War Looms in the Niger Delta

Fri, Jun 3, 2016
By publisher
19 MIN READ

BREAKING NEWS, Cover, Featured

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The coming of the Niger Delta Avengers, a new militant group, its bombing of oil facilities and the increasing militarisation of the region by the federal government may lead to full blown war in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria which can ruin crude oil production, the main revenue earner for the country

By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Jun 13, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT  |

THE resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta could not have taken Nigeria by surprise. The signs and threats have been there all along, especially with the build up to the divisive 2015 election. During the campaigns especially after former President Goodluk Jonathan was mobbed in Bauchi and Katsina states in the Northern Eastern part of Nigeria, the ex-militants who were lying low ever since the amnesty programme brokered by late President Umaru Ya’Dua, granted them reprieve, felt the affront on Jonathan was an insult to the Niger Delta region, where the president hails from. Their leaders roundly condemned the attempt to hustle their son out of office and promise to retaliate. Apart from this, the escalation of Boko Haram which climaxed with the kidnap of Chibok girls were also seen by the region as part of the gambit to make the nation ungovernable for president Jonathan.

Although political watchers at the time thought the conflagration in the Niger Delta will start immediately after the April 11 election which Jonathan lost, his timely intervention by congratulating then President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari helped to quell tension in the country. But the sigh of relief the country heaved was short lived. Barely a year into the administration of President Buhari, it appears that hell has been let loose in the Niger Delta region again. This time around it’s no longer the kidnap of oil workers for ransom which marked the previous restiveness in the region. Now, the militants are bombing oil facilities belonging to international oil companies.  At the last count, oil facilities belong to Shell Petroleum Development Company, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Agip, ExxonMobil have been bombed with its attendant degradation of the environment.

Prior to this, a hitherto unknown militant group called the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, announced to the world on February 3, that it will take out oil facilities in Nigeria if their demands were not met. The amorphous Niger Delta Avengers looks more like a blend of ex-Niger Delta militants who embraced the offer of presidential amnesty by the late President Yar’adua, and some unrepentant ones. For now, the group ap­pears to have no structured leadership, but operates in a guerrilla fashion with no known operational base.

Buhari
Buhari

Going by its activities so far, it appears the NDA possess­es high-tech equipment including underwater and surface long-range weapons that could be used to blow-up pipelines effortlessly, thus taking the security forces unaware. Realnews learnt that the avengers possibly are more and better equipped than the Nigerian military which the government hopes to deploy to fight them. The group’s website: www.nigerdelta­avengers.com contains scanty in­formation about them and visitors to the site can only go with press statements of their warnings and attacks on oil facilities.

The NDA started its present siege on the Nigerian State when it gave the federal government of Nigeria a 14-Day ultimatum to meet their demands in a post on its website and launched “Operation Red Economy”. Buoyed by President Buhari’s disposition that he will treat the avengers like Boko Haram by deploying massive security apparatus to destroy any threat in the region, the NDA in an apparent move to show it means business, even before the deadline expired, on Febru­ary 10, blew up of the Bonny Soku Gas Line which carries natural gas to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas plant and an independent power plant at Gbaran in Niger Delta. This was followed by a major destabilising attack on the Forcados 48-inch export line at the Forcados export terminal.

So far, the Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for all the destruction of oil facilities in Delta and Bayelsa States. These include pipelines belonging to Shell, Chevron, Agip and NNPC crude and gas pipelines. The group vowed to continue its destructive activities until the Niger Delta people are no longer marginalised by the Nigerian government.

The Niger Delta Avengers has given disparate and somewhat incoherent reasons that do not pertain particularly to the region for their action. The group is demanding immediate implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference, an apology from President Buhari, the Department of Security Services, DSS and Timipre Sylva, former governor of Bayelsa to the people of the Niger Delta and family of the late DSP Alamieyesegha over his death and harassment because of his party affiliation.

Other demands are 60 percent ownership of oil blocks for people of the Niger Delta and 40 percent for those from non-oil producing regions, immediate commencement of the 2015/2016 academic session at the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, an apology from Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, over his comments on the location of the institution and immediate clean-up of the region with full compensation to the host communities. The group further demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Nnamdi Kalu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and the release of Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser to Jonathan who is being tried for corruption. At best the reasons they have given can gain sympathy across board. It can resonate with the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, whose leader is being held. It can also gain the attention of supporters of the Dasuki in the North who believe that he is being wrongly incarcerated by the administration of Buhari who has kept him in custody since last year despite court rulings that he should be granted bail over alleged $2.1bllion arm deal scam.

Despite this, it is not likely that the Nigerian government will grant these demands. President Buhari in his one year anniversary speech vowed that his administration was determined to arrest resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta region. He vowed to apprehend militants groups which had in the past few weeks launched several attacks on pipeline installations in the region. According to the president, his administration in a bid to restore normalcy in the region is committed to the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme report which was flagged on Thursday, June 2, by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who represented the President who was initially slated for the programme. “We are committed to implementing the United Nations Environment Programme report and are advancing clean-up operations. I believe the way forward is to take a sustainable approach to address the issues that affect the delta communities. If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken. We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice.”

In consolidation of President Buhari’s resolve to crush militancy in the region, the federal government on Monday, May 30, deployed an armada of five warships, 100 gunboats and fighter jets to the creeks of the Niger Delta, as a response to continued bombing of oil and gas pipelines by NDA.

In spite of heavy military presence, on Tuesday, May 31, NDA struck, damaging Chevron oil facility. It said it would not relent in its violent attacks on critical oil installations in the region and that even with the heavy presence of the military, its planned action would shock the whole world. It noted that Gbaramatu, now under military siege, is just one kingdom out of the several Ijaw kingdoms spread across seven states.

Also, the Niger Delta Avengers in the early hours of Friday, June 3, again wrecked Shell Petroleum Development Company, SDPC, oil facility in Delta State. The militant group said it had issued a prior warning to the oil giant to desist from carrying out any repair activities in the area. The attack followed a series of bombings that rocked Chevron, Agip and NNPC oil and gas installations across the Niger Delta in the last few days.

Jonathan
Jonathan

The Avengers tweeted that it blew up “Ogboinbiri to Tebidaba and Clough Creek to Tebidaba crude oil pipelines in Bayelsa State, as part of its campaign to bring Nigeria’s oil production output to zero.” The NDA is demanding a sovereign nation of the Niger Delta people. Last month, the group rejected a meeting convened in Abuja by the federal government, warning of its readiness to carry out an attack that will shock the whole world. “The Niger Delta stakeholder’s meeting is an insult to the people of Niger Delta. What we need is a Sovereign State not pipeline contracts,” the militants said.

It, however, disassociated itself from the attack on a military houseboat in which two soldiers and six civilians were killed on Wednesday, June 1. The militant group condemned the killing, calling on all other ‘freedom fighters’ to desist from bloodshed and kidnapping while agitating for their demands.

A statement posted on the group’s website held that killing of sleeping soldiers is not the group’s style. The statement signed by Mudoch Agbinibo, the group’s self-acclaimed spokesman said, “The Niger Delta Avengers were not involved in the attack of the military houseboat around Warri, Delta State. Killing of sleeping soldiers is not our style. We promise the world that in this process of liberating our people, not a single blood of Nigeria soldiers will be wasted despite the provocation.

“Even the inhumane Nigeria soldiers are exempted, our war is on oil installations not to take innocent lives. For the fact we can’t give life, we also don’t have the power to take any life. But we (Avengers) are assuring the families of the affected soldiers that we will bring the culprits to book. When it’s time to face the military in combat let the whole world know that we won’t be the ones to throw the first punch.

“This message is going to all groups parading themselves as freedom fighters. You can fight for your people without killing innocent souls NDA have proved it. We were able to drop Nigeria oil production from 2 million Barrels to just 800,000 barrels without killing a soul. We are warning every group to follow our footsteps. The days of killing and kidnapping are over.”

Reacting, the Nigerian military on Wednesday, June 2, refuted the militants’ claims that it had become helpless in the circumstance, saying it would not be negligent in its obligations to Nigerians. “The Defence Headquarters wishes to emphasise that the Nigerian Armed Forces will not relent in their efforts to flush out economic saboteurs masquerading under whatever guise to perpetuate evils in the Niger Delta,” Rabe Abubakar, acting director of Defence Information, said in a statement.

Whatever, the ease with which the NDA carried out its attack and sank gunboats with soldiers and killing about two, it is obvious that militarisation of the Niger Delta region might not be the easy solution to the problem.  This might well be so because of the nature of the terrain where the activities are taken place and the guerilla nature of the warfare. Nigerian soldiers may not be conversant with the creeks habouring the oil facilities. The creeks are natural habitats of the guerilla fighters to carry out their nefarious actions.  As a result of the bombings, some international oil companies including Shell Nigeria, Chevron have all declared force majeure. This is also bound to have devastating effect on the country’s oil revenue projection in the 2016 budget. Oil production which was about 2.4 million barrels per day has reduced to 1.6 million barrels per day as at June 2.

The unending attacks by the NDA have also had a debilitating impact on the country’s petroleum industry at a time of harsh economic hardship, arising from the sharp fall in international crude oil prices and a marked decline in petroleum revenues. Production has been halted in the affected facilities, reducing the country’s daily export capacity while nervous oil firms are evacuating their staff for fear of future attacks. It has also pushed up price in the international market which as at May ending was $50 per barrel.

According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the country has lost N12.566 billion in the last one month due to petroleum products theft and vandalisation of the facilities. A breakdown of the losses as contained in the NNPC monthly financial and operations report for March 2016, showed that crude oil loss amounted to N5.94 billion; petroleum products losses stood at N1.757 billion, while N4.87 billion was spent on pipeline repairs and management cost.

Frank Odita
Odita

The worrisome aspect of the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers is that other aggrieved ex-militants appear to support them. Some of them have listed conditions for an end to the current crisis, saying unless the conditions are met by the federal government, there would be no respite in the area and more militant groups will emerge. On Tuesday, May 31, in Sapele, Delta State, Paul Toruwei and Anthony Dango, ex-militant leaders, gave their own conditions not to join the raging crisis in the region. Among other things, they want the federal government to audit all the records of payments made to ex-militants so far from the beginning of the amnesty programme.

“The Amnesty Office must pay up all outstanding payments to us. It must pay all those who have not been receiving the monthly stipend since 2009. The Amnesty Office has lied to the President that it is paying everyone his stipends when it is not paying more than half of us who surrendered weapons to the Federal Government at the commencement of the Amnesty programme.

“The government has since January 2016 stopped the payment of N65,000 monthly stipend to those of us who have finished their school and skill acquisition training. We have no other means of livelihood, so the government must restore the payments. We also want the government to correct the false information that the Amnesty Office has fully paid till date over 30,000 recipients their monthly amnesty entitlements of N65,000 each. That is not true, the true position of the actual number of people paid, which is far less than the figure of 30,000 persons, must be revealed to avert further trouble in Niger Delta. There would be more bombings and more militant groups will spring up, if these conditions are not met immediately,” the ex-militants stated.

It is not likely that there will be a quick fix to the Niger Delta question. Although the federal government favours the military option, some security experts counsel that diplomacy should be used to deal with the situation.  Philip Hammond, British Foreign Minister, on May 16, said Buhari needed to the deal with the root causes because a military confrontation could end in a disaster. “It’s obviously a major concern. The idea that your answer is by moving big chunks of the Nigerian army to the Delta simply doesn’t work. The army did not have the capacity while fighting Boko Haram jihadists in the north. It won’t deal with the underlying issues. Buhari has got to show as a president from the north that he is not ignoring the Delta that he is engaging with the challenges in the Delta,” Hammond said.

Supporting, Frank Odita, former commissioner of Police and security analyst, told Realnews there was need for intelligence gathering to unravel who the Avengers are who is sponsoring them. “I am still doing my investigation. It is better to have facts. I don’t know what their mission is. I don’t know what they are up to. Some say it is to bring government attention to the Niger Delta. It is not good. The bombings have economic and security implication and one thing can lead to other.  It is a very dicey situation and government has to approach it with a lot of tact

“This is different. Militancy ended with Yar ‘Adua integrating militants into society. I believe that state security services using the indigenes can get facts and unearth what they want and who they are.  Jet fighters, sending jet fighters, the threat of superior power may send them packing. There is also fear of creating another war situation. That’s what I am afraid. It may be hijacked. We may win the war but winning the peace is the issue. And the Biafra issue is there. A lot of security problem staring us in the face.  It has to be handled diplomatically. Those mentioning President Jonathan as being behind this are wrong. Jonathan is not interested in any violence.  I don’t want to believe it. When you want to kill a dog you just give him a bad name.  All the governors in the region and ex-militants like Tompolo too should help,” Odita said.

According to him, “We need to know the facts. The resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta will drive investors away. It seems the avengers are confused by the nature of their demands. There is usually a godfather behind this criminality. People are merely speculating,” Odita said

Agreeing on solving the problem through diplomacy, Edwin Clark, Ijaw leader, urged President Buhari to follow the footsteps of his predecessors in handling the upsurge in militancy in Niger Delta. Clark said the President needed to dialogue to resolve the crisis, instead of applying military might, since the nation’s military had been over-stretched in recent operations.

The Ijaw leader also advised members of the NDA to retrace their steps and embrace dialogue. He noted that violence never served any good purpose. He condemned the rising militancy in Niger Delta and urged former militant leaders, like Tom Ateke and Boyloaf, to quell the crisis.

Similarly, some leaders of the Niger Delta region under the aegis of Concerned Niger Delta Leaders have described the recent attacks on the nation’s oil facilities by the Niger Delta Avengers as a criminal act targeted at destroying the heritage of the people of the region. Mike Loyibo, national coordinator of the group, said during a press conference in Abuja, on Wednesday, June 1, that the acts perpetrated by the NDA, were unacceptable not only to the federal government but also to the people of the area.

Olusegun Obasanjo
Obasanjo

“We have for some time watched with utmost dismay the manner in which the Niger Delta Avengers, a group with an aimless agenda, has been destroying our common heritage and the economic mainstay of the country through the vandalisation of critical government infrastructure and oil installations,” he said.

The Niger Delta leaders called on the group to lay down their arms as no developmental effort could yield any positive result in an environment of violence. Loyibo said that while violence was not the solution of human problems, the leaders were in support of the decisive steps being taken by the President to prevent vandals from sabotaging the efforts of the government to bring development to the oil rich region.

The group, however, urged the military to carry out the ongoing operation to fish out the members of the group with caution as the last operation in Gbaramatu resulted in the suffering of innocent people including children, the aged and women. It also called on the President to provide critical infrastructure to the area, give serious consideration to the region in the next round of political appointments and also ensure the takeoff of academic activities at the Maritime University, Okerenkoko.

Niger Delta armed militancy began during the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency and intensified under the late President Yar‘Adua. The militants kidnapped oil workers for ransom and attacked oil facilities in protest against the marginalisation of the region, the extensive destruction of the environment by oil firms, without compensation, and the abysmal poverty of the people.

At that time, the militants enjoyed the support of the people of the Niger Delta as well as the sympathy of people outside the region who did not support the violence of the militants but recognised the injustice done to the region. The Niger Delta insurgency was temporarily brought to an end through the Amnesty initiative of the Yar’Adua administration, which saw the militants giving up their arms in exchange for financial compensation and skill acquisition through various training programme initiated by the federal government.

Some of the benefits of the struggle then included the 13 percent derivation revenue enjoyed by oil-producing states, the creation of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and the Ministry of Niger Delta to accelerate development in the area as well as the Presidential Amnesty Programme, which provided entrepreneurial training and empowerment as well as academic scholarships for thousands of ex-militants in the region.

Thousands of fighters accepted the presidential amnesty and some joined new private security companies formed by their leaders and enjoyed monthly payments from the government. But President Buhari had cut the annual budget for payments to ex-militants from N60 billion ($300 million) to N20 billion. In addition, he cancelled a pipeline security contract worth $103 million a year between the government and a Nigerian company called Global West Vessel Specialist Ltd.

While there is still much more to be done to reverse and compensate for decades of degradation and exploitation in the Niger Delta, resurgence of militancy at this time can only worsen the plight of the region, erode the modest gains of the recent past and lead to loss of innocent lives. However, with the militarisation of the region and the hardened position of the Niger Delta Avengers, only time will tell when a full blown war will erupt in the region.

Reported by Maureen Chigbo

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