Nigeria - "are the oil fields going to be dynamited or not?"

by - Sat Sep 24, 2005 23:43

the Bonny oil terminal (Chevron) sends 500,000 barrels of crude oil to the USA every day.
Its getting soldiers reports indicate a contigent of 80 up 50 from the usual 30.

the Qua Iboe port operated by U.S. Exxon Mobil and a natural gas terminal, are already fully fortified with almost 300 paramilitary police.

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has withdrawn about 100 workers from three oil and gas facilities, output maintained by a skeleton staff.
(zombies now thats new)

A contractor working at a Shell facility evacuated another 300 workers, industry sources said.

sources sources sources.
sources of Oil.
sources of Money.
sources of Misery.
my source is the linked article-

by thieves Sun Sep 25, 2005 15:05

Mujahid Dokubo-Asari's lawyer, Uche Okwukwu, said the detained warlord wanted his followers to stay calm.

"Asari gave me the instruction to tell them that nobody should harm any foreigner or do anything criminal. They shouldn't do anything that could put his case in jeopardy. It's not in the interest of the movement," Okwukwu told Reuters. see link
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25721200.htm

[..."Asari says he is fighting for the rights of the Ijaw, the delta's biggest ethnic group. His detractors accuse him of being involved in crimes such as a protection racket. Most of the delta's 20 million people live in extreme poverty alongside an industry that produces billions of dollars in revenue for foreign oil companies and the Nigerian government, which has failed to provide basic services such as water or power."]

***************
other nigerian news:-
after Governor Diepriye Alamieyeseigha the governor of Bayelsa state was arrested in possession of one million pounds in London, the debate on Nigeria's new money laundering laws of 2004 and the high level corruption they were supposed to curtail has opened again, as well as the diplomatic immunity granted to its officials.

more info at links :-
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f125092005.html
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/cover/september05/25092005/f325092005.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/200509220420.html

background :

On setember 15th Governor Alamieyeseigha was arrested at Heathrow in London for breaking standard international laws which limit the amount of cash one may carry without declaration. You can normally get away with an a few cigarettes a bottle of scotch, some Burberry or Chanel perfume, and gold, silver or platinum jewelry and 8000€.
You carry a suitcase full of used notes -
"you is well dodgey."
He was charged at Heathrow police station for money laundering as part of an ongoing international investigation and detained on bail, he has now been released but will re-appear at the Metropolitian Police station for that district on November 15th 2005.

"do pass it on". (if you've ever got a spam email along the "business proposal lines - nows your chance to register public opinion)

http://allafrica.com/stories/200509220314.html

by iosaf Tue Sep 27, 2005 23:27

Nigeria's government has promised to spend wisely the money Swiss Banks through their federation have promised to give them as reported in the last hour.

The Swiss government has formally handed over the money through the World Bank in the USA the approximate value of the digital loot so far transferred is $290 million (SFr377 million) 257million£ well over 275 million€. Nigeria is looking forward to $458m.

This dosh was stolen from Nigerla by the dictator Sani Abacha during his period in the hot seat from 1993 to 1998. As dead dictator accounts which end up going through international claims its not much.

Yasser Arafat personally looked after 3 billion$ the whole kitty of the PLA, Mr Hariri of Lebanon chalked up 2billion$ "in safe hands". But Nigeria was third world. You wouldn't really expect it to top the real estate value of south inner city Dublin (yes with the posh bits).
But check this out! Mr Abacha maanged to siphon off 2.2billion$. So all the good news is really just a quarter of the theft.
It makes the previous comment update on the one million in a suit case seem paltry doesn't it? Quite.
Not even Haughey and the whole current FF front bench managed to cream off over 400,000,000$ a year. There would have been protests.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1807345,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4287700.stm

____________________________________________

11 Nigerian police officers have been suspended from duty after child sex abuse allegations in the DR Congo. This happened during their UN stint. But then again we remember that Irish Army UN chaps did the same, so we can't really use the "third world" tag on that. Still justice is quicker in the first world coz we're accountable and transparent. The nigerians were worse though, oh yes, 2 of those who took part in the "romp" (yes it was a group activity) were assistant superintendents, one was an inspector, five sergents and two corporals and (yes you're sharp ---- only one rank and file "garda").


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4285650.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5304704,00.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/200509270043.html

___________________________________________
Good News!!!!!

["Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo Monday launched a home-grown school feeding program aimed at improving the nutritional intake by at least 25 million children of school age in Africa's most populous country.
"Nigeria is making a statement that it cares about her children and the future of the nation," Obasanjo said while launching the program at a primary school in Nigeria's capital Abuja.
A total of 2.5 million children or 10 percent of the total population of primary school children are expected to take part in the pilot phase of the program aimed at providing one meal per school day for every child in Nigerian schools].
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KHII-6GM4ZF?OpenDocument

___________________________________________:_

Oh did I forget to mention?
the Oil wells are safe.
There have been allegations that trigger happy sodiers went putting the fear of discipline in the local villages (where they live in abject poverty)
but Chevron, Shell, Exxon &C.., are now "post Rita" back upto normal exploitation of nigeria at 2.2million barrels of crude a day.

Mad isn't it? Sani Abacha is reckoned to have got 10$ for every barrel of crude exported a day in 8 years. Do the maths - something is evil.

((( I'll stop reporting on Nigeria now will I? I don't feel anyone is learning from it )))

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49259&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1807249,00.html
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8CSMAC05.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db

by iosaf Thu Oct 20, 2005 13:12

The 2005 "transparency report" on corruption perception has been published. Ireland shares number 19 with Belgium just ahead of Japan and behind the USA, Nigeria shares number 152 with Cote d'Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea only ahead of Haiti, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Banglandesh and Chad, (popularly perceived as the most corrupt states on earth).

Corruption, means nothing gets done without greasing a paw.
Corruption means nothing gets built by the state without most of the money being creamed off.
Corruption means you meet a cop, you pay that cop money or you goto jail.
Corruption means you're in jail, you don't get fed unless you pay.
Corruption means...

"you don't get a vaccine for bird flu".
"you don't get AIDS treatments".
"you don't get schools".
"you don't get special needs for the autistics"

Maybe someday an irish born Nigerian will finally manage to blow up the oil fields. Meanwhile, just because members of our community are sent immorally and brutally away from our society and the state it supports, does not mean they "are gone for good or bad". Stay in contact with them.
A sim card and a non network mobile phone of the old fashioned variety is a wonderful gift.

we might bring them back someday.

Red states corrupt. Grey states no data. (mauritania). Pink states you can drop dollar bills.

by iosaf Thu Oct 20, 2005 20:56

The Leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, who was arraigned before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on a five count charge of treason on October 6, has today Ocotober 20 asked the court to grant bail, arguing that a prima facie case has not been made against him by the federal government.

Dokubo in a 6 paragraph affidavit in support of the bail application averred that he "was invited by the Rivers State Police commission on September 15, 2005 and on getting there, he was asked if he knew anything of plans to blow up installations over the arrest of Bayelsa Governor which he answered in the negative".

"Dokubo has no criminal record and has never been tried for any offence and if granted bail, will not commit any similar offence or any other at all, again that he will not impede any further investigation and will not jump bail, but will make himself available for trial, if admitted to bail".

"the accused is worthy enough to be granted bail in self recognisance and alternatively can provide credible sureties for his bail, more so, that there is no prima facie evidence that the accused has committed the offence for which he is charged and that it is in the interest of justice to grant the bail application".

The Nigerian state is arguing against the bail request and in its counter affidavit stated :
"Dokubo, if granted bail, the prosecution of the charge against him will be at risk and that it will be prejudicial to national security".... " "most other suspects are still at large, the available evidence against the accused so far is over-whelming, and he is a militant leader of a dangerous, armed and unlawful society, called the Niger Delta Volunteer Force and if granted bail, the accused will commit similar offence, interfere with investigation of the case and not make himself available for trial and that after the arrest of the accused, his statement was obtained wherein he confessed to the commission of the crimes"

The follow-up hearing is set for November 10.