MILITANT ATTACK ON CONVOY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 001249 SIPDIS SIPDIS DOE FOR GPERSON,CGAY TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS, SRENENDER, DFIELDS COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS STATE PASS USTR FOR ASST USTR SLISER STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR MARAD STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART STATE PASS TDA FOR NCABOT STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2016 TAGS: EPET PGOV ASEC PTER PINR ETRD CASC NI SUBJECT: MILITANT ATTACK ON CONVOY Classified By: Consul General Brian Browne for Reasons 1.4 (D & E) ¶1. (C) Summary: Three Joint Task Force (JTF) soldiers and a boatman were killed, one JTF soldier critically wounded, and seven JTF soldiers and a boatman are missing after an attack by Niger Delta militants on a Shell barge convoy on October 2. Twenty-five Nigerian employees of the Shell contractor are still unaccounted for. The 70 militants were subsequently identified in two communiqus as members of the Joint Revolutionary Council, composed of the Niger Delta Political Emancipation Front (NDPEF),The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the Martyrs Brigade (TMB). Embassy and Consulate officers have been in contact with JTF and Nigerian government counterparts to urge restraint. There is no evidence that any American citizens or other expatriates are involved in this latest incident. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Knut Engelbretson, Vice President for External Affairs, Shell Exploration and Production, told Pol/Econ Chief that a Shell convoy, consisting of barges loaded with diesel fuel and water, was attacked in the Delta on Monday, October 2. Engelbretson said the militants killed three soldiers and a boatman attached to the Joint Task Force (JTF) unit guarding the convoy. (Note: The Joint Task Force is the military unit charged with maintaining security in the Niger Delta. End Note.) ¶3. (C) An additional seven JTF personnel and three boatmen were captured by the militants. The whereabouts of 25 Nigerians, all employed by a Shell contractor, are currently unknown. Five JTF personnel were injured in the attack, one of them critically, and four other persons also received injuries. Shell treated and released four of the injured JTF personnel; the critically injured person remains in a Shell medical facility in the area. ¶4. (C) Shell has received two communications from the militants, Engelbretson said. In the first, the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) claimed responsibility for the attack. A second communiqu was received via email from militant spokesperson Cynthia Whyte claiming to speak on behalf of the three militant groups, the Niger Delta Political Emancipation Front (NDPEF),MEND (The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) and the Martyrs Brigade (TMB),who make up the JRC. The communique called for the release of Dokubu Asari, the Ijaw militant leader jailed over a year ago on treason charges. Asari is awaiting trial. (Note: Whyte is closely associated with Asari. End Note.) ¶5. (C) River State Governor Odili told us the attack was actually precipitated when the JTF patrol fired on a small boat with several unarmed youths on board. After being fired at, the vessel retreated, apparently informing the armed militants of what happened. The militants embarked in their speed boats, confronted the JTF patrol and a fight ensued. The subsequent communiques and statements were improvised to make it appear that this rash action was a calculated move by the militants. Odili stated that this rendition of events was related to him by Nigerian government security personnel stationed in Rivers State. We advised Odili, in his talks with GON security officials, to urge restraint and eschew quick, indiscriminate reaction that could sweep innocent citizens into a violent dragnet. OSAC Meeting Held -------------- ¶6. (C) Regional Security Officer (RSO) led a November 3 meeting of the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) Niger Delta Working Group. International oil company security personnel in the meeting said that a Port Harcourt source told them that the militants ambushed a single resupply boat, accompanied by two JTF boats, as it entered LAGOS 00001249 002 OF 002 the mouth of the Bileiye Creek en route between Cawthorne and Ekolema (phonetic). Up to 70 militants in five boats may have participated in the attack. ¶7. (C) Meeting participants noted that they do not believe, based on the communiqu, that either expatriates or Shell vessels were the intended victims of the attack, but rather that the JTF itself was the target. They speculated that the pirated vessel could nonetheless be used by the militants to reach further offshore to attack installations previously beyond their reach. ¶8. (C) Comment: Whether premeditated or spontaneous, this is a larger number of militants than we have previously seen operating together in Rivers State. The Nigerian military has a regrettable history of indiscriminate responses to events such as this. Mission personel in Abuja and Lagos will continue to urge restraint to their GON counterparts. We have no evidence that American citizens or other expatriates are involved in this latest incident. BROWNE