6 FILIPINOS KIDNAPPED, AMCITS & BRITS NEXT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000038 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: 01/22/2017 TAGS: EPET ENERG ASEC PTER CASC NI SUBJECT: 6 FILIPINOS KIDNAPPED, AMCITS & BRITS NEXT, MILITANTS WARN LAGOS 00000038 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne for reasons 1.4 (B) and ( D) ¶1. (C) Summary. Six Filipino nationals were taken hostage from a vessel near Okerenkoko in Delta State on January 20. The following day, militants met in Okerenkoko and agreed to target American and British citizens for kidnapping, a security source and local newspapers reported. Governor James Ibori of Delta State told us he had passed intelligence to the military Joint Task Force that the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) was planning to attack a barge or vessel but the military failed to restrict vessels from operating in the area during the appointed time. Bayelsa Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Godknows Igali, SIPDIS confirmed that FNDIC and its leader Tom Polo were responsible for the kidnapping. End Summary. 6 FILIPINOS KIDNAPPED, AMCITS & BRITS NEXT -------------- ¶2. (C) Six Filipinos were taken hostage from a cargo vessel near Okerenkoko, Delta State, on January 20. According to a security source, militants (identities unknown) met in Okerenkoko the following day and agreed to take United States and British citizens hostage and to target Chevron oil company facilities and other locations within the creeks. On January 21, individuals purporting to represent the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) denied responsibility for kidnapping the six Filipinos. (Okerenkoko is near the home base of FNDIC, the group that carried out the January-February 2006 kidnappings of expatriate oil workers.) IBORI: DESPITE WARNINGS, MILITARY DOES NOT PREVENT ATTACK -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) On January 21, Governor James Ibori of Delta State told the Consul General that two days before the attack, he received intelligence suggesting FNDIC was going to resume militant activities by targeting a barge or vessel. Governor Ibori was incensed that despite having passed this information to the Joint Task Force (JTF),the JTF failed to impose tight restrictions on vessels plying the waters near Okerenkoko. Because of this failure, the vessel was allowed to leave port and thus became subject to attack. IGALI: POLO'S FNDIC IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTACK -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Tom Polo's group kidnapped the six Filipino workers, Bayelsa Secretary to the State Government Dr. Godknows Igali confirmed to the Consul General on January 21. The attack breaks the informal cessation of activities the group had obeyed since last March. Apparently, Tom Polo, pushed by some of his radical lieutenants, was angered the Warri-based Ijaw community did not emerge with any choice nominations from the ruling PDP state primaries held in December. Governor Ibori, an Urhobo, anointed his Itsekiri cousin and former Secretary to the State Government, Emmanuel Uduaghan, to be his successor. Further denting Ijaw political yearnings, the National and State Assembly nominations for the Warri area were Itsekiri, as were two-thirds of the local government positions. Additionally influencing Polo's decision to carry out this kidnapping is increased clamoring for action from within FNDIC, Igali said. COMMENT -------------- LAGOS 00000038 002.2 OF 002 ¶5. (C) For nearly a year, FNDIC has voluntarily sidelined itself from engaging in disruptive activities such as kidnapping or attacks on oil installations. Thus, the attack on January 19 is troublesome. First, it falls one year after FNDIC engineered its first kidnapping of expatriate oil workers. That this attack occurred on the anniversary of the first hostage taking cannot be deemed a coincidence. Nor was the statement against American and British citizens a coincidence. FNDIC has restrained itself from major militant operations in hopes of gaining representation in mainstream Delta State politics. That hope has been dashed. Now, Tom Polo feels compelled to react in the face of the apparent disdain shown him. If this represents a shift in FNDIC from a passive to an aggressive policy, then the security environment around Warri has suffered a significant setback that bodes more difficulties for major oil companies, including Chevron, and their expatriate oil workers, particularly from western countries. End Comment. BROWNE