the deplorable condition of living of the Niger Delta communities was recently the main focus of discussions in Abuja at a conference to mark 50 years of oil exploration in Nigeria. The concerns expressed at the golden jubilee conference of oil exploration although belated is not unexpected because poverty, unemployment, deprivation and environmental degradation are widespread in the Niger Delta communities despite the huge economic contribution these communities make to national development. This state of affairs in the Niger Delta is avoidable because the region hosts over 90 per cent of the crude oil reserves which account for more than 80 per cent of the country's revenue. Earnings from oil exploration from the region sustain the rest of the nation. This is why it is indefensible that the region has remained the least developed part of Nigeria.
This explains the restiveness of youths in the region. In other countries of the world, resources from a particular area are never used to develop other parts at the expense of communities that produce the commodity that yields the revenue. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan's submission at the conference that the resolution of the region's crisis must be done in a systematic and comprehensive manner in the overall interest of the communities and the country is saying the obvious. Militant groups like Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and others engaged in kidnapping expatriate and Nigerian oil workers would not have emerged and gained prominence if the government had given the oil producing communities their fair share of the revenue from the sale of crude oil.
Unlike the militants engaged in kidnapping and demanding resource control, Jonathan's position is that of dialogue. As he put it, "government has given serious thought as to how best to bring about a win-win situation on the matter of the Niger Delta." This must be commended. But government must pursue this win-win situation vigorously because the Niger Delta communities have suffered untold hardship in the last 50 years of oil exploration in the area. Commercial deposits of oil were first discovered at Oloibiri in Ogiba Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in 1956 by Shell D'Arcy later renamed Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Unlimited, which secured its oil exploration licence in 1938. However, the first shipment to the international market was in 1958. Since then, many more oil fields have been discovered in other communities and exploited by other multinational oil companies.
Currently, there are 11 major oil companies operating 159 oil fields and 1,481 oil wells in the Niger Delta. The country has also generated huge revenue from exploiting these oil fields. Although largely misused, some of the revenue have been used for development purposes in different parts of the country. Paradoxically however, Oloibiri and other oil producing communities of the Niger Delta continue to suffer from the proverbial oil curse of neglect.
Fifty years on, the federal government has yet to provide basic infrastructure for most of the Niger Delta communities even as other social amenities which could have made life easier for the indigenes are virtually non-existent. For instance, while villages in the creeks of Niger Delta still rely on the use of canoes and boats to access each other, the government is busy spending revenue generated from the sale of crude oil on artistic infrastructure in other parts of the country and some government officials are busy siphoning the revenue illegally out of the country. It is saddening that despite the volume of energy resources in the Niger Delta, the communities still do not have electricity. Except for perhaps Yenagoa, capital of Beyalsa State, which was connected to the national grid in October 2006, all other parts of Bayelsa State, one of the largest oil producing states in the Niger Delta, have yet to enjoy electricity.
It is time for government to back its promises of developing the Niger Delta with action. These promises go way back to the 1958 Sir Henry Willink's Commission report which recommended, among other things, that the Niger Delta deserved special development attention. Based on this commission's report, the government established the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) in 1960 to cater for the development needs of the Niger Delta. Between 1979 and 2006, there have been various government agencies saddled with the development of the Niger Delta. Theses included a presidential task force which devoted 1.5 per cent of the Federation Account to the development of the Niger Delta, the Justice Alfa Belgore commission, the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (Ompadec), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) which prepared the Niger Delta Development Plan in 2006. If all these efforts had been faithfully implemented there is no doubt that the root causes of the Niger Delta restiveness would have been identified and resolved.
The NDDC was supposedly meant to identify the root causes of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta and suggest ways of improving them. The commission is to build on existing structures rather than the usual 'tear-down-and-start-again' syndrome, which had bred mistrust and disillusionment. Among projects contained in the master plan are rail lines, construction of roads and industrial parks as well as building of business clusters. If these are to be achieved, then the federal government must disburse funds as and when due to the NDDC because the development of the Niger Delta can no longer be put on hold.
Showing posts with label nigeria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nigeria. Show all posts
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Conspiracy against Delta Ports
NIGERIA :IT will be difficult to convince the indigenous people of Warri, Sapele, Burutu, Forcados and Koko in Delta State that their part of the Nigerian nation is not the target of some obnoxious discriminatory policies and programmes of the Federal Government over the years, designed to relegate and trap them in a life of perpetual servitude and poverty.
Emanating from this frame of mind is the firm view, until proven otherwise, that the operators of the Federal Government, Nigeria Ports Authority, and all the other agencies involved in the administration of our country’s seaports stand accused of deliberately engineering the neglect and scandalous decay of the sea ports in their area because they are minority people.
The rise and fall of these Delta sea ports is symptomatic of the lack of justice, equity and fair play in how democracy has been conducted in Nigeria since the attainment of self-rule in 1960 borne out of the crudity of the political leaders from the ethic majority tribes of Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo who have indulged in unbridled tribalism, naked nepotism, regionalism and mindless corruption in the governance of the country for their selfish and narrow-minded goals.
They have greatly used these vices to oppress and abuse the minority ethnic groups, and the story of the neglect of the five Delta ports fits squarely into this syndrome of “mans inhumanity to man” that has been visited upon the Niger-Delta region in the last four decades.
For this, the country is now paying the avoidable costly price of an on-going hugely destructive youth militancy in the region, which has virtually snowballed into a guerilla war. This might sound alarmist, but, the reality on the ground is that the Federal Government has stationed the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the region to suppress the actions of these young men, better described as freedom fighters.
Sadly, the lives of many Niger-Delta youths and soldiers have been lost in this raging military altercation.
In spite of the toll of this war of attrition on the nation's economy, there is little evidence to show that the Federal Government, under the collective and continuous control of the ethnic majorities, truly understands the grievances of the Niger Delta people, and its refusal to accept the severally proffered straight-forward solutions to this crisis has prompted the assertion that the Niger Delta crisis was borne out of a conspiracy of the ethnic majority groups to perpetually oppress and dominate the ethnic minorities: Niger-Delta region being one of them. To them, might is right.
In the beginning, the British merchants came to our Atlantic shores to buy slaves, but when slave trade was abolished, they shifted their attention to trade in agricultural commodities and, for this, they needed to build sea ports for their ships to berth and evacuate agricultural raw materials such as palm oil, rubber, cocoa, timber, hides and skin and groundnuts to their home country for use in their factories.
Therefore, sea ports were built at Lagos, Warri, Port-Harcourt, Burutu, Calabar and Forcados, by the British trading companies. Eventually, these Sea ports became the hub of the economic activities in the country, and unarguably the Delta Ports of Burutu, Warri, Sapele, Forcados and Koko played very significant roles in the export of agricultural raw materials and import of the few building and construction materials that came into the country.
Specifically, Burutu had highly developed port facilities that included a slip way for the repair of ships, an oil mill, and huge warehouses because of her strategic position as the terminal port for evacuation of goods brought from Baro and Garua in Northern Cameroon and Lokoja and Kafanchan in Northern Nigeria, to the United Kingdom.
The Island was home to a good number and variety of expatriate and local engineers in the marine and shipping industry. Warri and Sapele ports attracted considerable maritime activities and were also very busy providing jobs and a good quality life for the people in the area. This was a glorious period in the life of the people of these towns with Burutu show-casing what could be achieved in a prosperous multi-ethnic community devoid of bad leadership.
The entire Warri province benefited hugely from good social infrastructure, functional schools and hospitals as part of the Western Region from revenue earned from port activities. Suddenly, the country was plunged into a civil war precipitated by the ideological differences and ego struggle between the young military chaps from the ethnic majority tribes. The Hausa/Fulani, supported by the Yorubas, fought against the Igbo who had sought to secede from Nigeria to form their own country, Biafra.
This war triggered the exodus of people from the port towns of Warri, Sapele, Forcados and Burutu back to their indigenous ethnic territories.
Thus began the decline of the fortunes of the hitherto prosperous Delta ports and an unstoppable march to ruins orchestrated and sustained by the country’s rulers from the ethnic majority tribes ensued, from which they are still to recover in 2008.
Once the Niger River Transport Company, NRT, deserted Burutu, the decay of the port progressed rapidly. Forcados and Koko ports became haven for rodents and reptiles. Prof. P.Clark has produced a documentary, called “Oil at the bottom” narrating the travails of Burutu over the years and it is a sore on the conscience of the nation.
The thought that Delta ports will regain their glory after the civil war began to wane when successive regimes after Gowon forgot these ports in their plans. Everything that had to do with sea ports took place at Lagos. Apapa and Tin Can ports became the major ports for the export and import of goods. Not even the establishment of the Delta Steel Company, Ovwian -Aladja, nor the Warri Petroleum and Refining Company, Ekpan, could attract attention to the Warri Port.
The new structures put there by Gowon turned into white elephants, while Sapele Port was handed over to the Nigerian Navy.
Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, mindlessly ensured that the Burutu Port, which anchored the lucrative River Niger/Benue waterways trade conducted by the British merchants, died irredeemably. Rather than improve upon the slipway for the repair and building of ocean liners and other types of seacrafts, a dockyard was developed in Lagos.
There is no other reason for the neglect of the Delta ports and lopsided development and patronage of the Lagos ports than a conspiracy by Federal authorities (read Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo rulers) to oppress and abuse the minority ethnic groups of the Niger-Delta despite the enormous oil resources being earned from the region. Painfully, Niger-Deltans have always had very weak political leadership that could not defend her rights.
How come that the NPA has never been headed by a Niger Deltan? All the other senior staff usually come from the ethnic majority tribes. The oil industry is completely in the hands of persons from the ethnic majorities epitomized by the refusal of President Yar’ Adua to appoint a Deltan as NNPC’s Managing Director
. Niger-Deltans have always been spectators in how their land is exploited. I think it smacks of thoughtlessness for any Nigerian who is not from the Niger-Delta region to make odious comments in which the youth of the region are accused of being criminals. The origin of the Niger-Delta crisis is firmly rooted in the unimaginable neglect of the area by successive federal governments after they had appropriated to themselves total control of the oil industry and used the revenue earned to develop their parts of the country.
The occasional escapades of criminality should not detract from the fact that the Niger-Delta crisis is a genuine struggle by an oppressed people to free themselves from institutionalized bondage and exploitation.
It is believed that the country would have since disintegrated if the country’s petroleum resource had been found in the land of the ethnic majorities. Inexplicably, the neglect and subsequent dilapidated state of the five Delta ports have not attracted serious redress from the Federal Government in her economic reform programmes and also, strangely, the people of the area have not found the strong voice with which to protest and resist this carefully hatched conspiracy against them by the Federal Government.
On a recent visit to Apapa Wharf and the Tin Can ports, I observed the sickening economic senselessness in not developing the Delta ports. The Lagos ports are so congested, operating with a legion of corrupt practices in the services they render.
All manner of tank forms, oil depots, containers and heavy duty trucks litter the area and our country is suffering for this economically. Is it not easier to move goods from any of the Delta ports to the Eastern and Northern ports of the country than from Tin Can ports? Why then does the Federal Government not dredge the Escravos bar or the entrance to the Benin River to enable big ships come into the Delta ports?
Deltans are admonished to take up the challenge of ensuring that their ports are made functional again. This is the surest way of creating jobs for the famished youths and reduction of restiveness in the Niger Delta region. It remains a tragedy of immense proportions that the economic experts of our country have not seen the need for the resuscitation of the Delta ports that will remove the pressure from the Lagos ports.
The history of the Warri/Sapele/Burutu axis of Delta State is solidly founded on the fortunes of these five seaports. But, for them, their great sons and daughters of today will not have emerged. However, it is disappointing that these beneficiaries of the ports have abandoned them today. It will be a great disservice to the area, to allow the Delta ports to die unsung, and let the economic downturn in the area continue unabated.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Nigeria to shut-in 225,000 b/d crude oil output in March
OWING to a routine shut-in, 225,000 barrels of crude oil output per day Nigeria output would go offline for a 10 days period in March when Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) commences maintenance on the Bonga offshore oilfield.
Although Bonga oil offshore oil field accounts for 225,000 barrels per day on average, Reuters reported that the scheduled loading programme for March shows only three 950,000 barrel cargoes, where the previous month had eight.
Image
HE Abdullah bin Hamad al Attiyah, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Qatar (r) presents a gift item to his guest, Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), Minister of State for Energy (Petroleum) during an official visit to Qatar Petroleum in Doha, recently.
The first scheduled cargo load is set around March 21. “This is because of maintenance,” one trader explained.
Already, Nigeria’s total oil output is impaired by the activities of militants which have left an average 850,000 barrels per day shut-in over the last three years with the exploration and production companies averaging 2.1million barrels output per day.
Following the resultant loses from its shut-in output, Shell Nigeria companies have fused into one company under a new scheme tagged 'One Shell', resulting in job cuts and rationalisation across board.
Although the company refuses to admit it, the resultant shut in output owing to increased militancy in its areas of operation has impacted ability to sustain its robust local structure or even meet the aspirations of shareholders.
Amongst the exploration and production companies operating in the country, Shell subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), operator of the largest joint venture appears to be the worst impacted accounting for an average 500,000 barrels shut in per day.
While speaking on the development in Davos, Switzerland where he is attending the World Economic Forum, Jeroan Van der Veer, Shell CEO said ‘We are prepared for whatever we face’.
The Shell CEO is expected to face Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua to discuss what can be done to restart production in the country within the shortest possible time.
“Conditions must improve for us to restart production,” said Van de Veer, “and we’re not there yet.”
At the meeting with Yar’Adua, “we have lots to talk about. It’s not only about security, it’s also about funding. The lack of funding for some projects has caused issues with meeting targets. ... It’s prevented us from ending all gas flaring,” he said.
Gas flaring means the burning off of natural gas found along with oil.
Yar’Adua confirmed the two men would meet and said he would seek more investment from Shell into Nigeria’s downstream energy sector.
He also broached the idea that international companies could enter joint ventures with the national oil company to build power plants in the West African nation.
Over the past several years, Shell has faced hijackings, hostage situations, and holdups in the leading oil exporter of Africa.
On its part, the Associated Press reported that attacks carried out by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and other armed groups over the past two years have cut Nigeria’s oil exports of 2.5 million bbl/d by more than 20%, adding pressure to global oil prices.
Just last month, Shell announced it would cut costs and jobs in Nigeria because of pressure from the government to change the terms of its contracts and also because of attacks from local insurgents.
Still, Shell remains steady in its forward progress in the region and elsewhere, considering the fluctuation of oil process as a common market factor to be considered while planning operations.
“We don’t speculate on oil prices of the future,” said Van de Veer. “We simply take it as it is, and then we make sure in that business environment we do the best possible job.”
Van de Veer said Shell prepares itself for the unexpected consequences of the market by envisioning three types of scenarios when planning for the future: high oil prices, low oil prices, and the yo-yo.
The question one should ask is who is holding the yo-yo, and who is the yo-yo. Maybe Friday’s meeting between Van de Veer and Nigeria’s president will provide the oil and gas industry with a very important answer
Although Bonga oil offshore oil field accounts for 225,000 barrels per day on average, Reuters reported that the scheduled loading programme for March shows only three 950,000 barrel cargoes, where the previous month had eight.
Image
HE Abdullah bin Hamad al Attiyah, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Qatar (r) presents a gift item to his guest, Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), Minister of State for Energy (Petroleum) during an official visit to Qatar Petroleum in Doha, recently.
The first scheduled cargo load is set around March 21. “This is because of maintenance,” one trader explained.
Already, Nigeria’s total oil output is impaired by the activities of militants which have left an average 850,000 barrels per day shut-in over the last three years with the exploration and production companies averaging 2.1million barrels output per day.
Following the resultant loses from its shut-in output, Shell Nigeria companies have fused into one company under a new scheme tagged 'One Shell', resulting in job cuts and rationalisation across board.
Although the company refuses to admit it, the resultant shut in output owing to increased militancy in its areas of operation has impacted ability to sustain its robust local structure or even meet the aspirations of shareholders.
Amongst the exploration and production companies operating in the country, Shell subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), operator of the largest joint venture appears to be the worst impacted accounting for an average 500,000 barrels shut in per day.
While speaking on the development in Davos, Switzerland where he is attending the World Economic Forum, Jeroan Van der Veer, Shell CEO said ‘We are prepared for whatever we face’.
The Shell CEO is expected to face Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua to discuss what can be done to restart production in the country within the shortest possible time.
“Conditions must improve for us to restart production,” said Van de Veer, “and we’re not there yet.”
At the meeting with Yar’Adua, “we have lots to talk about. It’s not only about security, it’s also about funding. The lack of funding for some projects has caused issues with meeting targets. ... It’s prevented us from ending all gas flaring,” he said.
Gas flaring means the burning off of natural gas found along with oil.
Yar’Adua confirmed the two men would meet and said he would seek more investment from Shell into Nigeria’s downstream energy sector.
He also broached the idea that international companies could enter joint ventures with the national oil company to build power plants in the West African nation.
Over the past several years, Shell has faced hijackings, hostage situations, and holdups in the leading oil exporter of Africa.
On its part, the Associated Press reported that attacks carried out by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and other armed groups over the past two years have cut Nigeria’s oil exports of 2.5 million bbl/d by more than 20%, adding pressure to global oil prices.
Just last month, Shell announced it would cut costs and jobs in Nigeria because of pressure from the government to change the terms of its contracts and also because of attacks from local insurgents.
Still, Shell remains steady in its forward progress in the region and elsewhere, considering the fluctuation of oil process as a common market factor to be considered while planning operations.
“We don’t speculate on oil prices of the future,” said Van de Veer. “We simply take it as it is, and then we make sure in that business environment we do the best possible job.”
Van de Veer said Shell prepares itself for the unexpected consequences of the market by envisioning three types of scenarios when planning for the future: high oil prices, low oil prices, and the yo-yo.
The question one should ask is who is holding the yo-yo, and who is the yo-yo. Maybe Friday’s meeting between Van de Veer and Nigeria’s president will provide the oil and gas industry with a very important answer
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Pipeline fire, tanker blast in southern Nigeria: sources
22 hours ago
LAGOS (AFP) — A major oil pipeline belonging to Italian oil company Agip caught fire and a tanker truck exploded in separate incidents Monday in southern Nigeria, military and industry sources said.
The oil pipeline at Omoku in Rivers state had been ruptured before it caught fire early Monday, the sources said. It was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt in the incident.
Firefighters from Agip had put out the blaze.
Meanwhile a fuel tanker exploded Monday morning near Port Harcourt's main oil refinery, military spokesman Major Musa Sagir told AFP. The cause of the blast was unknown.
The two incidents came barely one week after the most prominent militant group in the restive Niger Delta claimed responsibility for a series of attacks.
Last week, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it planted an explosive device that set a tanker ship on fire in Port Harcourt.
It also claimed responsibility for an attack on a senior port official in the oil city and vowed further operations against the oil industry and related sectors.
MEND shot to prominence early last year with a string of kidnappings of foreign oil workers as well as attacks on oil company property.
The group says that, contrary to criminal gangs operating in the Niger Delta, it is working to improve the lot of the ordinary people of the region.
Instability and violence slashed by a quarter oil output in Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest crude exporter, in 2006 and 2007 to 2.1 million barrels per day, according to the latest estimates.
In 2007, more than 200 foreign workers were taken hostage, often being released after a ransom was paid.
LAGOS (AFP) — A major oil pipeline belonging to Italian oil company Agip caught fire and a tanker truck exploded in separate incidents Monday in southern Nigeria, military and industry sources said.
The oil pipeline at Omoku in Rivers state had been ruptured before it caught fire early Monday, the sources said. It was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt in the incident.
Firefighters from Agip had put out the blaze.
Meanwhile a fuel tanker exploded Monday morning near Port Harcourt's main oil refinery, military spokesman Major Musa Sagir told AFP. The cause of the blast was unknown.
The two incidents came barely one week after the most prominent militant group in the restive Niger Delta claimed responsibility for a series of attacks.
Last week, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it planted an explosive device that set a tanker ship on fire in Port Harcourt.
It also claimed responsibility for an attack on a senior port official in the oil city and vowed further operations against the oil industry and related sectors.
MEND shot to prominence early last year with a string of kidnappings of foreign oil workers as well as attacks on oil company property.
The group says that, contrary to criminal gangs operating in the Niger Delta, it is working to improve the lot of the ordinary people of the region.
Instability and violence slashed by a quarter oil output in Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest crude exporter, in 2006 and 2007 to 2.1 million barrels per day, according to the latest estimates.
In 2007, more than 200 foreign workers were taken hostage, often being released after a ransom was paid.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Nigeria: MEND Vows to Cripple Oil Exports
See the Patriotism and Humanity of MEND
AP
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday vowed to cripple oil exports from the Niger Delta region by providing arms including anti-aircraft gunships to the leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante Movement, Mr Ateke Tom in what it said was a renewed bid to counter any possible offensive by Federal Government's Joint-military Task Force against it.
Specifically, the support, MEND said, would be in form of providing him their fighters and making available heavy duty war machines including anti-aircraft to ensure that they present a formidable front to counter Federal troops.
They, therefore warned that "Civilians inside capital cities in the Niger Delta states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers are advised to avoid milling around army check points and armouredpersonnel carriers as they have become targets for attacks by explosive devices".
They also announced the coming together of all factions of MEND for the common purpose of protecting the interest of the Niger Delta, adding that the common enemy to all the groups was the Federal Government.
In an online statement issued by Gbomo Jomo, MEND condemned the destruction of properties belonging to Ateke Tom especially the burning of his houses and boats which they explained led to the New Year attack and vowed to continue with similar attacks.
"In its characteristic manner, the undisciplined Nigerian army resorted to an unnecessary scorched earth policy during a raid on the camp of Ateke Tom in Okrika.
" The burning of vehicles, boats, houses and looting was uncalled for in the first place, which resulted to the New Year reprisal attack on Port Harcourt."
"Our call for unity amongst every fighting force inthe Niger Delta against a common enemy makes itimperative that MEND take sides in spite of ourdifferences with Ateke Tom and will support him withfighters and heavy weapons including anti- aircraft.Today, the main factions in MEND are back together asone formidable force ready to fight against injusticeand criminality" they vowed.They claimed that they were not criminals as werebeing branded and pointed at former leaders of thecountry and corrupt politicians who steal both oil andrevenue accruing from it as the problems of thecountry.The militants reiterated their allegation thatinjustice in the sharing of the national wealth most owhich come from their land as justifiable reason forthe resort to arms in the face of grossunderdevelopment.
MEND commended their men within the armed forces ofthe country for their infiltration of the intelligencechannel which enabled the leakage of the documentprepared on how to annihilate them. "We salute our agents inside the Armed Forces for ajob well done! The leakage of classified informationmeant to annihilate us during a fraudulent peaceinitiative has prepared us for the bloody fightin 2008. Our goal remains to paralyse 100 percent ofNigeria's oil export in one swoop" they boasted.Meanwhile, the gubernatorial candidate of the ActionCongress in the April polls, Prince Tonye Princewillhas appealed to both the government and Ateke toresort to dialogue rather that take actions thatimpact negatively on the residents of the region. "My latest angle on the Rivers violence is that JTF,the Rivers State government and Ateke know that thisRivers State will remain even after they have gone.
Innocent people therefore cannot be victims ofwhatever disagreements they have. I urge all partiesto declare an immediate ceasefire and cessation ofhostilities to allow the area to regain its sanity andfor reason to prevail."Enemies today will be friends tomorrow. Dialogue isthe only way and whether today or tomorrow eventuallyit will be used. The difference between the options iswhat will determine how many more (innocent people)will die. Ateke should not further justify the actionsof the JTF by killing innocent people"."You have shown you can do peace. Now more than everbefore, show us you can do peace again, then you leavethe rest to God. Don't give them an excuse to pursueyou. The whole world is watching. Those that don'tknow what you did before must see what you do now.
JTF and Rivers State also need peace", Princewillcounseled. Meanwhile, the State government has debunked rumoursthat it had reintroduced curfew after the New Yearraid by Ateke where over 14 people died.Refuting the rumour, Secretary to the StateGovernment, Mr. Magnus Abe said that while theyacknowledge the security challenge, they were bracingup and ensuring there was safety of lives andproperties in the state while criminals who disturbpeace would be dealt with.According to him, the only place there is still curfewin the State was in Okrika, the home place of Atekewho has owned up to carrying out the attacks in theNew Year.
AP
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday vowed to cripple oil exports from the Niger Delta region by providing arms including anti-aircraft gunships to the leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante Movement, Mr Ateke Tom in what it said was a renewed bid to counter any possible offensive by Federal Government's Joint-military Task Force against it.
Specifically, the support, MEND said, would be in form of providing him their fighters and making available heavy duty war machines including anti-aircraft to ensure that they present a formidable front to counter Federal troops.
They, therefore warned that "Civilians inside capital cities in the Niger Delta states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers are advised to avoid milling around army check points and armouredpersonnel carriers as they have become targets for attacks by explosive devices".
They also announced the coming together of all factions of MEND for the common purpose of protecting the interest of the Niger Delta, adding that the common enemy to all the groups was the Federal Government.
In an online statement issued by Gbomo Jomo, MEND condemned the destruction of properties belonging to Ateke Tom especially the burning of his houses and boats which they explained led to the New Year attack and vowed to continue with similar attacks.
"In its characteristic manner, the undisciplined Nigerian army resorted to an unnecessary scorched earth policy during a raid on the camp of Ateke Tom in Okrika.
" The burning of vehicles, boats, houses and looting was uncalled for in the first place, which resulted to the New Year reprisal attack on Port Harcourt."
"Our call for unity amongst every fighting force inthe Niger Delta against a common enemy makes itimperative that MEND take sides in spite of ourdifferences with Ateke Tom and will support him withfighters and heavy weapons including anti- aircraft.Today, the main factions in MEND are back together asone formidable force ready to fight against injusticeand criminality" they vowed.They claimed that they were not criminals as werebeing branded and pointed at former leaders of thecountry and corrupt politicians who steal both oil andrevenue accruing from it as the problems of thecountry.The militants reiterated their allegation thatinjustice in the sharing of the national wealth most owhich come from their land as justifiable reason forthe resort to arms in the face of grossunderdevelopment.
MEND commended their men within the armed forces ofthe country for their infiltration of the intelligencechannel which enabled the leakage of the documentprepared on how to annihilate them. "We salute our agents inside the Armed Forces for ajob well done! The leakage of classified informationmeant to annihilate us during a fraudulent peaceinitiative has prepared us for the bloody fightin 2008. Our goal remains to paralyse 100 percent ofNigeria's oil export in one swoop" they boasted.Meanwhile, the gubernatorial candidate of the ActionCongress in the April polls, Prince Tonye Princewillhas appealed to both the government and Ateke toresort to dialogue rather that take actions thatimpact negatively on the residents of the region. "My latest angle on the Rivers violence is that JTF,the Rivers State government and Ateke know that thisRivers State will remain even after they have gone.
Innocent people therefore cannot be victims ofwhatever disagreements they have. I urge all partiesto declare an immediate ceasefire and cessation ofhostilities to allow the area to regain its sanity andfor reason to prevail."Enemies today will be friends tomorrow. Dialogue isthe only way and whether today or tomorrow eventuallyit will be used. The difference between the options iswhat will determine how many more (innocent people)will die. Ateke should not further justify the actionsof the JTF by killing innocent people"."You have shown you can do peace. Now more than everbefore, show us you can do peace again, then you leavethe rest to God. Don't give them an excuse to pursueyou. The whole world is watching. Those that don'tknow what you did before must see what you do now.
JTF and Rivers State also need peace", Princewillcounseled. Meanwhile, the State government has debunked rumoursthat it had reintroduced curfew after the New Yearraid by Ateke where over 14 people died.Refuting the rumour, Secretary to the StateGovernment, Mr. Magnus Abe said that while theyacknowledge the security challenge, they were bracingup and ensuring there was safety of lives andproperties in the state while criminals who disturbpeace would be dealt with.According to him, the only place there is still curfewin the State was in Okrika, the home place of Atekewho has owned up to carrying out the attacks in theNew Year.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
MEND:NIGER DELTAS MILITANT UMBRELLA GROUP
Every day in news paper we can see the violence of Nigeria.But we should know whats happening there.it is a Armed Resistance by the Local people against Foreign Oil companies,Bourgeois,Corrupt Politicians.
Please go through this article and if like to know more visit
AP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_the_Emancipation_of_the_Niger_Delta
Introduction
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, launched itself onto the international stage in January 2006 by claiming responsibility for the capture of four foreign oil workers. Since then, the group's attacks on oil pipelines and kidnappings have reduced oil output in the Niger Delta by roughly one-third. Oil companies, the Nigerian government, and the United States (Nigeria is the United States' fifth largest supplier of U.S. crude imports) are concerned about MEND's ability to disrupt the global oil supply. Though skilled at leveraging international media, the group remains secretive and opinions vary on its power and ability to sustain itself.
A hotbed of militant groups
MEND is the most recent, and most renowned, of the large number of militant groups in the Niger Delta, an oil-rich region of mangrove swamps and creeks in the country's south and one of the world's largest wetlands. The militants, like the Niger Delta's population at large, object to the environmental degradation and underdevelopment of the region and the lack of benefits the community has received from its extensive oil resources. While there is a revenue-sharing plan in which the federal government distributes roughly half of the country's oil revenues among state governors, these funds do not trickle down to the roughly 30 million residents of the Delta. In 2003, some 70 percent of oil revenues was stolen or wasted, according to an estimate by the head of Nigeria's anticorruption agency. Whereas many residents used to work as fishermen, oil installations and spills have decimated the fish population and now markets must import frozen fish, according to National Geographic.
Militant groups, which are primarily composed of young men dissatisfied at their inability to find jobs, proliferated beginning in the 1990s. The first Delta insurgent group to receive international attention was the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). Led by Ken Saro-Wiwa, the group launched a nonviolent campaign in 1990 against the government and Royal Dutch/Shell to protest environmental degradation and the area's economic neglect. The group's efforts led Shell to cease production in Ogoni in 1993. Saro-Wiwa and eight other MOSOP members, the “Ogoni Nine,” were executed by the military regime in 1995.
Subsequent groups, such as the Ijaw Youth Council and the Niger Delta Vigilantes, were organized at the village or clan level. Their attacks were designed to extort short-term funds or municipal development projects from multinational oil companies. Yet as an International Crisis Group report details, recently militants are more sophisticated and increasingly share a common goal of “resource control,” a share of the oil revenues their region produces. In 2004, the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), an Ijaw militant group led by Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari (Ijaw are Nigeria's fourth largest ethnic group), threatened “all-out war” against the Nigerian government. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo offered Asari and another militant leader amnesty and payments in exchange for their groups' weapons. Nearly a year after this deal, Asari was arrested, charged with treason, and put in prison, where he remains.
MEND emerged in January 2006, several months after Asari's arrest, and experts say the group is stronger than Asari's NDPVF. “Asari was a one-man show,” says Ike Okonta, a research fellow in contemporary African politics at the University of Oxford. MEND “has managed to win broad sympathy among the [Niger Delta] community.”
MEND's decentralized structure
Despite this popular support, many elements of MEND remain secretive. Estimates of its size range from the low hundreds to the low thousands. Like other Delta militant groups, MEND is largely made up of young Igaw men in their twenties. Yet Nnamdi K. Obasi, West Africa senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, says “MEND seems to be led by more enlightened and sophisticated men than most of the groups in the past.” Its leaders are educated, some at the university level, and they have learned from militant movements in other parts of the world, he says.
“MEND seems to be led by more enlightened and sophisticated men than most of the groups in the past.”
Experts agree that MEND does not have a united structure, and Okonta argues the group is an “idea” more than an organization. Olly Owen, research associate at the Center for Democracy and Development in Nigeria, compares the group to a franchise operation. “Nigeria is a fluid and difficult place to operate, so you need to choose the organizational structure that allows you to operate best.” This structure allows MEND more flexibility, he says, but has also created confusion over the group's composition. An International Crisis Group (ICG) report describes a similar structure in which militant groups switch affiliations on a case-by-case basis. “Some of these elements alternate between identifying themselves as MEND and operating under other names,” the report claims. Such groups include the NDPVF, the Coalition for Militant Action in the Niger Delta (COMA), and the Martyr's Brigade.
The leadership of MEND is similarly unclear. Most foreign journalists communicate with Jomo Gbomo, who claims to be a spokesman for MEND. Men called Brutus Ebipadei and Major-General Godswill Tamuno have communicated with the press and claimed leadership roles in the group. Oxford's Okonta says he has spoken to members of the core leadership of MEND, who explained to him they remain undercover to protect themselves. “They have to work in such a way that the government does not get into their working structure,” Okonta says. Owen says the leadership of MEND maintains anonymity due to Asari's arrest, but they are likely “recycled from other organizations” such as Asari's group and the Ijaw Youth Congress.
MEND is able to maintain its secrecy because of sympathy for the group among locals. Government crackdowns have only bolstered that sympathy and driven recruits.
Taking and releasing hostages
MEND's attacks have hurt Nigeria's oil exports—costing at least eight hundred thousand barrels per day, or over 25 percent of the country's oil output, according to Nigerian officials. A February 2006 attack on two Royal Dutch Shell oilfields accounted for some 477,000 barrels per day of the reduced output; analysts believe the fields may reopen after April's election. Though the group regularly carries out attacks against pipelines and is responsible for at least two car bombings, its primary tactic is kidnapping foreign oil workers. It typically releases these hostages unharmed after a period of negotiations—via intermediaries—with oil company representatives and the government. Okonta writes that taking hostages allows MEND to focus international attention on the Niger Delta and “to exploit the blaze of publicity thus generated to announce their grievances and demands of the Nigerian government.”
Hostage negotiations can involve ransom money, though MEND denies this. ICG's Obasi says MEND tries to distance itself from the criminal activities the smaller militant groups are notorious for, but some of those organizations linked to MEND may ask for ransom money on its behalf. These groups profit handsomely from the oil companies; the International Crisis Group has documented multiple instances of oil companies paying companies owned by militant leaders to provide “security” to oil installations. The other major source of income for the criminal militant groups is oil bunkering, a complicated process of tapping an oil pipeline and filling plastic cans with crude oil. The oil is then sold to locals or transported to barges offshore for transport to a neighboring country. Asari's militant group was so notorious for oil bunkering, writes John Ghazvinian in the Virginia Quarterly Review, that its product became known in the Delta as “Asari fuel.”
Some, including Obasi, say MEND also participates in oil bunkering. The extent of its participation, however, and the amount of money it generates, is unclear. While details of their funding are murky, MEND does not suffer from lack of money. The group has been seen with costly advanced weapons, including shoulder-mounted rocket launchers. Sebastian Junger, who profiled the group for Vanity Fair, noted its possession of new Czech-made Rachot UK-68 machine guns.
Growing political aims
Since its inception, MEND has articulated three major demands: the release of Asari from prison, the receipt of 50 percent of revenues from oil pumped out of the Delta, and the withdrawal of government troops from the Delta. Its broader aim is “resource control,” but it has largely failed to delineate specific long-term goals.
Instances in which MEND has made specific demands have failed to produce lasting or substantial results. In April 2006, MEND demanded that Shell pay $1.5 billion in compensation for pollution in the Niger Delta, a sum previously mandated by the Nigerian courts. Negotiations between MEND and the government (brokered by an Ijaw political group) resulted in a brief truce, which broke in mid-August when Nigerian military units killed fifteen MEND militants on their way to negotiate the release of a kidnapped Shell worker. Since then, MEND's attacks have become more frequent and its rhetoric more incendiary.
Experts disagree over the trajectory of MEND's politics. Some Nigeria experts say the group's demands have progressed to an interest in taking part in the political process. Obasi says the group issued a statement asking for a certain number of seats in the Niger Delta legislature and in the National Assembly, which shows they see themselves “perhaps even as a legitimate political party.” Others say MEND wants political autonomy for residents of the Niger Delta. Divisions within the core leadership may be perpetuating these conflicting messages: Owen says there are elements in MEND's core leadership who want local government representation but others who are firmly opposed to being involved with the state.
Perhaps due to this leadership division, MEND does not appear to have a strong stake in the upcoming elections, scheduled for mid-April. While the practice of hiring militant groups to protect and deliver votes to political candidates was widespread in the 1999 and 2003 elections, and other militant groups have forged similar alliances ahead of upcoming elections, there is no evidence that MEND is playing such a role. International observers predicted MEND's attacks might escalate prior to the elections, but thus far there has been no significant change in their frequency. Owen says MEND “seeks to influence people who are in political office and is looking to structure deals with politicians to be interlocutors for them.”
"The fact that no one else is advancing the debate is ceding power to people like MEND.”
MEND is the most powerful militant group in the Delta right now, but there is conflicting opinion on whether their influence is growing or waning. “They don't have a clearly articulated political mission” says Ghazvinian. “I don't think they will be around in six months or two years' time.” Owen agrees the group lacks specific goals, but he believes it could sustain itself. “The lasting power of the group depends on events," he says. “At the moment, MEND is powerful and sets the agenda. The fact that no one else is advancing the debate is ceding power to people like MEND.”
Government response
MEND's ability to attract international attention via the media illustrates that the group is fully aware of its ability to affect international oil prices. Yet if the media has somewhat overstated the threat MEND poses, the Nigerian government has failed to take the group seriously enough. Save for its negotiations in April 2006, the government has refused to enter a dialogue with the group or respond to any of its political demands, instead attempting to counter MEND by sending security forces into the Delta.
Experts agree this security strategy is ineffective. By writing MEND off as a criminal organization and attempting to quash it with force, the government risks exacerbating the situation. The Delta militants know the region much better than Nigeria's security agencies, and they have superior weapons and equipment. The International Crisis Group report warns that even if a sustained effort to defeat MEND militarily succeeded, it would likely shut down oil production in the Delta for up to two years, not to mention precipitate new and more radicalized militants.
“The Nigerian state's bark is a lot worse than its bite on this issue,” says Owen. “Their rhetoric is pitched to the outside world to reassure international partners that they are doing something.” Owen argues that instead of focusing on security, the government should engage MEND and prompt the group to clearly articulate its demands so that it can start a credible negotiation process.
The Nigerian government appears to realize its efforts are not sufficient. It has asked the United States and Britain to provide technical assistance to its navy under the Gulf of Guinea Energy Security Strategy, a request both countries agreed to. But a recent request by Abuja for the presence of U.S. Marines in the Delta was denied, reports the Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor.
Given the deep-seated complexity of the crisis in the Delta, the Nigerian government will need to work with other groups to address the grievances of MEND and other militant organizations. The International Crisis Group report recommends that the Nigerian government increase the percentage of oil revenues it sends to all Nigerian states, that oil companies make efforts to partner with community organizations on development projects, and that the international community offer a forum for mediation between the Nigerian government and MEND.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Message from the Earth: Free Opitz and Lehmann Now!
By Bill Conroy,
Posted on Fri Oct 19th, 2007 at 09:49:54 PM EST
The oil rich Niger River Delta of southern Nigeria is a murky swampland where men are at war with the Earth — and each other.
An armed indigenous rebel group known as the MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) over the last few years has successfully disrupted the operations of major oil producers in the area through a string of attacks on oil facilities.
The rebels have taken up arms in order to regain control of their lands from corrupt Nigerian leaders and multi-national oil companies who they claim are raping the environment and making billions of dollars off the oil reserves — and returning little more than dirt to the impoverished communities in the Niger Delta.
The Nigerian government, by contrast, sees the rebels as looters, kidnappers and terrorists who are a threat to the national security of the country.
This same dynamic is playing out in flashpoints across the globe — including in nations south of our border, where indigenous communities in Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and beyond are pushing back against what they see as the destruction of their lands by the pecuniary forces of global capitalism. In Latin America, the struggles are notable for the lack of violence on the part of the indigenous communities — even when extreme violence is being used against them by the state.
But Nigeria is in many ways a failed state, with a long history of virulent government corruption and authoritative oppression – and likely, in the eyes of many of its oppressed, long past the hope of any peaceful Bolivarian-like transformation. So it is no surprise that its rebellions are militant in nature — and fueled by the ammunition of the largest black market in the world: the arms trade.
It is against that backdrop that two German filmmakers set out to Nigeria to capture the truth with their cameras. And for that risk, for that act of journalism, they now face the prospect of being sentenced to long terms in a Nigerian gulag.
Nigerian authorities arrested Florian Opitz and his colleague Andy Lehmann in late September for alleged violations of the country’s “Official Secrets Act.” In essence, they are being accused of espionage for photographing and filming oil facilities in the Niger Delta.
To navigate the country while they were researching their planned documentary film, Opitz and Lehmann relied on the help of a U.S. aid worker, Judith Asuni, and her associate, Danjuma Saidu. Both Asuni, who has lived in Nigeria for decades, and Saidu, a Nigerian national, also were arrested on charges similar to those leveled against Opitz and Lehmann.
The real target of this legal terror is likely Asuni, who has a long history as an activist in Nigeria and by her own admission, according to media reports, has made numerous enemies among Nigeria’s power hungry political class.
But nonetheless, Opitz and Lehmann, are along for the ride. Their fate should be of particular importance to all of us, since authentic journalists across the globe covering similar indigenous struggles could well suffer a similar fate under the guise of national security. That holds true even here in the United States, where the current administration has employed the mantra of national security to methodically smother civil liberties, even rights as basic as habeas corpus, with the acquiescence of Congress and the courts.
With that in mind, it seemed appropriate to ask some hard questions about the Opitz and Lehmann case.
Remember, based on the mainstream media reports to date, their crime was photographing and filming oil facilities in Nigeria — an activity that government officials there deemed a threat to national security.
If there is more to those charges, with respect to these two German filmmakers, it seems the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C. should be able to make that case.
So I contacted the Nigerian Embassy by e-mail with that thought in mind, but got no response.
After a phone call to the embassy — and after being routed to three different numbers — I finally was able to talk to someone named “Gloria,” who worked in what she described as the embassy’s “press section.”
Gloria refused to provide her last name.
“There is nothing we can tell you,” she said. “We were not informed about who was arrested. We do not know anything about it.”
Based on reports in the New York Times, Reuters and a host of other media, it seems clear by now that much of the world outside the Nigerian Embassy does know about the arrest of Optiz and Lehmann.
Maybe the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria has heard of the two German filmmakers’ plight?
I contacted that embassy by e-mail with the following question:
… Opitz is a well-known and internationally recognized documentary filmmaker and journalist.
Given this fact, it is of concern that he and his colleague have been accused essentially of espionage for pursuing a journalistic story about the oil industry in Nigeria.
What is the U.S. Embassy's position on this case and the message it sends about the treatment of journalists by the Nigerian government?
The U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, replied as follows:
Please contact our public affairs office
Regards,
Consular Services
US Embassy, Abuja.
I guess it was too much to expect Consular “Services” to forward the e-mail to their press office. So I sent off a direct e-mail to the public affairs office, but have yet to receive a response.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria does have a short statement posted on its Web site about the arrest of Asuni, but it does not reference Opitz and Lehaman.
The statement:
Detention of American Peace Activist in Niger Delta
(October 6, 2006)
The United States is disturbed by the Nigerian State Security Service’s September 26 arrest of Dr. Judith Asuni. We are deeply concerned by her continued detention without bail. Dr. Asuni is an aid worker and long-time resident of Nigeria who is recognized for her efforts to promote understanding, conflict management, transparency, and sustainable development in the Niger Delta. We have made clear to the Government of Nigeria our continuing interest in her circumstances, our concern over her treatment, and our expectation that she be treated in accordance with Nigerian law. While we cannot discuss further details, U.S. Embassy staff continue to follow her case closely.
That has to be reassuring for Asuni, since being “treated in accordance with Nigerian law” seems to be a priority in that corrupt regime. Asuni also must be thrilled that her own government is going to “follow her case closely” — while they also keep a close eye on U.S. oil interests in the region. Nigeria ranks as one of the major suppliers of oil to the United States.
Still clinging to the hope that someone in some government has heard of the plight of Opitz and Lehman, I decided to reach out to the German Embassy in Nigeria.
Finally, I found a person who seemed to know what was happening:
Dear Mr. Conroy,
Thank you for contacting the German Embassy and for your interest in the case of the two German filmmakers. I hope you will understand that the Embassy does not comment an ongoing legal process, but rest assured that the Embassy provides both journalists with all necessary consular support.
Best regards,
Christina Jöckle
Head of Cultural and Press Department
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
9, Lake Maracaibo Close, off Amazon Street
Maitama-Abuja, F.C.T.
Tel: (09) 413 0962 or 0964
Fax: (09) 413 0949
Email: ku-1@abuj.auswaertiges-amt.de
Unfortunately, even the German Embassy’s response does not inspire much hope. After all, Opitz and Lehmann were arrested in Nigeria while pursuing a project that promised to shine the light of truth on the ugly conflict in the Niger Delta. For that act of authentic journalism, they are now facing long jail sentences in harsh conditions based on specious charges of espionage.
Where’s the outrage?
Why can’t someone in government somewhere stand up and just say, point blank: This is wrong, and we demand their release!
Well, I'm sure they have a thousand technical legal reasons to remain silent in the face of injustice.
But I also suspect it has something to do with the sensitive nature of the oil business. Even Europe has a vested interest in assuring stability in Nigeria’s flow of oil — so there’s no point in rocking that boat. One of the biggest oil companies operating in Nigeria is Shell, which is a huge European black gold machine.
So with that in mind, I sent an e-mail off to Shell Nigeria, hoping to get them to weigh in on this travesty. After all, they certainly are aware of Optiz, since his documentary film work is focused on exposing the raw underbelly of globalization. His 2006 film, The Big Sellout, put him in the international spotlight among those who are in tune with such issues.
Sadly, Shell never replied, leaving me to wonder if the corporation is really a fan of Opitz’ work.
But I did manage to dig up a copy of Shell Nigeria’s corporate annual report — a colorful compendium of detailed facts about Shell’s operations in Nigeria. You can explore it yourself at this link.
What is striking about the Shell Nigeria annual report is that it includes more than a dozen photographs of the company’s oil facilities in Nigeria.
Given that the two German filmmakers are now facing “espionage” charges for taking similar photographs, the question arises: Might Shell also be accused of endangering Nigeria’s national security by publishing these photos in their annual report, which is freely available on the Internet?
So maybe Shell, Opitz and Lehman do have something in common after all; unfortunately for the German filmmakers, it’s not oil.
But, kind readers, they do have you. Maybe you can impress on the U.S., German and Nigerian embassies the importance of the truth by sending an e-mail demanding the release of Opitz and Lehmann, or in some other way sound a note of protest — because we all have a dog in this fight.
They can ignore a single voice, but a chorus of voices can be heard above the din of the oil rigs.
CONTACTS:
U.S. Embassy in Nigeria: ConsularAbuja@state.gov or if you prefer the public affairs office — pasinfoabuja@state.gov
German Embassy in Nigeria: ku-1@abuj.auswaertiges-amt.de
Nigerian Embassy in the U.S.: Ambassador George A. Obiozor, gobiozor@nigeriaembassyusa.org
Posted on Fri Oct 19th, 2007 at 09:49:54 PM EST
The oil rich Niger River Delta of southern Nigeria is a murky swampland where men are at war with the Earth — and each other.
An armed indigenous rebel group known as the MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) over the last few years has successfully disrupted the operations of major oil producers in the area through a string of attacks on oil facilities.
The rebels have taken up arms in order to regain control of their lands from corrupt Nigerian leaders and multi-national oil companies who they claim are raping the environment and making billions of dollars off the oil reserves — and returning little more than dirt to the impoverished communities in the Niger Delta.
The Nigerian government, by contrast, sees the rebels as looters, kidnappers and terrorists who are a threat to the national security of the country.
This same dynamic is playing out in flashpoints across the globe — including in nations south of our border, where indigenous communities in Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and beyond are pushing back against what they see as the destruction of their lands by the pecuniary forces of global capitalism. In Latin America, the struggles are notable for the lack of violence on the part of the indigenous communities — even when extreme violence is being used against them by the state.
But Nigeria is in many ways a failed state, with a long history of virulent government corruption and authoritative oppression – and likely, in the eyes of many of its oppressed, long past the hope of any peaceful Bolivarian-like transformation. So it is no surprise that its rebellions are militant in nature — and fueled by the ammunition of the largest black market in the world: the arms trade.
It is against that backdrop that two German filmmakers set out to Nigeria to capture the truth with their cameras. And for that risk, for that act of journalism, they now face the prospect of being sentenced to long terms in a Nigerian gulag.
Nigerian authorities arrested Florian Opitz and his colleague Andy Lehmann in late September for alleged violations of the country’s “Official Secrets Act.” In essence, they are being accused of espionage for photographing and filming oil facilities in the Niger Delta.
To navigate the country while they were researching their planned documentary film, Opitz and Lehmann relied on the help of a U.S. aid worker, Judith Asuni, and her associate, Danjuma Saidu. Both Asuni, who has lived in Nigeria for decades, and Saidu, a Nigerian national, also were arrested on charges similar to those leveled against Opitz and Lehmann.
The real target of this legal terror is likely Asuni, who has a long history as an activist in Nigeria and by her own admission, according to media reports, has made numerous enemies among Nigeria’s power hungry political class.
But nonetheless, Opitz and Lehmann, are along for the ride. Their fate should be of particular importance to all of us, since authentic journalists across the globe covering similar indigenous struggles could well suffer a similar fate under the guise of national security. That holds true even here in the United States, where the current administration has employed the mantra of national security to methodically smother civil liberties, even rights as basic as habeas corpus, with the acquiescence of Congress and the courts.
With that in mind, it seemed appropriate to ask some hard questions about the Opitz and Lehmann case.
Remember, based on the mainstream media reports to date, their crime was photographing and filming oil facilities in Nigeria — an activity that government officials there deemed a threat to national security.
If there is more to those charges, with respect to these two German filmmakers, it seems the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C. should be able to make that case.
So I contacted the Nigerian Embassy by e-mail with that thought in mind, but got no response.
After a phone call to the embassy — and after being routed to three different numbers — I finally was able to talk to someone named “Gloria,” who worked in what she described as the embassy’s “press section.”
Gloria refused to provide her last name.
“There is nothing we can tell you,” she said. “We were not informed about who was arrested. We do not know anything about it.”
Based on reports in the New York Times, Reuters and a host of other media, it seems clear by now that much of the world outside the Nigerian Embassy does know about the arrest of Optiz and Lehmann.
Maybe the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria has heard of the two German filmmakers’ plight?
I contacted that embassy by e-mail with the following question:
… Opitz is a well-known and internationally recognized documentary filmmaker and journalist.
Given this fact, it is of concern that he and his colleague have been accused essentially of espionage for pursuing a journalistic story about the oil industry in Nigeria.
What is the U.S. Embassy's position on this case and the message it sends about the treatment of journalists by the Nigerian government?
The U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, replied as follows:
Please contact our public affairs office
Regards,
Consular Services
US Embassy, Abuja.
I guess it was too much to expect Consular “Services” to forward the e-mail to their press office. So I sent off a direct e-mail to the public affairs office, but have yet to receive a response.
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria does have a short statement posted on its Web site about the arrest of Asuni, but it does not reference Opitz and Lehaman.
The statement:
Detention of American Peace Activist in Niger Delta
(October 6, 2006)
The United States is disturbed by the Nigerian State Security Service’s September 26 arrest of Dr. Judith Asuni. We are deeply concerned by her continued detention without bail. Dr. Asuni is an aid worker and long-time resident of Nigeria who is recognized for her efforts to promote understanding, conflict management, transparency, and sustainable development in the Niger Delta. We have made clear to the Government of Nigeria our continuing interest in her circumstances, our concern over her treatment, and our expectation that she be treated in accordance with Nigerian law. While we cannot discuss further details, U.S. Embassy staff continue to follow her case closely.
That has to be reassuring for Asuni, since being “treated in accordance with Nigerian law” seems to be a priority in that corrupt regime. Asuni also must be thrilled that her own government is going to “follow her case closely” — while they also keep a close eye on U.S. oil interests in the region. Nigeria ranks as one of the major suppliers of oil to the United States.
Still clinging to the hope that someone in some government has heard of the plight of Opitz and Lehman, I decided to reach out to the German Embassy in Nigeria.
Finally, I found a person who seemed to know what was happening:
Dear Mr. Conroy,
Thank you for contacting the German Embassy and for your interest in the case of the two German filmmakers. I hope you will understand that the Embassy does not comment an ongoing legal process, but rest assured that the Embassy provides both journalists with all necessary consular support.
Best regards,
Christina Jöckle
Head of Cultural and Press Department
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
9, Lake Maracaibo Close, off Amazon Street
Maitama-Abuja, F.C.T.
Tel: (09) 413 0962 or 0964
Fax: (09) 413 0949
Email: ku-1@abuj.auswaertiges-amt.de
Unfortunately, even the German Embassy’s response does not inspire much hope. After all, Opitz and Lehmann were arrested in Nigeria while pursuing a project that promised to shine the light of truth on the ugly conflict in the Niger Delta. For that act of authentic journalism, they are now facing long jail sentences in harsh conditions based on specious charges of espionage.
Where’s the outrage?
Why can’t someone in government somewhere stand up and just say, point blank: This is wrong, and we demand their release!
Well, I'm sure they have a thousand technical legal reasons to remain silent in the face of injustice.
But I also suspect it has something to do with the sensitive nature of the oil business. Even Europe has a vested interest in assuring stability in Nigeria’s flow of oil — so there’s no point in rocking that boat. One of the biggest oil companies operating in Nigeria is Shell, which is a huge European black gold machine.
So with that in mind, I sent an e-mail off to Shell Nigeria, hoping to get them to weigh in on this travesty. After all, they certainly are aware of Optiz, since his documentary film work is focused on exposing the raw underbelly of globalization. His 2006 film, The Big Sellout, put him in the international spotlight among those who are in tune with such issues.
Sadly, Shell never replied, leaving me to wonder if the corporation is really a fan of Opitz’ work.
But I did manage to dig up a copy of Shell Nigeria’s corporate annual report — a colorful compendium of detailed facts about Shell’s operations in Nigeria. You can explore it yourself at this link.
What is striking about the Shell Nigeria annual report is that it includes more than a dozen photographs of the company’s oil facilities in Nigeria.
Given that the two German filmmakers are now facing “espionage” charges for taking similar photographs, the question arises: Might Shell also be accused of endangering Nigeria’s national security by publishing these photos in their annual report, which is freely available on the Internet?
So maybe Shell, Opitz and Lehman do have something in common after all; unfortunately for the German filmmakers, it’s not oil.
But, kind readers, they do have you. Maybe you can impress on the U.S., German and Nigerian embassies the importance of the truth by sending an e-mail demanding the release of Opitz and Lehmann, or in some other way sound a note of protest — because we all have a dog in this fight.
They can ignore a single voice, but a chorus of voices can be heard above the din of the oil rigs.
CONTACTS:
U.S. Embassy in Nigeria: ConsularAbuja@state.gov or if you prefer the public affairs office — pasinfoabuja@state.gov
German Embassy in Nigeria: ku-1@abuj.auswaertiges-amt.de
Nigerian Embassy in the U.S.: Ambassador George A. Obiozor, gobiozor@nigeriaembassyusa.org
Monday, October 1, 2007
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.
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.
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