crude oil a year, its people live on an average of less than $1 a day.

MEND said a few days earlier it was receiving training from U.S. and European mercenaries on ambush techniques and the use of anti-aircraft surface-to-air missiles.

The group said Thursday that, for now, "our tactics of attack on these enemies of peace and freedom will be limited to remote explosive devices."

But it warned Niger Delta residents living under the flight paths of military helicopters "to be vigilant" because the aircraft could be shot down.

"We will not spare helicopters from oil companies as they have been used for military surveillance and logistics support," MEND said.

Militant tactics have included kidnapping expatriate oil workers and attacks on oil installations and government buildings. Copycats have jumped into the fray led by criminal gangs seeking ransoms.

Nigeria is Africa's leading oil producer and the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports. Militant attacks have cut production by 20 percent, helping keep oil prices high.

Nigeria's largest militant group ends "Xmas ceasefire"

Lagos, Nigeria - Nigeria's largest militant group ended its 24-hour Christmas ceasefire on Wednesday with a denial of its involvement in Tuesday's attack that killed three policemen in Rivers state in the oil producing Niger Delta region.

In a statement e-mailed to journalists on Wednesday, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it had informed its commanders on the field of the end of the unilateral ceasefire.

Commenting on the attack on a police station that left three policemen dead on Christmas day, MEND Spokesman Jomo Gbomo said the Movement was not involved because its members were "men and women of integrity" who would not break their pledge.

Describing the attack as "an isolated case", MEND said, however, that it would launch its own spectacular attack at the right time.

Attacks and kidnappings in the oil region have been on the rise in recent times, as the security situation in the oil region worsens.

Last Friday, President Umaru Yar'Adua called a meeting of top security chiefs to deliberate on ways to stem the violence and abductions.

Attacks on oil facilities and abduction of oil workers, spearheaded by MEND since early 2006, have reduced Nigeria's oil production and forced several oil companies in the region to take extra precautions while carrying out their activities.

Nigeria: MEND Declares War

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) a little understood but well equipped group recently declared full-scale war against oil companies and the government if their demands of equitable development and environmental justice are not met. Since that time the MEND has destroyed nearly 25% of Nigeria's oil producing capacity, consequently pushing up gas prices worldwide. MEND Spokesperson Jomo Gbomo sent two recent communiqués to Philadelphia Independent Journalist Peter Bloom declaring "With effect from 12 midnight today, Sunday 23, 2007, we will commence attacks on installations and abduction of expatriates."



Recent Communiqués 1 | 2 at: http://www.indymedia.org/en/2007/09/893071.shtml

Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil producer and the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to the United States. This natural resource is extracted from the region of Africa known as the Niger Delta. Sadly, the billions of dollars generated by this multinational industry are rarely invested in the region and the people live in continued misery, with few roads, little infrastructure and a decimated environment. Nigeria is notorious for its widespread corruption and the payments made from oil companies such as Shell and Chevron are kept by politicians and military leaders for their personal gain. This dire situation has led to years of continued struggle by many of the Delta's local indigenous groups such as the Ijaw and Ogoni peoples, among others, to receive their fare share of the oil revenues in order to better their communities. These efforts have been met with stiff and inhumane resistance from the Nigerian military and paramilitary groups funded by the oil companies themselves.

But the fight continues, most recently in the form of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a little understood but well equipped guerilla group. In 2006 the MEND declared full scale war against the oil companies and the government declaring that they would completely destroy the country's capacity to produce crude oil if their demands of equitable development and environmental justice are not met. Since that time the MEND has destroyed nearly 25% of Nigeria's oil producing capacity, consequently pushing up gas prices worldwide. Mainstream corporate media has covered the situation in the Delta with specific focus on the MEND, but most reports are sensationalist, stilted and de-contextualized, preferring to portray the group as petty criminals bent on their own enrichment.

Since national elections in the spring, the MEND has been in a provisional ceasefire as a show of good faith to the new government in order to push for immediate negotiations. After months of frustration and aggression on the part of the Nigerian states towards communities in the Delta and members, the MEND has declared that it will be resuming attacks.