"The Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta command is seriously considering a
temporary cease-fire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we
respect and hold in high esteem."
--E-mail received last
weekend by the Nigerian Government
By Ahamefula Ogbu in Port
Harcourt and Segun James in Yenagoa
The Diebu Creek Flow Station in Bayelsa State, which belongs
to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), was blown up on Friday night
by militants operating along the Southern Ijaw creeks. The blast resulted in
massive oil spillage along the waterway.
The attack on the 30,000 barrel-per-day installation is the
first on any oil facility since former Governor Timipre Sylva brokered a peace
deal with militant groups last year.
The assault on the heavily-guarded facility caught soldiers
deployed to protect it by surprise. Reports are that they were easily overrun
by the militants who arrived aboard five speed boats.
The rebels belong to the Movement for the Emancipation of
the Niger Delta [MEND ],
which has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Shell facilities. In
this case, responsibility was assumed by someone named Commander Douglas, a
hitherto unknown militant who promised that the war had only just began. He
gave no reason for the onslaught, which affected Shell wells number 12, 13, 15
and 16.
[Editor's Note: The day after the attack, on May 4, This
Day reported:
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)
has said in an e-mail that it is considering a temporary cessation of
hostilities in the oil-producing region based on an appeal by United States
presidential hopeful, Senator Barack Obama.
"The MEND command is seriously considering a temporary
cease-fire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we respect and hold
in high esteem. The period of halting attacks, we hope, when considered, will
afford the Nigerian government the opportunity to address the issues with Henry
Okah, including improving his living conditions and having access to a bible
which he has requested for but was denied," they said.
The militant group advanced reasons why it has carried out
several attacks on pipelines in the South-south region, saying it was
"chiefly" to prove to the oil companies and the Federal Government
that they could not protect facilities by the "force of gunboats."
On the reasons why they stepped up their attacks, especially
on Shell facilities in Bayelsa State, MEND said: "This attack was prompted
by four factors. (1) To support small cells like the ones that attacked Chevron
in Delta state. (2) To let the oil companies know that we consider the military
gunboats and soldiers guarding their facilities as mere ornaments and can
confront them at will. (3) To dispel the assurances of ensuring peace by some
compromised militants who have sold their birthright. (4) The kangaroo court
ruling insisting on a secret trial for Henry Okah ."
Then on Tuesday, May 6, the Associated Press Reported that
the MEND had sent another e-mail:
The group said it is willing to cease hostilities if the
federal government allows conflict mediation by former U.S. President Jimmy
Carter. The e-mail said that former President Jimmy Carter had accepted their
invitation to help negotiate end to the long-running crisis that has
contributed to the sharp rise in oil prices. Militants say they received
Carter's acceptance from John Stremlau, an official
of Carter's organization. But Stremlau told AP that
the ex-U.S. president was generally ready to be "helpful in the quest for
peace."
Stremlau said that if the
government invited Carter and all sides were deemed to be serious about working
for peace, Carter would take 'a serious look' and make a "very serious
consideration to be helpful ."]
A map from 1999
showing the Niger River Delta and key oil facilities. Port Harcourt,
where the attack
discussed in this article took place, can be seen along the southwest
coast of Nigeria.
At press time, information on the attack was still scanty,
but Joint Task Force Spokesman, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, confirmed the incident.
Shell Spokesman Precious Okolobo said the company had moved
containment booms into position to check the spill, but wouldn't say how much
oil has spilled.
“SPDC’s Diebu creek flow station was attacked last night
(Friday night). A few oil delivery lines are affected and some oil has been
spilled into the environment. We are mobilizing containment booms to stop the
spread of oil and have shut in a certain volume of production,” he said.
According to a source, the spread of the oil has been aided
by heavy rains in the area over the past few days.
At this report goes to press, a contingent of new troops has
been deployed to protect Shell employees working on the clean up, although it
still hasn't been confirmed that the work had begun.
The attack also damaged the manifold that supplies crude to
the flow station, equipment that separates water from crude, and the lines that
carry oil to the terminal.
A Nigerian
militant shows his machine gun to reporters in 2006 aboard his
attack boat on the
Escravos River in southern Nigeria.
Also on Saturday [May 4], fifteen miles off the coast of
Bonny in Rivers State, sea pirates attacked a ship and abducted the Captain and
engineer. The captain is thought to be a foreigner [engineer is Nigerian].
Meanwhile in Port Harcourt, an abduction saga ended.
Mrs. Margaret Idisi, who had been kidnapped from her
husband's home in Port Harcourt on April 13, was finally released. Mrs. Idisi
is the wife of Chief Humphrey Idisi, CEO of Lone Star Drilling Company Limited .
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu,
confirmed Mrs. Idisi's release, saying that she regained her freedom in the
early hours of Saturday in Bayelsa State.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
''We don't know if a ransom was paid before her release, and
we don't know which group carried out the act. But I can confirm to you that
she has been freed by her abductors," he said. Meanwhile, a source close
to the Idisi family said that they would make no statement to the media on her
release.
Security sources reported that she was rushed to hospital
after her release yesterday morning. Although relatives of Mrs. Idisi confirmed
her release, they wouldn't confirm whether reports that her kidnappers let her
go due to failing health are true.
Said one family source, “Her condition was so bad that if
they had kept her for another day, she would have died. That's why Chief Idisi
had been warning of her health. She is hypertensive and since she was kidnapped,
hadn't been taking her medication.”
Spokesman of the state's Joint Task Force, Lt. Col. Sagir
Musa, confirmed the release but said it was outside the jurisdiction of his men
and therefore didn't have complete details of her release.
