TRADITIONAL RULERS KILLED IN NIGER DELTA; OIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 000029 SIPDIS SIPDIS DOE FOR GPERSON, CGAY TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS, SRENENDER, DFIELDS COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS STATE PASS USTR FOR ASST USTR FLISER 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 STATE PASS DS/IP/AF, DS/IP/ITA, DS/ICI/PII E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2016 TAGS: EPET ENERG ASEC PTER CASC NI SUBJECT: TRADITIONAL RULERS KILLED IN NIGER DELTA; OIL FACILITY ATTACKED Classified By: Consul General Brian Browne for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) Summary: Armed militants attacked the Ekuonoma flowstation owned by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Rivers State on January 16. Expatriate and local staff from that station had already been evacuated; there has been no decline in production as of yet. The attack on the flowstation apparently was a result of community squabbles in which four traditional rulers in the Kula Kingdom were killed by members of a rival group. Evidently, loyalists of the deceased royal quartet attacked the station in an effort to re-assert the supremacy of their faction. End summary. ¶2. (C) A private sector security source told Regional Security Officer (RSO) that the SPDC Ekuonoma flow station in Rivers State was attacked by armed militants at approximately 2:30am on January 16. Shell spokesman Olav Ljosne said the attack had not disrupted production at the station. He confirmed that the estimated 100 workers at that location had been evacuated before the attack due to reports of unrest in the adjacent Kula community. Ljosne observed this was the latest wave of turbulence rocking the neighboring Kula community. ¶3. (C) Apparently, gunmen killed twelve people, including four traditional rulers, in an attack on a speedboat on January 14. One of the rulers was Chief Opusungi, the "paramount ruler" of the Kula community. Evidently, as paramount ruler, Opusungi was the recipient of payments or donations for community development the oil companies may have made to the Kula area. Evidently, Opusungi's penchant for forgetting to share among other chiefs what he received from this corporate dole created a rival faction that bucked against his continued paramountcy. Unable to resolve this with bluster, they resorted to bloodshed, ambushing Opusungi one night on his way home from Port Harcourt. A private sector security contact related to RSO that the son of Chief Opusungi, Kenneth Opusungi, directed the attack on the flowstation. ¶4. (U) The attack against the station apparently was to show the rivals that the loss of the old man did not extinguish the faction's power. Moreover, it also seemingly was a signal to Shell to continue to treat with the Opusungi faction and not be swayed by the rival group. BROWNE