By OSMOND CHIDI, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 19 minutes ago
WARRI, Nigeria - Militants launched attacks across Nigeria's troubled delta region Saturday, blowing up oil installations and seizing nine foreigners, including three Americans. The violence cut the West African nation's crude oil exports by 20 percent.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which claims to be fighting for a greater local share of Nigeria's oil wealth, said the attacks were in retaliation for assaults this week by military helicopters. The militants threatened more violence on "a grander scale."
In an e-mail to The Associated Press Saturday, the group claimed responsibility for the raids, including one in which militants abducted three Americans, two Egyptians, two Thais, one Briton and one Filipino.
The attacks began before dawn, when more than 40 militants overpowered military guards and seized the foreigners from a barge belonging to Houston-based oil services company Willbros, which was laying pipeline for Shell, a Willbros official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
In Houston, Willbros spokesman Michael Collier confirmed that nine employees had been taken.
"We have not had any communication with those involved. Right now, we're in the process of contacting the families. The well-being of our people is foremost and we're trying to keep this situation under control as best we can," he said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Noel Clay called for the hostages' unconditional release and said: "We're working with the Nigerian government and talking with them about this."
In other, apparently coordinated violence, militants blew up a major Shell crude oil pipeline near a facility by the western delta's Chanomi Creek, Shell official Donald Boham said.
Militants also claimed they destroyed a state-run pipeline that feeds gas from the Escravos gas plant in the delta to the country's commercial capital, Lagos. That attack could not be independently confirmed.
The violence tooks its toll on oil exports in Nigeria, Africa's leading oil exporter and the United States' fifth-largest supplier, that normally producing 2.5 million barrels a day.
A fire was put out on a Royal Dutch Shell platform that loads the company's tankers in the western delta, but the Forcados terminal's normal operations could not continue, halting the flow of 400,000 barrels a day.
"We can't load because there is some damage to the loading platform," Boham said.
Shell said it had also evacuated an oil platform off its Atlantic coast as a precaution, shutting off an additional 115,000 barrels a day.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
On Friday, Shell shut down a facility pumping 37,800 barrels daily after a fire at a nearby oil well. The firm has yet to restore 106,000 daily barrels lost when a major pipeline supplying the Forcados terminal was hit last month by a similar wave of attacks and hostage takings.
Oil prices jumped more than $1 and settled near $60 a barrel Friday on supply concerns sparked by a militant threat to wage war on foreign oil interests.
The government said President Olusegun Obasanjo met Saturday with security chiefs, governors from the oil region and the head of Shell's operations in Nigeria.
Obasanjo, a government statement said, "wishes to assure all stakeholders in the region that everything possible is already being done to secure the speedy release of the hostages through dialogue."
The militants have accused foreign oil companies of providing their helicopters and air strips for military operations in the oil region. They said they would now target all helicopters in the delta, including civilian aircraft.
On Saturday, the militants reiterated warnings that foreign oil workers must leave the Niger Delta.
"Expatriates must realize that they have been caught up in a war, and the Nigerian government can do nothing to guarantee the security of anyone," the group said. "They are warned again to leave while the doors are still open."
Last month, militants held four men — from the United States, Britain, Bulgaria and Honduras — for 19 days before releasing them unharmed.
Over the past two decades, oil companies in the Niger Delta have faced frequent disruptions to their operations, including protests, pipeline sabotage and kidnappings.
Most hostages, however, have been freed within days after ransom payments. They are rarely harmed.
___
Associated Press writers Dulue Mbachu in Lagos, Nigeria, Chris Duncan in Houston and Douglas K. Daniel in Washington contributed to this report.
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posted
Nigeria hostages are human shields: militants
Sat Feb 18, 9:30 AM ET
LAGOS (Reuters) - Nine foreign oil workers being held hostage in Nigeria will be used as human shields by militants who intend to launch more devastating attacks on the oil industry shortly, the kidnappers said on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said they wanted more local control of the Niger Delta's vast oil wealth and the release of two ethnic Ijaw leaders in return for the hostages, who are employees of U.S. oil services company Willbros.
"Our demands remain the same today as yesterday. The control of our resources, the release of Alamieyeseigha and Asari," the group said in an email, referring to impeached state governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who is on trial for money laundering, and militia leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, charged with treason.
The militants have been threatening to launch a second wave of attacks for several weeks since a spate of attacks in December and January which cut Nigerian oil output by 10 percent and saw four foreign oil workers held for 19 days.
The militants said that Saturday's attacks -- which included the bombing of a major oil export terminal and two pipelines -- were a direct reprisal for military attacks in Delta state earlier this week.
Militant attacks "on a grander scale" would follow shortly, they added.
"These hostages are human shields. Subsequent attacks on other installations will be drastic as we have no intentions of taking hostages," they said in an email.
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Niger Delta Crisis: Militants Kidnap Nine Oil Workers
Bassey Udoh
Rafiu Ajakaye
Bassey Udoh
Armed militants in the Niger Delta yesterday launched an attack on the Forcados oil terminal operated by Shell, made a bonfire of it and abducted nine expatriate workers.
Those taken hostage include Americans (three), Thais (two), Egyptians (two), Briton (one) and Filipino (one).
They work for Willbros, a Shell engineering subcontractor firm working on the Forcados-Yokri integrated associated gas gathering pipeline project based in Port Harcourt.
The facility collects associated gas from Shell’s four flow-stations for supply to the Nigeria LNG plant in Bonny, Rivers State, and for export.
By the attack, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) made good its threat to cripple operations of multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta.
It launched its “Operation Dark2 February” a few hours after the expiration of the 96-hour ultimatum it issued for all foreign oil workers to vacate the land.
The Federal Government reacted by reaffirming its commitment to accelerate development in the Niger Delta to make up for past years of neglect but reiterated that criminal activities such as kidnappings can only impede the implementation of programmes for the benefit of the people.
President Obasanjo yestersay aborted a trip to Calabar because of the hostage taking.
News of the kidnap came alongside report that troops under “Operation Restore Hope”, on Saturday, aborted a meeting of the South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA) slated for Warri, a source said.
Abuja had reportedly asked that the meeting be stopped for undisclosed reasons, but the SSPA, led by Edwin Clark, discountenanced the directive and went ahead with the preparations.
Security personnels cordoned off the venue of the meeting with armoured tank, holding Clark and others hostage.
The meeting, according to the source, was to give fillip to “the South-South Presidency and oppose third term plot”, but the Presidency “wants the SSPA to operate only within the confines of the Southern Leaders Forum.”
The 380,000-barrel per day (bpd) capacity offshore Forcados crude oil export terminal, which was also set ablaze, is reputed to be the largest oil terminal in Africa and one of the two main export facilities operated by Shell.
Oil loading from the facility has been suspended.
Nigeria’s capacity to supply crude to the international market may have been dealt a blow, in keeping with the militant’s threat last Tuesday of “another Armageddon in the Nigerian petroleum history” that would “ply a poisonous jagged-edged sword through the heart of Nigerian oil policies.”
They blew up oil pipeline at Madangho that supplies crude to Kaduna and Warri refineries, touching off panic about an unprecedented nationwide petroleum products scarcity on the horizon.
Contrary to the Federal Government’s assurances last week that it has the capacity and capability to contain the militants, the hostages were reportedly whisked away from their platform with weak resistance from over 40 heavily armed members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) military security outfit, “Operation Restore Hope”.
The JTF is detailed to mount vigil at the company’s premises. Two members of the group reportedly sustained injuries as the rampaging militants took their victims away.
The youths arrived the platform in six speed boats in a commando style, shot into the air and commanded the military personnel to lie face-down after dispossessing them of their weapons.
Other panic-stricken workers jumped into the river for fear of being caught in a cross fire between the militants and soldiers.
Ijaw leaders who spoke on condition of anonymity attributed the new siege to the recent reprisal attacks on communities by the military task force as well as the continued incarceration of some of their leaders.
Calling on the Federal Government to order the immediate release of detained Ijaw leaders, they expressed bitterness over the massacre of their defenceless kinsmen under the guise of raiding illegal bunkerers.
The insecurity in the region has already instigated an exodus of people from communities in flash point areas to neighbouring villages for safety.
JTF Public Relations Officer, Major Said Hammed, confirmed the incident, but declined to give details.
Last Friday, the MEND reaffirmed its resolve to carry out its threat to launch “Operation Dark February” at the expiration of a 96-hour ultimatum it gave to all multi-national oil companies to quit the region ahead of a “total war” on all foreign oil interests.
In its statement, sent online to the media on Tuesday, the MEND said: “We are hereby declaring a state of emergency on every multi-national oil industry in the Niger Delta region. At the end of 96 hours, this region is no longer safe for foreign investors and their families as MEND’s “Operation Black February” shall demonstrate (its) rugged guerilla wit and dogged intelligence in hunting down every foreign foot found wide awake in the Niger Delta region”.
Last Wednesday, Shell’s Cawthorne Channel field wellhead was set ablaze by unknown persons, resulting in the closure of the Cawthorne Channel-1 flow station and the deferment of another 37,800 bpd of crude from its production in the Western operations area in the Niger Delta.
Militants unleashed mayhem in Benisede community last December, sabotaged two flow stations, attacked oil pipelines and took four expatriate workers hostage for 19 days.
posted
Obasanjo and his demoralised gang of muderous soldiers who are only good in shooting unarmed civilians-let Obasanjo import the whole Planes in china for them- nothing will change- for this is a cursed Army!. Kudos for MEND freedom fighters for exposing them!. - funnilly it is this Rag-tag army that Obasanjo intends to use to enforce his life presidency day dreams on nigerians.. ha! ha!ha!. the earlier nigerians start arming themself now the better. there is also urgent need for us to start campaigning in international level for Armed embargo on Obasanjos Terrorist Regime. the international community need to understand that the arms they supply this guy, that he is using them to kill defenseless civillians, genocides, wipping out villages etc.
posted
Armed Group Shuts Down Part of Nigeria's Oil Output
By LYDIA POLGREEN Published: February 25, 2006
IN THE NIGER DELTA, Nigeria, Feb. 24 — They have, by all appearances, just a handful of boats, some machine guns and grenade launchers and, perhaps equally important, an e-mail address. Michael Kamber for The New York Times Macon Hawkins of Kosciusko, Tex., an employee of a pipe-laying company, is a hostage of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
But with just those tools the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has managed to shut down nearly a fifth of this nation's vast oil production, briefly push global crude oil prices up more than $1.50 a barrel and throw Nigeria's government into crisis over the group's demand that the oil-rich but squalid region be given a greater share of the wealth it creates.
"They have marginalized us for many years now!" shouted a machine-gun-wielding member of the militant group, his face covered in black cloth. "We are taking the bull by the horns now. Niger Delta is ready."
For the last two months the shadowy militant group has mounted attacks on oil facilities here and taken more than a dozen foreign oil workers hostage, including some Americans, wreaking havoc on the industry that is the mainstay of Nigeria's economy. All of the hostages taken last month were released after 19 days, but new ones were seized last week.
In e-mail messages sent to the news media, the group says it seeks to liberate the Ijaw people, who make up the bulk of the population here and, the group says, have provided the lifeblood of the Nigerian economy, but with little reward.
The government says the group is made up of oil thieves and criminal gangs seeking to control the lucrative trade in oil stolen from pipelines in the labyrinth of creeks that make up the Niger Delta.
"It is pure criminality," said Information Minister Frank Nweke Jr. "These are thugs who are using the plight of the poor to cover their illegal activities."
Groups of militant youths in this restive region have long used hostage taking and sabotage to extort money from oil companies and prevent the authorities from stopping oil theft from pipelines, a process known as bunkering.
But the ferocity and frequency of the recent attacks, in which more than a dozen soldiers have been killed, have increased concern. The violence comes as oil prices have spiked and the political climate in Nigeria has deteriorated ahead of its next presidential election, to be held early next year.
Although the attacks have been directed primarily at Royal Dutch Shell, the oldest and largest oil producer in Nigeria, their real target is the government, said Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, an analyst at the Eurasia group, a private research firm.
"They are trying to hurt the government, not really the oil companies," Mr. Spio-Garbrah said. "If the central government, which receives all these monies, is starved of money, the government will be weakened and they will be stronger."
On Friday, boatloads of members of the group met with journalists on a creek in the delta to outline their demands and show their strength. They reiterated their insistence that foreign oil companies leave the region and the Nigerian military withdraw. They are also demanding the release of the leader of a militant group and the nation's only Ijaw governor, both of whom are in jail.
"We want the Nigerian military men to evacuate from this terrain," one of the militants declared, brandishing his M-60 machine gun. "If we get them anywhere we are going to kill them one by one."
Dressed in military fatigues and white T-shirts, dozens of men armed with Kalashnikov machine guns and grenade launchers sat aboard speedboats decked with the white flags of Egbesu, the Ijaw god of warfare. They showed one of the nine hostages they seized last week from a barge operated by an oil company contractor, and said they were prepared to seize more hostages and blow up more oil facilities if their demands were not met.
"These people are serious, very serious, about what they are doing," said the hostage, Macon Hawkins, 68, an American from Kosciusko, Tex., who works for a company hired by Royal Dutch Shell to lay pipe in the region.
"They are going to fight," Mr. Hawkins said, "and they are going to fight till death. So the army is not going to do a whole lot of good here. The best thing the army can do is pull out and get some negotiators in here and try to settle this thing before it really gets bad."
Efforts to defeat the group militarily have not gone well, and it has managed to carry out several audacious attacks on oil facilities. The government says the group pays for its weapons by stealing oil, but several government officials, including two admirals of the Nigerian Navy, have been charged with stealing oil as well.
Nigeria is the world's eighth largest exporter of oil and an important supplier to the United States. Despite generating hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue since oil was discovered here in the 1950's, the Niger Delta is one of the poorest and least developed parts of the country.
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The on-going hostage crisis in the Niger Delta may have taken a dramatic twist if the phoney telephone caller yesterday, alleging the disappearance of the last three hostages is anything to go by. The caller’s alarm came on the heels of widespread rumours late yesterday in Warri, of an impending US raid of the stronghold of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in Okerenkoko to liberate the last expatriates.
Late yesterday afternoon, a man from the blues, claiming to be the leader of MEND, called Saturday Sun Assistant Editor, Mr. Usoro Usoro, and informed him that the three remaining expatriates held back by the MEND militants have suddenly disappeared.
The man who spoke for about 16 minutes alerted that the last three hostages, Coydy Oswalt (American), Russell Spell (American) and John Hudspith (Briton) were no longer in the custody of MEND and were nowhere to be found.
According to the caller, while he was in Warri with agents of the Delta State and the Federal Government to effect the release of the six other hostages granted freedom on Wednesday, he had left the other three hostages with some of his men, under the command of one Kerene Johnson. As at the time he was speaking to Saturday Sun, the militant group leader said he was yet to find either his man or the hostages. He said his suspicion was that either the CIA or the Nigerian SSS which had had a mild misunderstanding over the hostage issue may have masterminded a commando raid of the MEND hideout in the Warri area and spirited the hostages away – taking Johnson with them. According to the phoney caller, Johnson was the person put in charge of feeding and other immediate needs of the hostages.
Still resolute Fearing that the worst may have happened, the youth leader, however, assured that MEND would still push through its demands, including cessation of further military attacks on Ijaw communities, unrestrained access to the multi-national oil companies, among others. He warned on the dire consequences of the Federal Government reneging on its agreement with MEND, as a result of having been able to snatch the last hostages from the militant youths. “If we stretch our hands across the oil companies, we can always pick up more expatriates”, the caller warned.
Apprehension Meanwhile, rumours of the unconfirmed reports of a possible American invasion to rescue the remaining foreigners still being held hostage by the militant youths, Friday, threw the Ijaw riverine communities in Delta State into a state of apprehension, just as an Ijaw leader, Prince Collins Eselemo, urged the militants not to deviate from the set objectives.
Investigations, Saturday Sun gathered, had revealed that quite a number of foreigners are in Warri, roaming the streets and trying to get vital information from members of the public without them disclosing their mission.
Following the widespread rumour, hundreds of Ijaws, mainly women, the aged and children were seen disembarking from boats at the Miller Waterside early Friday just as some armed Ijaw youths were seen moving from one end of the busy water-side to the other, ostensibly ready for any eventuality. Saturday Sun gathered that the news of an imminent US invasion had initially prompted the heavily armed militant youths to relocate the three hostages from Okerenkoko, an Ijaw stronghold, to an undisclosed destination in the Burutu Council area, a situation which has added to the already tense atmosphere in Ijaw riverine communities.
As a result of this worrisome development, the Delta State Government which is apparently dazed, is said to have sent some more canned food and cartons of bottled water to the hostages in their new location through their agents. It is part of the continued effort of the Governor James Ibori government to provide for the hostages and ensure that they are comfortable and safe.
Discordant tunes Meanwhile, the Grand Patron, Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Prince Collins Eselemo, has warned the youths of the danger inherent in deviating from the set objectives of the suffering Ijaw people. Eselemo, who is also the National President, Warri National Congress condemned the statement credited to another Ijaw leader to the effect that the three hostages will not be released until Alhaji Asari Dokubo and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha are released, describing it as unfortunate.
“Releasing these three people are not part of our aspiration and even the N1.5billion being demanded is on litigation. Our gas flaring are all pending issues. People who are not from Warri Ijaw or oil-producing communities should not complicate our genuine demands”, Eselemo said, frowning that people were trivialising the issues involved.
He also wondered why the 13% derivation fund issue was not included in the demands, adding: “For them to exclude it, goes to show that the Delta State Government and the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) are conspiring to strangulate the Ijaw people”.
Fear of execution Fear had gripped the three foreigners still being held hostage by the Ijaw militant youths in the aftermath of the release of six others on Wednesday night, just as the youths insisted that President Olusegun Obasanjo must meet their demands before the remaining captives are freed. Sources close to Okerenkoko, an Ijaw stronghold said the captives were afraid that they may be killed, if urgent steps were not taken to remedy the situation - most especially as six of their colleagues have since regained their freedom.
But a dependable source told Saturday Sun that the youths want to use the three captives believed to have come from powerful countries as a bait to prevail on President Obasanjo to meet some of their demands.
Some of the demands include the scrapping of the Joint Military Task Force on Niger Delta crisis and the withdrawal of the military in the region. Beside, the militant youths also want to be sure there is no reprisal attack on Ijaw communities even as majority of the areas are still being threatened on daily basis by the Joint Military Task Force.
In a statement signed by Chief Bello Oboko, President, Federated Niger-Delta Ijaw communities (FNDIC), the body urged the President to ensure that the military no longer terrorizes the area under the cover of operating with oil companies.
While calling for dialogue, the body said it believes that a suitable avenue can be set up for both the Federal Government and Ijaw representatives to meet and iron out issues bordering on self –determination and giving them a sense of belonging.
Chief Bello who refused to comment on why the three other hostages were not released, urged the Federal Government to send relief materials to the victims of the invaded communities whose source of livelihood was bombarded by the military.
“We want a bill to be sponsored and law be made to clarify that the invaded communities are no refuse disposal dumps for further bombardment. We also want the Federal Government to reciprocate the kind gesture towards dialogue by creating a true enabling atmosphere that has been lacking”, said FNDIC in their statement made available to newsmen.
While promising to set up a negotiating team made up of Ijaw leaders, the body wants a halt to the continued devastation of Ijaw land, through oil exploration and exploitation and demanded that all gas flares be checked.
Why militants kept back three hostages For Malcom Hawkins, it was a moment to remember, especially when the American, alongside five other foreigners regained his freedom. It was on a day he was supposed to be celebrating his 69th birthday with his family in the United States of America.
Hawkins, a diabetic patient, brought a dossier of luck to five others held hostage by the Ijaw militant youths. They are namely:- Antonio Santos (Filipino), Shadely Senary (Briton), Feisal Mohammed (Egyptian) Semsak Mhadumhe (Egyptian) and Arak Suwana (Thailand) yet to be released are Coydy Oswalt (American), Russel Spell (American) and John Hudspith (Briton). The three hostages, Saturday Sun gathered, are still being held as a ploy to know if the federal government will implement the memorandum of understanding (MOU) sent by the militant youths. The other condition is to further delay the release of the remaining captives in case of a reprisal attack on them and the neighbouring communities of Okerenkoko, an Ijaw stronghold.
Mixed signals But the biggest joke of it all was that the Delta State Government was oblivious of how and when the six hostages were freed by the American government, assisted by some foreign journalists and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel.
Governor James Ibori and some top government officials were clearly ignorant on how the six hostages regained their freedom.
At about 6:50pm Wednesday, Secretary to State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan was busy debunking the news which filtered out that three of the hostages had been released. He told journalists who phoned him several times to express government position on the release of three of the hostages to ignore the statement from the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) which had earlier spread the news of the freed hostages.
In a twist of event, however, the hostages takers confided in some journalists that they decided to handover the freed hostages to foreign journalists and members of the CIA because they don’t trust the state government but this brought serious argument between the CIA agents and top officials of the state security service (SSS) at the Miller Waterside where they eventually landed.
CIA vs SSS The preference of the militant youths to deal with the CIA rather than Nigeria’s SSS would however set the stage for a little face-off between the two security operatives. In fact, there was a mild drama at the Miller Waterside when the CIA officials wanted to go with the hostages in a waiting vehicle, but the SSS official present stood his ground, insisting that they must be brought to Government lodge, Warri to see Governor Ibori who was at this time resting at his Oghara country home. It however took the governor almost two hours before he could get back to Warri to meet with the hostages.
I will call our kidnappers to thank them for their hospitality – freed Egyptian hostage Some hostages who spoke with Saturday Sun were appreciative of the wonderful reception accorded them during their abduction.
Hawkins particularly thanked the youths for being receptive and pleaded that the three others who are still being hostage be released. “Most times, they call me Papa. At times they call me leader and they gave me anything I wanted, especially food and the drugs sent to me by Governor James Ibori”, said Hawkins who is a diabetic patient.
But Semsak Mhadumhe, an Egyptian who spoke in uncoordinated English Language said, “no no, the boys are wonderful. Right now, I am going to call them on phone and thank them for their hospitality”. However, this compatriot, Feisal Mohammed who could not express himself very well, said: “Me, I am finish with Nigeria. I go Egypt straight away”.
Mohammed said what pained him most was that he missed his family who were apprehensive about his whereabouts and state of health.
Why we were yet to release others But, the Ijaw militant youths, through their spokesman, Chief Oboko Bello, gave reasons they have not released the three expatriates saying their continued stay with them will push America and Britain to prevail on president Olusegun Obasanjo to meet with their demands. Oboko denounced the bombing of four Ijaw villages and reduced it to rubble, even as the military is still launching attack on other neighbouring villages and harmlet.
Ibori pleads for others Elated Governor James Ibori commended the efforts of the committee set up by the state government to negotiate with the hostage takers and pleaded for the release of the remaining three expatriates.
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