OIL WORKER HOSTAGE UPDATE SITREP #14

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000090 SIPDIS STATE PASS DOE FOR DAS JBRODMAN AND CGAY TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS AND SRENENDER COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR MARAD STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ STATE FOR DS/IP/AF, AF/EX, DS/IP/OPO, DS/ICI/PII, DS/DSS/ITA E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2015 TAGS: EPET PGOV ASEC PTER KHLS PINR ETRD CASC NI SUBJECT: OIL WORKER HOSTAGE UPDATE SITREP #14 REF: A. LAGOS 84 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. ABUJA 120 Classified By: Acting Consul General William Howe for Reasons 1.4 (D & E) -------------- -------------- Conflicting Reports Regarding Imminent Hostage Release -------------- -------------- ¶1. (C) Econoff reports Bayelsa State officials continue to portray the hostages' release as imminent, and tell him the hostages may be released between about 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. tonight. He reports officials in Yenagoa are upbeat and confident regarding their information sources. The usual representatives of the Movement for the Survival of the Niger Delta (MSND),as well as a handful of previously unknown youths, appeared at the Bayelsa Government house at 22:00 on January 23. They requested a jeep and two plainclothes policemen to accompany them back to their camp for the release of the hostages. (Comment: While the Bayelsa State Secretary to the Governor (SSG) was the initial source for SIPDIS the information, an MSND leader confirmed it independently. Mission considers predictions of a 24-48 hour release stale. End Comment.) Additionally, Bayelsa State officials point to new information sources: Rubebe Bello, a youth leader in the Nkerekoko area, and Ikoro Bello, a leader for militant group FNDIC. Bayelsa State SSG said Nkerekoko area leaders had expelled the kidnappers from their community to the Sagbama area. (Note: Nkerekoko, alternately spelled Okerenghigho and Okerenkoko, is a headquarters for militant group FNDIC. Shell officials tell us they consider Sagbama a "red zone area," "a hornet's nest," and a "well-known zone for militia activity." End Note.) ¶2. (C) E-mails reportedly sent by the kidnappers to the Reuters and Bloomberg news agencies foreclose the possibility of the hostages imminent release, and further threaten the security of area oil installations. Reuters editor Ashby has received two e-mails from the kidnappers since the morning of 23 January. Both messages were threatening, and denied the government was speaking to the hostage takers. The messages promised further attacks and hostage-takings, and re-iterated "the release of the hostages is directly connected with the release Chief Alamieseigha and Asari. ... Be assured that the hostages in return, will remain our guests... As earlier stated, we have mandated no one but Chief Alamieseigha or Alhaji Asari to negotiate the release of the hostages...The hostages are going nowhere." ¶3. (C) The Bayelsa SSG said he had authority from the President to sign a guarantee that there would be no military reprisals against the hostage takers. He communicated this information to their representatives, but according to multiple reports, they do not trust his assurances. ¶4. (U) Ijaw community leaders are becoming more vocal in the press in their requests to the kidnappers to release the hostages. -------------- Hostage Welfare Update -------------- ¶5. (C) Peter Quiatkowski, Ecodrill Country Manager, received confirmation that medicines, mosquito nets, water and other supplies reached the hostages. Ecodrill was introduced to two local youths who were known locally to have visited the camp where the hostages were being held. The youths described the camp as "up the river," about two hours from Warri, Delta State. They said it was guarded by 4 checkpoints with 3-4 militants at each. The entire camp, including checkpoints, held 60 people. On January 20, Quiatkowski gave the boys the supplies and a card with a question which only British hostage Nigel Watson-Clarke could answer. Quiatkowski paid them 40,000 naira, or about $300, for expenses and 200,000 naira, about $1,500, as a "sitting fee" and promised the same as a bonus on their return. The boys returned January 23 with the correct answer to the question on the card; Quiatkowski and Mission are confident only Watson-Clarke could have provided the response. (Note. Econoff was told by Bayelsa government sources that youths in the Warri area, near Firewood Village, had bought medicines and were seen carrying them into the camp. End Note.) Quiatkowski returns to Warri tonight to meet with the youths again. He plans to dispatch them on another visit to hostages with additional medication; he indicated they are eager to carry out a return visit. Working under the guidance of Scotland Yard officials, Quiatkowski may attempt to have the youths confirm whether all four hostages are present in the camp, and whether the commander in charge is willing to confirm discussions with Bayelsa State officials. ¶6. (C) Tidex has not sent a much-discussed e-mail response to the kidnappers, but, in consultation with Scotland Yard officials, continues to update the text of a possible response daily. ¶7. (C) Bayelsa State will not release the photograph of the hostages seen by Econoff, according to the Bayelsa SSG. The Bayelsa Governor promised to keep press attendance at the release of the hostages to a minimum, although he is planning to have the hostages brought to his compound where his own press officer will be present. -------------- Update on Hunt for the Supposed Mastermind -------------- ¶8. (C) In a 22 January meeting with Econoff, British and Tidex representatives, the Bayelsa Governor called Abel Ebifemowei the "intellectual" author and orchestrator of the kidnappings. The Bayelsa State SSG said Abel arranged a protection detail for former Governor Alamieyeseigha on his return from London, consisting of 200-300 militant youths. Although these youths fled when federal government troops appeared, they were Ebifemowei's natural recruits for subsequent militant actions. ¶9. (C) According to the SSG, impeached Bayelsa House Speaker Boye Dekeme made payments to the militia groups for Ebifemowei. The SSG also accused Dekeme of renting a boat on December 24, 2005 to allow his operatives to perform forward reconnaissance on the oil facilities subsequently attacked, as well as to recruit more youths for the movement. A military officer named Bomadi reportedly assisted Dekeme, to ensure that his operatives could move about freely. ¶10. (C) The SSG said there were warrants issued by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF),the State Security Service (SSS),and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the arrest of Ebifemowei. EFCC sources confirmed on January 23 that a warrant was in process, but they did not believe it had been signed. They have promised to follow up. -------------- British Diplomatic Action; Shell Reaching out to Other Missions -------------- ¶11. (C) British representatives have reported the British Foreign Secretary spoke with President Obasanjo over the weekend to enlist his assistance. The British High Commissioner plans to speak with the Bayelsa Governor today. Shell contacts reported the French, Belgian, Dutch, and Swiss Ambassadors and Charge d'Affaires would visit Shell today, and would be asked to assist. -------------- -------------- Ecodrill Challenges Shell on Community Commitments; Political Demands Rattle Shell -------------- -------------- ¶12. (C) Shell Executive Vice President Pickard appeared at today's daily crisis group meeting hosted by Shell. Ecodrill's Quiatkowski told her bluntly that, "Shell does not keep its promises," meaning its promises to local community groups. He said Ecodrill's willingness to follow up on its promises ensured it had much better community relations than Shell. Pickard told the group she had received the same message "non-stop" from over a thousand Shell employees yesterday in a town hall style meeting. She emphasized Shell is not currently making commitments it cannot fulfill, but Shell faced significant legacy issues from unfulfilled commitments from the mid-1990s which still need to be resolved. She asked Ecodrill's Quiatkowski and Tidex Vice-President McNee to "contact her personally" if they were aware of Shell failing to follow up on current commitments it made. She told us Shell remains deeply concerned with rising violence in the Delta in the run-up to the 2007 elections, and had launched scenario planning exercises in December, prior to the kidnapping, to attempt to better understand the evolving political landscape. She noted Shell was accustomed to economic demands to resolve hostage situations, saying she was even somewhat "relieved" at the demand for 1.5 USD billion in environmental restitution, as it fit the usual pattern of demands. However, she finds demands for the release of Chief Alamieseigha and Asari disturbing, as they are far from the typical demands Shell confronts, and point towards a far wider political agenda to which Shell cannot respond. -------------- Update to Repatriation Plan -------------- ¶13. (C) Pol Counselor Hanks traveled to Warri today for additional outreach with contacts in Delta State. Conoff Kovacsics traveled to Bayelsa State capital Yenagoa to provide additional support for mission outreach and a possible hostage release. Conoff will coordinate repatriation efforts with the U.K. Mission. Currently, the repatriation plan stands as follows: The Bayelsa State Government will meet and transport the hostages from the point of release to the Bayelsa Governor's compound in Yenagoa. Depending on the medical condition of the hostages, Shell will transport the hostages from the compound to either their Warri medical clinic, or the Warri airport. Shell will fly the hostages to Lagos on a corporate plane, where the U.S. and U.K. governments will meet and assume responsibility for them. The U.K. Mission will host the hostages in an official residence for one night, (Mission has offered alternative housing, if needed.),before accompanying them to the airport for commercial transport to London on Virgin or British Airlines. An American Consulate expediter will be available at the airport to assist. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶14. (C) While Mission is positioned to provide full assistance in the event the hostages are released tonight, we are operating on the presumption that the announcement of their imminent release is premature; we are taking steps to continue developing information sources regarding their welfare and whereabouts. HOWE