NIGERIA'S DELTA TENSE; ASARI IN COURT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001798 SIPDIS ENERGY FOR DAS JBRODMAN AND CGAY TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS AND SRENENDER COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR MARAD STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART STATE PASS TDA FOR NCABOT STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER STATE PASS USTR FOR ASST USTR SLISER STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2015 TAGS: PGOV EPET ASEC NI DELTAVIOLENCE SUBJECT: NIGERIA'S DELTA TENSE; ASARI IN COURT REF: A. ABUJA 1789 ¶B. LAGOS 1463 Classified By: Political Counselor Russell J. Hanks for reasons 1.4 (B & D) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) An uneasy calm has settled on Port Harcourt, but it is overshadowed by the fear among Embassy contacts that this incident could push the country into its most serious crisis in years. Some of the militia members have returned to the rivers even as Asari appeared before a court in Abuja. He has yet to be charged and political efforts are underway to secure his release and defuse the volatile situation. Oil companies report interference with their operations in many parts of the region, but some postponed the decision on evacuations until tomorrow. No AmCits are reported at risk. Asari's arrest, coupled with that of the Bayelsa Governor in London, continues to raise the tensions in the perennially tense Delta region. SECURITY UPDATE -------------- ¶2. (SBU) An uneasy calm has settled on Port Harcourt, although it is being enforced by what is described as a huge, visible police and military presence. ¶3. (C) The apparent calm in Port Harcourt appears to be the result of the departure of large numbers of the militants. Reports indicate that many of the militants decided to return to the riverine areas to map out strategy in the event Asari is charged in court. A large group is said to remain in the D-Line area of the city but according to reports, others are not evident. One of Asari's political allies contacted PolCouns and in an obviously agitated state asked for USG intervention in the matter "before the Delta blows up." He worried that no one in the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) could step in to the leadership position and control the various commanders. "There is no number two" to take charge, he said. Rather, the various commanders will "likely respond as they see fit," individually and capriciously. ¶4. (SBU) Mission sources report 3 or 4 Shell flow stations and Chevron's Ebama-area platform in Rivers State have been occupied by armed assailants, but no violence has broken out so far. The Chevron platform was safely evacuated, but some personnel chose to remain. Shell said none of its facilities had been occupied, but confirmed they have been evacuating non-essential personnel from flow stations and rigs into Port Harcourt. Shell currently has no plans to evacuate employees out of Port Harcourt. Rumors are spreading that takeovers may soon spread to oil facilities in Bayelsa and Delta States. ENERGY SECTOR UPDATE -------------- ¶5. (C) The major oil companies in Nigeria remain in a state of alert. Chevron Health, Safety and Environment Manager Cheryl Robnett reports all is quiet near Chevron's Port Harcourt office, with all employees accounted for. ConocoPhillips Managing Director Todd Creer noted they are still restricting travel, with all employees are accounted for. Seacor Managing Director Robert Clemons (now MD of a newly merged Seabulk and Seacor corporation) reported gunshots in the Transamadi area of Port Harcourt this morning. Seacor offices remain closed, and all expatriate and Nigerian employees are inside. Participants in the disturbances in Port Harcourt yesterday smashed the windows of two Seacor vehicles, but local staff in the vehicles escaped unharmed. ¶6. (C) Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) reported tensions are high and increasing in Port Harcourt. SPDC's Port Harcourt-based headquarters remained closed, with several thousand primarily Nigerian employees remaining at home. Shell production operations remain active, with operational personnel locked down on location in the field. Shell denied press reports their Eastern Area operations had been shut down. ¶7. (C) ExxonMobil Managing Director John Chaplin told us the Lagos Chamber of Commerce's Oil Producer's Trade Section (OPTS),the main industry group, met yesterday to consider the security situation. In Chaplin's view, the situation since then has deteriorated, with at least one platform takeover, and Asari arraigned in court. In Chaplin's estimation, the oil companies might decided to begin to evacuate their people from the area back to Lagos or other safer points in Nigeria. ExxonMobil will make its decision tomorrow. For now, ExxonMobil considers it safer for employees to remain in Port Harcourt than to attempt an evacuation. ExxonMobil would like evacuate employees via a nearby naval air station, rather than risking the 45-minute drive to the airport. In addition to employees at the main ExxonMobil compound, there are employees at Onne Free Port and the nearby Intels-managed port facilities. All ExxonMobil employees and contractors are accounted for. Oil service contractor Panalpina's country mana ger Chris Axelson reported their office was open but that many companies were beginning to move their personnel out of Port Harcourt by air. ASARI IN COURT -------------- ¶8. (C) NDVF leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari appeared before Abuja High Court 19 about midday 22 September. The court, located in the Gudu district, is an unfinished building with little public access and no sign. In spite of this, PolSpec and a few reporters were on hand for the 10 minute appearance of Asari. ¶9. (C) Justice Adekunola Banjoko opened the session, attended personally by Attorney General Chief Bayo Ojo. Asari launched a tirade against the Obasanjo regime, saying "this is not a court of justice. It is a kangaroo court." "If this is what President Obasanjo calls democracy, it is a charade worse than military dictatorship," he continued. ¶10. (C) Banjoko responded to Asari by saying that this was not an arraignment, but rather a "court of cognizance." He then asked Asari whether he was innocent of the charges. Asari complained that his attorney had been arrested and said he would not answer charges that had not been filed. Banjoko remanded him to custody for two weeks and Asari was whisked away to an undisclosed detention facility. Ojo told journalists after the session that Asari would soon be "officially charged to a Federal High Court for treason." ¶11. (C) According to contacts in the National Assembly, efforts are underway to secure a meeting with President Obasanjo to discuss the implications of Asari's arrest. The Representatives expressed "extreme concern" to PolCouns that Asari's continued detention could lead to "an explosion that Abuja cannot control." They hoped that they could secure his release before confrontations escalated. PRESS REPORT -------------- ¶12. (U) Major Lagos-based dailies today reported on the disturbance in the Delta touched off by Asari's arrest, as well as GON intent to try the leader for treason. Business Day, the sole publication to report the kidnapping of two foreign nationals on September 21, provided no additional information on the unconfirmed report. Mission sources also indicate that local reporting in the Delta on the disturbances has been censored, with at least one local daily, the Port Harcourt Telegraph, being warned to stop publishing about the Asari arrest. ACS REPORT -------------- ¶13. (U) We have no report of American citizens hurt or missing. COMMENT -------------- ¶14. (C) The continued legal travails of Asari in Abuja and, to a lesser degree, of the Bayelsa governor Alameiyesiegha in London has stirred the pot. Tensions will remain high as long as Asari's confederates and sympathizers feel he is in the wrong hands - the GON legal system. The takeover of facilities, disruption of operations and harm to oil company employees unfortunately are all possibilities in such a roiled environment as is the Delta right now. ¶15. (C) The fear that this incident could push the country into its most serious crisis in years is evident among Embassy contacts from throughout the country. The one glimmer of hope in the process is that Asari has not yet been charged. The efforts of politicians and NGOs to contain the situation could lead to a peaceful resolution if the militants do not provoke the situation through violence. ¶16. (U) This is a joint Lagos-Abuja cable. CAMPBELL