ARMED ATTACKS ON TWO NIGER DELTA OIL FACILITIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 001447

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2016
TAGS: EPET ENERG ASEC PTER NI
SUBJECT: ARMED ATTACKS ON TWO NIGER DELTA OIL FACILITIES

REF: A. LAGOS 1441

B. LAGOS 1408

C. LAGOS 1427

Classified By: Consul Alan Latimer for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Summary: In separate incidents, armed men attacked
Agip's Tebidaba flow station in Bayelsa State, and a Total
base camp for workers at Total's Obagi field in Rivers State.
A Shell spokesperson indicated that reports of an attack on
a facility in the Egbema council area of Rivers State were
not true; the facility did, however, receive threats. Four
expatriate employees of Agip (none American) seized by armed
men on December 7 remain in captivity. Also being held
hostage are one Nigerian employee of a Shell contractor and
three Nigerian soldiers from the Joint Task Force who were
seized during a December 14 attack on Shell's Nun River flow
station. End Summary.


2. (C) Fidelis Anju, General Manager for Public Affairs for
Agip confirmed that the company's Tebidaba flow station in
Bayelsa State was attacked by armed men in the early hours of
December 21. According to Anju, eighteen Nigerian workers
(no expatriates, no American citizens) are being held in the
flow station. The flow station has been shut down,
curtailing production of 40,000 barrels per day of oil. Agip
is having difficulty communicating with the flow station,
because the company's Port Harcourt office remains closed
through January 2. (Ref A) According to a security source,
Government of Nigeria security forces engaged the attackers,
who killed one military officer. The same source reported
that the individual who led the attack is Joshua Makefa, a
militant arrested in 2003 and detained until 2004. According
to the source, the attackers want the company to employ area
youth to provide security services at the facility. The
company's spokesman could not confirm the information from
the security source.


3. (C) According to Alhaji Suleiman Gimba, Assistant to
Total's General Manager for Public Affairs, armed men
attacked a base camp for workers at the company's Obagi oil
field in Rivers State at 3:30 AM on December 21. Three of
the company's Nigerian security forces were killed in the
attack. When the attack began, expatriate employees
retreated to the facility's safe haven where they waited out
the attack. Other Total personnel suffered some minor
injuries, the spokesman said. The attackers took money and
cell phones from the Nigerian workers.


4. (C) Olav Lijosne, Media and External Affairs Manager for
Shell Production and Development Corporation said that
reports of an attack on the company's facility in the
Ogba/Egbema council area of the Ndoni ethnic group in Rivers
State were false. The facility received threats, but did not
come under attack.


5. (C) Four expatriate hostages (none are American) seized
December 7 from an Agip facility are still held captive,
according to Anju. (Ref B) The company's Chief Executive
Officer is seeking an appointment with President Obasanjo to
protest the lack of progress in obtaining freedom for the
captives. Four Nigerian employees of Shell, seized December
14 at Shell's Nun River facility, remain hostages. (Ref C)
The local community has disavowed the hostage-taking.



BROWNE