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

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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
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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
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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
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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
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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