DTN News: Nigeria Urges Main Militant Group To Take Amnesty

DTN News: Nigeria Urges Main Militant Group To Take Amnesty

*Source: DTN News / Reuters

(NSI News Source Info) LAGOS, Nigeria - August 26, 2009: Nigeria's main militant group should rethink its threat to resume attacks on the OPEC member's oil industry and instead lay down its weapons and accept an amnesty, a government official said on Monday. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), responsible for attacks that have wrought havoc on Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, said on Saturday it would resume its campaign of violence on Sept. 15. MEND, which declared a 60-day ceasefire in July to allow for peace talks, said it had suspended negotiations with the government. "They (MEND) should reconsider their stand and join the amnesty boat because the boat is about to sail," said Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, spokeswoman for the presidential panel on amnesty. President Umaru Yar'Adua offered an unconditional pardon in June to all militants who take part in the amnesty, the latest effort to stem unrest which has prevented Nigeria from pumping much above two-thirds of its oil capacity in recent years. The amnesty programme officially ends on Oct. 4. MEND, a loose coalition of militant groups, has denounced the scores of rebels that have surrendered their weapons and taken up the amnesty. Hundreds of militants handed over machine guns, rocket launchers, mortar bombs and gunboats in a public ceremony in the Bayelsa state capital Yenagoa on Saturday. "You cannot wish away what happened in Yenagoa over the weekend," Agary said. "(MEND) says they will resume hostilities by Sept. 15. Let's wait and see." Experts warned that the government must deal with the split between militant groups or face a possible resurgence in violence. "We are heading for disaster if the government does not go back to the drawing board and redraw the entire exercise," said Anywakwee Nsirimovu, director of the Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Some security analysts expect the military to launch another major offensive against militants who do not accept the amnesty once the 60-day offer period ends in October. But Agary said there was no such threat and that there was still time for peace talks. (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/ ) (Additional reporting by Austin Ekeinde in Port Harcourt)

DTN News: MEND Nigerian Rebels Claim They Attacked Oil Tanker Dock

DTN News: MEND Nigerian Rebels Claim They Attacked Oil Tanker Dock *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) ABUJA, Nigeria - July 13, 2009: Nigeria's most prominent militant group said on Monday it had sabotaged a loading dock for oil tankers in Lagos state, widening an offensive against Africa's biggest oil sector. Fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), speed away from the militia's creek camp in the Niger Delta. Armed Nigerian militants who have declared an "oil war", in response to what it said was an unprovoked attack by the army, claimed to have blown up a major pipeline in their latest attack on oil installations in the region. MEND, the most prominent of the groups operating in the creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta, said it blew up a pipeline it believes is operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's Agip. The rebels moved in with speed boats, dynamite and hand grenades in their attack on the Orubiri flow station, the army said. MEND says it is fighting for local people to get a greater share of the huge oil revenues. Since MEND took up arms in early 2006, Nigeria's oil output has been cut by at least one quarter due to kidnappings and sabotage in the Delta. Hurricane Barbarossa is the code name MEND has given to its new offensive against foreign majors. "I derive satisfaction in destruction of oil installations in the Niger Delta", said Boy Loaf, leader of the militants.* The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said its fighters launched an attack on the Atlas Cove Jetty in Lagos state overnight, the first in the area since the group began its latest campaign of violence in late May. "The depot and loading tankers moored at the facility are currently on fire," MEND said in a statement. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the attack. A police spokesman said authorities were investigating. MEND has rarely attacked sites outside the Niger Delta, focusing mainly on oil facilities in the Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states in southern Nigeria. The militant group has claimed a series of attacks against the oil sector following the military's largest offensive in the Niger Delta for years in late May. The violence has forced Royal Dutch Shell, U.S. oil company Chevron and Italy's Agip to shut down around 300,000 barrels per day of production in the last seven weeks. This has put some upward pressure on global oil prices. President Umaru Yar'Adua has offered a 60-day amnesty programme to militants and criminals in hopes of restoring peace to the region. MEND's suspected leader Henry Okah, on trial for gun-running and treason, has accepted the amnesty programme and is expected to be released early this week, his lawyer said on Sunday. Although some militants have said they would lay down their arms if Okah was released, analysts believe violence will not subside. Oil theft is a lucrative business in the region and politicians would continue to hire armed gangs to secure power in the run-up to 2011 elections, analysts said.

DTN News: UPDATE 2 ~ Nigeria Militants Say Attack Shell Oil Pipelines, Field

DTN News: UPDATE 2 ~ Nigeria Militants Say Attack Shell Oil Pipelines, Field

*Sources: DTN News / Reuters By Nick Tattersall

* Militants say attack two pipelines in eastern Niger Delta * Shell says investigating * Militants also claim strike on shallow offshore field (NSI News Source Info) LAGOS, Nigeria - June 21, 2009: Nigeria's main militant group said on Sunday its fighters had attacked two Royal Dutch Shell oil pipelines in Rivers state and a shallow-water offshore field, widening a month-old offensive.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta ("MEND") is a militant indigenous people's movement dedicated to armed struggle against what they regard as the exploitation and oppression of the people of the Niger Delta and the degradation of the natural environment by foreign multinational corporations involved in the extraction of oil in the Niger Delta and the Federal Government of Nigeria. MEND has been linked to attacks on foreign-owned petroleum companies in Nigeria as part of the Conflict in the Niger Delta. MEND's stated goals are to localize control of Nigeria's oil and to secure reparations from the federal government for pollution caused by the oil industry. In an interview with one of the group's leaders, who used the alias Major-General Godswill Tamuno, the BBC reported that MEND was fighting for "total control" of the Niger Delta's oil wealth, saying local people had not gained from the riches under the ground and the region's creeks and swamps." The Economist has described the organization as one that "portrays itself as political organisation that wants a greater share of Nigeria’s oil revenues to go to the impoverished region that sits atop the oil. In fact, it is more of an umbrella organisation for several armed groups, which it sometimes pays in cash or guns to launch attacks." In a January 2006 email MEND warned the oil industry, "It must be clear that the Nigerian government cannot protect your workers or assets. Leave our land while you can or die in it.... Our aim is to totally destroy the capacity of the Nigerian government to export oil." Additionally MEND has called upon President Olusegun Obasanjo to free two jailed ethnic Ijaw leaders — Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who is jailed and charged with treason, and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, a former governor of Bayelsa State charged with corruption. Obasanjo's successor, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua authorised the release of Dokubo-Asari and Alamieyeseigha in 2007. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it had attacked Shell pipelines at Adamakiri and Kula, both in Rivers in the eastern Niger Delta, early on Sunday as part of a campaign it has dubbed "Hurricane Piper Alpha". "Piper Alpha unleashed its fury in Rivers state today... leaving in its wake two battered oil installations," the group said in a statement. It said it had also later attacked an offshore Shell oilfield in shallow water between the states of Bayelsa and Delta further to the west. Shell said it was investigating reports of the two pipeline attacks on its eastern operations in the Niger Delta and was assessing any impact on output and the environment. It could not confirm MEND's claim of an attack on the shallow-water facility. The attacks are the first to strike Rivers state, the easternmost of the three main states in the Niger Delta, since the militants launched their latest campaign of sabotage following a military offensive in the western delta last month. Persistent acts of sabotage by MEND over the past three years have cut oil output in the OPEC member, the world's eighth biggest crude oil exporter, to less than two thirds of its installed capacity of 3 million barrels per day (bpd). The group first burst onto the scene in late 2005, knocking out more than a quarter of Nigeria's oil output -- then around 2.4 million bpd -- in a matter of weeks. But the latest campaign has nibbled further at production levels in a country that relies on oil for around 90 percent of its foreign earnings. Italian energy firm Agip said on Friday an attack claimed by MEND on one of its oil and gas pipelines in Bayelsa state had halted production of around 33,000 barrels of oil and 2 million cubic metres of gas per day. Shell said on Thursday some oil production had been halted following an attack on the Trans Ramos pipeline late on Wednesday at Aghoro-2 community in Bayelsa.

U.S. energy firm Chevron shut down its operations around Delta state after MEND's first pipeline attack in its latest campaign on May 24, halting around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of output.

Security sources say some oil firms have been removing non-essential personnel from some offshore sites. MEND has dubbed its offensive "Hurricane Piper Alpha" after the North Sea oil platform that blew up in July 1998, the worst ever offshore oil disaster, and warned that it might attack deep-water facilities off the Nigerian coast. The militants say they are fighting against the militarisation of the Niger Delta and for a fairer share for local communities of the region's natural wealth, but the line between militancy and criminality is blurred. The leaders of armed gangs in the Niger Delta have grown rich from a lucrative trade in stolen oil and from ransoms paid for the release of hundreds of oil workers who have been kidnapped in recent years.

DTN News: Nigeria: War In Niger Delta - Military Extends Offensive To Rivers State

DTN News: Nigeria: War In Niger Delta - Military Extends Offensive To Rivers State

(NSI News Source Info) LAGOS, Nigeria - May 25 2009: Nine hostages were on Sunday rescued by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Gbaramatu community, one of the main theatres of battle between troops and militants in Delta State, in addition to the three Filipinos freed in the area on Saturday. The incursion has extended to Abonnema in Rivers State, where militant leader Nana Sele was shot dead. His cohorts fled with wounds after an exchange of gunfire. Fighters with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) raise their riffles to celebrate news of a successful operation by their colleagues against the Nigerian army in the Niger. MEND has declared a full-scale "oil war" against the Nigerian authorities in response to attacks by the Nigerian military launched against the militants. "Our target is to crumble the oil installations in order to force the government to a round table to solve the problem once and for all", said Boy Loaf, leader of the militants. Residents of Odi in neighbouring Bayelsa have also taken to their heels in fear of being overrun by soldiers. Four of the hostages were rescued in Camp Five, two in Okerenkoko, and three in Oporoza. JTF Spokesman, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, said the 'Cordon and Rescue Operation' would be intensified until all hostages - including military men and foreign nationals - are freed. He added: "With the successes recorded so far in the course of this operation, the JTF wants to debunk the allegation that its troops are targeting some individuals, or certain ethnic groups. "We conducted the operations in the most professional manner and the security outfit is only focusing on the areas where there are militants and their hideouts where hostages were being kept. It is not a random operation and people should commend us for what we have done so far. "However, in the conduct of this national assignment some few members of the communities will be inconvenienced by our actions, but we did not do it deliberately. It is for the overall development of the communities in the long run and what we want to achieve for our children to benefit tomorrow. "The JTF wants to use this opportunity to reiterate that as long as our men are not found, the operation will be ongoing. Therefore, we are soliciting for the co-operation of the public, especially those affected by this purge, to furnish us with information that will lead to the arrest of the miscreants who unleash terror on innocent members of the communities." Abubakar denied the allegation that soldiers looted the palace of the traditional ruler of Gbaramatu. "Such a statement is not true and holds no water as the JTF is in Gbaramatu to carry out an important security assignment. We are doing that, and we will continue to do it. Looting is against the ethics of the military anywhere in the world." He described as "laughable" the propaganda by the defeated rag-tag army of Tompolo, "who is on the run," having "realised that the myth built around him by his co-travelers in criminalities has been deflated." Abubakar urged investors to come to Delta as genuine peace has finally been achieved. "Tompolo has no home again and will never have a home in the region, because he has been declared wanted and must be smoked out by our troops. Everything that has a beginning must have an end, this is the end of Tompolo." But the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has vowed to deal more blows to the JTF and those it considers traitors in its own fold. "Nobody should go home with his two eyes closed because the war has just begun," it warned. A statement issued by MEND Spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, said the frustration suffered by the JTF will be aggravated as the next agenda unfolds in the coming days. He accused Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of masterminding the "annihilation of the Ijaw race to foster the agenda of a particular set of people on the entire state." Gbomo warned, however, that the plot will fail. "If the Ijaw people are now viewed as antithetic to the development of the state and must be wiped out, after drawing the attention of the whole world to the plight of the region and ensuring that the region is gradually getting what is due it in the country, the state will become too hot for everybody to stay." He dismissed as fraudulent claims by the JTF that it has captured arms from militants in the invaded communities. In any case, soldiers launched another attack on Ayeibogbene in Delta on Sunday, and on Abonnema in Rivers, where Sele was killed. Besides, one Kuku Olobio reportedly died on Saturday in Daubriye, bringing the number of deaths in this area of Delta to five. Community leaders said the JTF at about 10.30 a.m. invaded Ayeibogbene, which is a few kilometres from a Chevron site in Abiteye. Gbaramatu Spokesman, Godspower Gbenekama, narrated that 15 houses were torched in Ayeibogbene, but that no one died because the people had fled before the attack. Gbenekama said the death toll in the Saturday attack on Daubriye and Benekurukuru had increased to five, including one Kuku Olobio. A 90-year-old man, Ziten Jouwegha; a woman, Wekebo Mulade and her two children (a boy aged one and a girl aged three), also died. Fifteen houses were burnt. The Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) has appealed to the military authorities to "ceasefire and discontinue its war on the defenceless Gbaramatu Ijaw people and allow place for dialogue." FNDIC President, Bello Oboko, insisted in a statement that "Gbaramatu is not a part and parcel of the declaration of war with the Nigerian nation/Army by (the MEND) which we asked to steer clear of Gbaramatu. "We are happy at the reports of the release, without battle, the victims of war declared by (the JTF) in Gbaramatu in the Warri waterways. "It is an indication that despite the continuous propaganda of the MEND which the JTF - as it advised the general public - should also ignore, the forces in the ongoing battle which the Gbaramatu Ijaw people are not willing to be part of, have withdrawn. "With reports also that the JTF has dislodged militants, we are disturbed at the continued destruction of civil Ijaw communities thereby spreading deaths, discomfort, and hopelessness." Abubakar of the JTF confirmed that "a cordon and search operation conducted by the troops of the Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Hope, at Oporoza community in Gbaramatu led to the rescue of three Filipinos who are presently undergoing medical treatment at an undisclosed JTF hospital. They are Enrico Arelano, Romeo Naclicar and Napoleon Emphasis. "The security outfit, in continuation of its intensive search and rescue mission, has so far rescued a total of 17 foreigners, including Filipinos, Ukrainians and four Nigerians, who were held hostage by militants from Camp Five and other neighboring camps. "It is pertinent to note that in all the communities searched by the JTF so far, large quantities of arms and ammunition, as well as hostages kidnapped by the militants, were discovered. "Military hardware as well as four hostages, were also discovered in Camp Five, two from Okerenkoko while three were rescued from Oporoza. "JTF troops carried out a dawn raid on suspected militants' hideout at Abonnema in Rivers State. After a fierce exchange of gunfire with the militants, one militant, Nana Sele, suspected to be their leader, was shot dead and others fled with gun shot wounds." Military Onslaught on Delta Militants Continue Odi indigenes in Bayelsa are deserting town in droves because of the fear of invasion by troops in search of a militant leader said to be hiding in the area. They are relocating to adjoining villages, and to Yenagoa and Port Harcourt. Ten years ago, the community was razed by soldiers who came in search of youths believed to have murdered some policemen. Back then, 20 people died and several buildings were destroyed. But the hunt for militants is generating tension in Odi, whose Council of Chiefs Spokesman, Pereowei Agurah, vouched that it is a peaceful community. He said even as the people do not accommodate militants, they do not want to take chances and get caught up in the fighting. He, however, lamented that he is stranded as his car has no fuel.

Nigeria: War In Niger Delta - Another African Country In Chaos And Niger Delta Governed By Militants / Mend Threatens Northerners in Oil Industry

Nigeria: War In Niger Delta - Another African Country In Chaos And Niger Delta Governed By Militants / Mend Threatens Northerners in Oil Industry

(NSI News Source Info) Port Harcourt/Akure - May 18, 2009: Umbrella body of the militants in the Niger Delta, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has sent out a chilling signal, threatening an impending attack on the Federal Government, and particularly, Northerners who occupy prominent positions in the oil industry. A fighter of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), holds his weapons at the militia's creek camp in the Niger Delta. Armed Nigerian militants who have declared an "oil war", in response to what it said was an unprovoked attack by the army, claimed to have blown up a major pipeline in their latest attack on oil installations in the region. MEND, the most prominent of the groups operating in the creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta, said it blew up a pipeline it believes is operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's Agip. The rebels moved in with speed boats, dynamite and hand grenades in their attack on the Orubiri flow station, the army said. MEND says it is fighting for local people to get a greater share of the huge oil revenues. Since MEND took up arms in early 2006, Nigeria's oil output has been cut by at least one quarter due to kidnappings and sabotage in the Delta. Hurricane Barbarossa is the code name MEND has given to its new offensive against foreign majors. "Our message to the Northern Sultans and Emirs is this: The period of exploiting the Niger Delta is coming to an end. It is not the birth right of your people to rule the Federal Republic of Nigeria. "The war is just beginning and by the time it ends, Nigeria will practice true federalism such as fiscal federalism which will benefit the entire populace. Let your people brace themselves to develop their resources and such a bold change will be remembered," Jomo Gbomo, MEND's spokesman said in an electronic mail on Sunday. The threat came a few hours after the Special Adviser to the Rivers State Governor on Budget, Austin Ngor, was kidnapped and moved to an unknown destination. It was not clear what the demands of the kidnappers are, but the governor's Chief Press Secretary, Blessing Wikinaka, has warned them to free the man immediately as there was no just reason for his abduction. Meanwhile, MEND two of the hostages in their custody killed "in the course of the war". It said the remaining one has been relocated to an unnamed camp in Delta State. MEND dared the security outfit, Joint Task Force (JTF), to destroy all its (MEND's) camps, which it said, were spread in many places across Niger Delta region. The MEND's spokesman said, "The British hostage, Mr Matthew Maguire, has been relocated to Delta State and will be a guest of one of the camps there". He added: "Nigerians should now brace up for the worst from the decisions of an incompetent leadership. "The Niger Delta people who have endured injustice and genocide for over 50 years must be ready to fight for change as our destiny should not be in the hands of others but ourselves. The group said it was embarrassed at the "performance of the Nigerian Armed Forces who performed like poorly trained amateurs by bombing indiscriminately into civilian communities using helicopter gunships and fighter jet planes. "Civilians should have been allowed to leave the area before the attack. This simply has shown that the government is insensitive to the Niger Delta people. "If the Army's mission was to also rescue the hostages, then that again was a botched and ridiculous attempt because the hostages were not at any immediate risk except for their temporary freedom. "We regret to announce that two hostages have been killed by the indiscriminate shelling and two more are still in our custody. "We are happy that all of them were not killed by the Army. The bodies of the dead men will be handed over to the Red Cross. MEND deeply regrets the avoidable deaths". It denied claims that the Army captured a plane from one of its camps. "If my memory serves me right, the plane in question is a toy remote controlled plane which can be purchased from any toy shop. It is rather shameful that they cannot distinguish the difference between a toy plane and a drone. "As promised, we have begun nibbling again at the oil infrastructure. Already, two major trunk pipe and gas lines, which were recently repaired, have been blown up. This is just the tip of the series of attacks we plan to carry out. "For the Nigerian government to declare victory, troops must be able to secure every inch of pipelines and eliminate the over 500 camps stretching from Ondo to Akwa Ibom. "What the government has been successful in doing is committing genocide against the Ijaw communities whose offence, it seems, is discovering oil in their backyards," the group said.