[Onthebarricades] Niger Delta unrest

[Andy]

ON THE BARRICADES:  Global Resistance Roundup, April-August 2008
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/onthebarricades
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance/



*  Shell deepwater platform attacked

*  Ondo State youths protest for development money

*  Pipeline bombed in protest at Delta summit

*  Ijaw march against oil companies

*  Naked protest as ethnic violence continues

*  Nigerians in South Africa protest against secret trial of Niger Delta 
leader

*  London Nigerians protest president's visit

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article4175357.ece


June 20, 2008
Shell deepwater platform attacked as Nigerian separatists step up protests
The Bonga oil field was attacked by militants
Carl Mortished, World Business Editor
An attack by armed separatists in speedboats has forced Royal Dutch Shell to 
shut down its biggest offshore oil production unit in Nigeria, removing a 
tenth of the Opec state's output.
The raid on Bonga, a vast floating oil production and storage facility 120km 
offshore, has caught Nigeria's foreign oil operators by surprise. The deep 
water installations in the Gulf of Guinea were previously thought to be 
beyond the reach of the militant groups that continue to harass and disrupt 
oil production in the swamps of the Niger Delta.
The attack, which took place before dawn yesterday, was aimed at Bonga but 
the militants also attacked two drilling rigs and three supply vessels in 
the area. The American captain of one supply vessel, under contract for 
Chevron, was taken hostage. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger 
Delta (Mend), claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened further 
violence.
The movement said yesterday that oil companies should remove their 
expatriate workers and avoid sending oil and gas tankers to the area if they 
wished to avoid violence. "The location of today's attack was deliberately 
chosen to remove any notion that offshore oil exploration is far from our 
reach," it said.
The militants tried but failed to get on board the Bonga facility, Shell 
said. "The ship is protected with electronic devices," a spokesman added. 
Production was immediately stopped and the spokesman was unable to say when 
it would resume.
The shutdown removes 225,000 barrels per day of oil output as well as 
natural gas that is fed into Nigeria LNG, the country's liquefied natural 
gas export joint venture - another Shell-operated project.
A prolonged shutdown of Bonga would be a significant financial loss to 
Nigeria, which is already failing to meet its Opec production quotas because 
of the frequent attacks by Mend on pipelines and pumping stations. More 
worrying is yesterday's evidence that the deepwater offshore operations are 
no longer safe. Officials close to Snepco, the Shell venture that operates 
Bonga and Shell's other offshore projects, expressed concern about the use 
of boats capable of travelling several hundred kilometres at speed over the 
ocean.
"It's a new development. There must be somebody behind this. It is beyond 
the capability of the usual groups in the Delta," one official said.
Nigeria's navy is ill-equipped and unable to patrol the area and the attack 
is likely to arouse calls for greater protection for offshore oil 
installations. The vulnerability of deepwater oil platforms in West Africa 
has been discussed within Nato, whose officials have proposed seconding 
warships to the area but no action has yet been taken.
The Bonga project has been the flagship of Shell's offshore Nigeria 
activities and cost $3.6 billion (£1.8 billion). Located far from shore and 
in depths of more than 1,000 metres, the project uses a floating production 
and storage vessel, a converted crude oil tanker that stores oil pumped from 
wells on the seabed, which is then transferred to other ships for export.
Being so far from shore, Shell and its Bonga partners, ExxonMobil, Total and 
Eni, believed until yesterday that it would be safe.Shell is only producting 
two thirds of its potential output from its onshore operations with 350,000 
barrels per day still shut in because of threats of violence. More than 200 
people have been abducted in the Delta by militant groups. In most cases, 
the hostages are released unharmed in exchange for cash.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200806200013.html

Nigeria: Ondo Youths Protest Derivation Fund Spending, ask Govt to Refund 
N4.2bn

Vanguard (Lagos)
19 June 2008
Posted to the web 20 June 2008
Dayo Johnson
Akure
Leaders and youths of the oil rich Ilaje Communities in Ondo State, 
yesterday, protested the spending of derivation funds meant for the 
development of their communities for other purposes by the state government.
Consequently, the protesters in their hundreds have asked government to 
refund the N4.2b deducted from the State Oil Producing Areas Development 
Commission, OSOPADEC, to construct roads outside their communities.

The state government had recently awarded a road contract from 
Ayeka/Irele/Igbodigo road worth N4.2b stating that it was necessary to link 
Okitipupa with Ese Odo areas of the state.
Omogbemi who is the Chairman of the State Advisory Committee on Oil Matters 
argued that instead of spending out of the 40 per cent set aside for the 
development of the oil producing areas, government should have taken from 
the remaining 60 per cent meant for the entire state.
According to them the recent decision of the state government to deduct 
N4.2b from the commission to construct road in Ikaleland "is ignoble, 
condemnable and unacceptable."
The communities said, "The decision was meant to set the Ilaje people 
against the entire people of Ikale and Ese-Odo.
"This is a complete violation of OSOPADEC Law enacted by the government and 
the people of the oil producing communities. Dr. Olusegun Agagu can still 
construct the roads with the remaining 60 per cent of the derivation."
According to Omogbemi, "The people of the area had been agitating for an 
increase in the allocation of the derivation fund from 40 per cent to 
between 50 and 70 per cent, saying that the present 40 per cent was not 
enough to develop the area."
He pointed out that, "Over 95 per cent of the people of the area had no 
access to potable water, while about 95 per cent of the communities in Ilaje 
had no access to good motorable roads."
The Communities also rejected the return of the 260 oil wells to Delta State 
following a recent Federal High Court judgment.
Omogbemi said that the Ugbede community said to have been ceded to Delta 
State was in Ugbo ward six in Ilaje Local Government Area.
"The deceitful claim under which the judgment was obtained surreptitiously 
is quite unfair and highly illegal because the issue of boundary adjustment 
can not be handled by the individual family like a case of this nature.
"We are physically present and on ground in the area, we will not allow 
anybody from Delta to go to the place because the place rightly belongs to 
Ilaje and by extension to Ondo State."

http://allafrica.com/stories/200806170371.html

Nigeria: Protest Over N-Delta Summit - Militants Bomb NNPC Pipeline

Vanguard (Lagos)
17 June 2008
Posted to the web 17 June 2008
Emma Amaize
Lagos
IJAW militants from Egbema in Edo State, yesterday, said they bombed an NNPC 
pipeline, supplying crude oil to the Kaduna Refinery in Ovia North East 
Local Government Area of Edo State, weekend, because of the insistence of 
the Federal Government to go ahead with the planned summit on the 
Niger-Delta with the former External Affairs Minister and Under-Secretary 
for Political Affairs at the United Nations, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, as 
the chairman against the wish of the people of the region.
One of the leaders of the Niger-Delta Freedom Fighters (NDFF), who claimed 
responsibility for the bombing told Vanguard on phone, yesterday, that the 
Ijaw of Egbema in Edo State were marginalised and "we want our own local 
government area". He said, "The Niger-Delta summit will not hold with a 
Northerner as the chairman, that is impossible, we will make the place 
unsafe for them, they cannot continue to treat us as fools. This is 
unacceptable". According to him,"We will continue to bomb oil facilities in 
our area until they create our own local government for us. We are also not 
happy that the Federal Government has flagrantly been breaching the 
agreement it reached with Ijaw activists on the peace process in the 
Niger-Delta region".

He said the militants were also protesting the unprovoked destruction of 
Egbema communities, namely, Gboleikekuro, Safarogbo, Simughan, Adaugbene and 
Ojudou by the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta about a fortnight 
ago. His words, "We will not accept the task force coming to burn our 
communities saying that they are looking for arms. As we have said, we will 
not accept what the Federal Government, led by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua 
has done to the Ijaw communities, we will fight back if the Presidency fails 
to do anything about the killing and displacing of our people from their 
communities in Egbema kingdom in Edo and Delta states".
He said the claim by the JTF that they burnt down militant camps was not 
correct, as the soldiers invaded the Ijaw communities without aggravation 
and wreaked havoc on the defenseless people.

"We have just started, this is the beginning, we are going to cripple all 
activities in our area, we are tired of political oppression, we want to 
rule ourselves, let them give us our own local government area in Edo State 
if they want peace", he added.

http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=iafp080717163157.v84p8jk7p0&show_article=1

Members of Ijaw communities in Bayelsa State march during against protest 
against oil companies

Members of Ijaw communities in Bayelsa State march during against protest 
against oil companies in 2005. Nigerian villagers blew up a key crude oil 
supply pipeline operated by Agip, the Nigerian subsidiary of Italian group 
Eni, early Thursday, cutting production, industry sources told AFP.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200807170572.html

Nigeria: Women Protest Naked; Eight Shot in Renewed Inter-Ethnic Crisis

Vanguard (Lagos)
17 July 2008
Posted to the web 17 July 2008
WOMEN of Obodogugu-Ogume community in Ndokwa area of Delta State protested 
naked, yesterday, while no fewer than eight persons, including a policeman 
have been shot by armed youths in a renewed orgy of violence between the 
community and the people of Emu-Ebendo over negotiations with an oil 
company.
Also yesterday, mobile policemen took over strategic areas in Effurun on the 
directive of the Inspector General of Police following reports of increased 
criminality in Uvwie local government area.

Reports from Ndokwa said that soldiers have been deployed to the warring 
communities to assist the police, as the villagers were still mobilizing 
forces to continue with the skirmish.
Vanguard learnt that the problem between the two communities started since 
the 1950s and even after the Supreme Court had delivered judgment in a land 
case between them, tempers have still not calmed down.
But the latest crisis has to do with negotiations with an oil company, which 
one of the communities claiming ownership of the land, chased away from the 
area in 2006.
The company recently staged a come-back and agreed to pay compensation for 
land, but, one of the communities, claiming that the meeting was held 
without its representatives resisted the company's re-entry bid.
Three days ago, about 200 armed youths from the community laid ambush for 
members of the opposing community, who they accused of hijacking the 
company, and a man, a woman and a girl that went to the farm were shot.
The chairman of the local government council obtained police permit before 
they could be attended to in the hospital and to restore law and order, the 
police deployed some men to the area, but, the youths engaged the police in 
a gun battle.
Some of them were shot and allegedly escaped with bullet wounds, while a 
policeman was shot at the head. A Police Area Commander rushed to the 
community on getting the report but when the crisis persisted, soldiers were 
drafted in.
Vanguard learnt that the soldiers repelled the move of the Obodogugu youths 
and pushed them back to the community, but, early yesterday, women of the 
community protested naked while their armed youths stayed behind them.
There is tension in Ndokwa area of Delta State following a clash between 
Obodogugu-Ogume and Emu- Ebendo communities over negotiations with an oil 
company, resulting in the shooting of three persons and protest by women, 
who marched round naked.
The army held a meeting with some leaders of the community to maintain peace 
after pushing the youths back to their domain, but, there was fear, 
yesterday, that the crisis may escalate.
The chairman of the area, his councillors and leaders of the community were 
said to be holding a meeting on how to end the crisis at the time of this 
report.
At Effurun in Uvwie local government area, the police were searching 
vehicles and frisking passengers and passers by, yesterday, for weapons.
The local government has been tense since the last local government 
elections and disbanding of the youth leadership of the area, which the 
government identified to be a major source of trouble in the state.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200806060773.html

Africa: Nigerians in South Africa Protest Secret Trial of Okah

Vanguard (Lagos)
6 June 2008
Posted to the web 6 June 2008
Emma Amaize
Lagos
Concernd Nigerians in South-Africa have carried out a peaceful demonstration 
at the Nigerian High Commission in Johannesburg, calling on the visiting 
President Yar'Adua not to only facilitate an open trial for the leader of 
the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger-Delta (MEND) Henry Okah, but, 
also grant him freedom in the interest of peace in the Niger-Delta and 
Nigeria.
Reports from South-Africa said the protesters carried banners, which called 
on the Federal Government of Nigeria to free Henry Okah. One of the banners 
bore the inscription, Free Henry Okah, paramount for peace.

Their rally organised by some Nigerians in South Africa as the President, it 
was gathered, stopped over in Cape Town. One of the protesters said, "It is 
alarming to Nigerians in South Africa that the President had chosen to 
ignore the importance of releasing the key figures and stakeholders to the 
peace of the Niger Delta crisis while releasing some and negotiating with 
others. Henry Okah was solicited for his help in the peace process earlier 
on in 2007 before his arrest and extradition to Nigeria on the 14th of 
February 2008," he added.
Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark recently in an interview with Vanguard 
faulted the reasons given by the government for trying Henry Okah secretly, 
saying that it was against the constitution of the country.

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200807172211425

Nigerian group to protest Yar'Adua's London visit
By Emeka Madunagu, Olamilekan Lartey and Ibanga Isine
Published: Thursday, 17 Jul 2008
A group of Nigerians known as the Liberty Forum is planning a protest 
against President Umaru Yar'Adua's current four-day visit to the United 
Kingdom.
Skip to next paragraph
Photo file
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua
Opposition to the visit mounted late last week after British Prime Minister 
Gordon Brown said in Japan on July 2 that his country would offer military 
assistance to Nigeria to enable it restore law and order in the Niger Delta.
Downing street reaffirmed the promise at its first meeting with Yar'Adua on 
Wednesday.
It was gathered on Wednesday that the group intended to demonstrate in front 
of the venue of a seminar in London to be addressed by Yar'Adua.
The discussion, titled "Energy security, the food crisis and the Niger 
Delta," is being organised by a non-governmental organisation, the Chatham 
House.
Information obtained from the NGO's website indicated that Yar'Adua would 
address critical issues affecting Nigeria, including the Niger Delta where a 
naval rating and four others were killed in an attack by militants on 
Wednesday.
The Chatham House, which said registration for the event was fully booked 
said, "Nigeria is undergoing fundamental change as it transforms from (a) 
developing country to (an) emerging economic power.
"At the same time, the country faces significant challenges in establishing 
good governance, economic diversification, and growth that benefits its 
entire people.
"The crisis in the Niger Delta and in energy supply, in food costs and 
availability, all have serious global, as well as national dimensions. 
President Yar'Adua will address these challenges and how they are to be 
overcome; as well the increasing impact Nigeria has in international 
affairs."
The event is strictly for members who must have done advance registration 
for themselves and their guests. The NGO's statement apparently rewarded the 
search by Nigerian civil society groups over the past week for open venues 
where Yar'Adua was being expected during his visit.
The convener of LF, Mr. Kayode Ogundamisi, had told one of our 
correspondents on Tuesday that the Nigerian High Commission cancelled two 
open events that Yar'Adua was supposed to attend.
He had said in a statement that the cancellation was wrong because it was a 
veiled way of denying Nigerians in the UK the right to protest the 
controversial visit.
However, an email titled "Stop Press: At last Yar'Adua found in London - 
protest at Chatham House," was distributed by the LF through some blogs on 
Wednesday.
"Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua will be at the Chatham House between 1600 
hours and 1700 hours on Thursday, July 17 , 2008. Nigerians have a right to 
protest peacefully outside the venue from 15.30hrs to end of event," the LF 
said.
The Chatham House has, however, assured that "venue details and security 
procedures will be confirmed for those whose application for registration is 
successful. Non-registered guests will not be admitted."
Britain has restated its desire to help Nigeria crack down on violence in 
the Niger Delta through a security training force.
Speaking after talks on Wednesday between the British Prime Minister, Mr. 
Gordon Brown and Yar'adua, a senior Downing Street official, indicated that 
the assistance would involve military experts providing advice to Nigeria, 
according to a report by Agence France Presse.
"The UK will work with the government of Nigeria to identify a training and 
advisory support package which could help improve Nigerian capability to 
improve security in the Niger Delta," Brown said at a news conference.
"The security training force that we're talking about will be support for 
the Nigerians, to be able to have trainers and others who can build up this 
capacity locally to deal with the problems."
Responding, Yar'Adua said Britain's help would focus on river and maritime 
security around the Niger Delta.
The President added that he asked Brown to lead a campaign at the United 
Nations against the so-called 'blood oil' - oil stolen in the Niger Delta, 
which he wants stigmatised in the same way as "blood" diamonds.
"I asked for his support to lead a campaign at the UN to track stolen crude 
and to declare it blood oil just like the Kimberly diamonds so that there is 
a concerted international effort to ensure that stolen crude is trapped," 
Yar'Adua said.
Meanwhile, an attack on a houseboat near Orubiri Flow Station in Okrika 
Local Government Area of Rivers State on Wednesday led to the death of a 
naval personnel, a civilian and three militants.
The gunmen were said to have made away with two Passport-19 Patrol boats 
anchored by the vessel after the attack that lasted close to two hours.
A Passport-19 boat is a light river craft used for waterway patrol from a 
designated command point.
A source said that the houseboat and the flow station would have been 
overrun by the bandits but for quick response by operatives of the NNS 
Pathfinder.
He said, "We started hearing shooting around 1am this(Wednesday) morning and 
it continued for a very long time.
"We learnt that gunmen attacked the houseboat in Orubiri and stole two small 
boats and killed some persons on the boat.
"Three of the gunmen were also said to have died during the fighting and 
several others escaped with bullet wounds."