DELTA STATE GOVERNOR TO SEEK AMNESTY FOR MILITANTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000452 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, INR/AA, DS/IP/AF, DS/ICI/PII, DS/DSS/OSAC WARSAW FOR LISA PIASCIK CIUDAD JUAREZ FOR DONNA BLAIR ISTANBUL FOR TASHAWNA SMITH SAO PAULO FOR ANDREW WITHERSPOON OSLO FOR HELENA SCHRADER DOE FOR GPERSON, CAROLYN GAY 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 E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER NI SUBJECT: DELTA STATE GOVERNOR TO SEEK AMNESTY FOR MILITANTS LAGOS 00000452 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Consul Alan B. C. Latimer for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) Summary: On June 4, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, a Delta State government official, told Poloff that Ijaw militants in Delta State offered their support to current Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan when he was campaigning in the state in April. Many militants want to leave the creeks and reintegrate into society, Pinnick posited; the Delta State Government will request the GON to grant amnesty to a number of militants in order to begin addressing Niger Delta militancy. The state government will also seek viable employment opportunities, such as protecting pipelines, to help rehabilitate militants. Pinnick described the newly created Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) as a vehicle through which communities in Delta State can determine how to spend oil derivation funds in their areas. End Summary. -------------- Delta Militants Give Uduaghan A Chance -------------- ¶2. (C) In a June 4 meeting with Poloff, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, a Delta State government official, said when Emmanuel Uduaghan was campaigning for the Delta State governorship in the creeks, forty armed Ijaw militants surrounded his boat near Escravos, Delta State. To the Itsekiri candidate's surprise, the militants purportedly offered him their support. Pinnick postulated the militants supported Uduaghan because he "fought for the under-represented" when he was Secretary to the Delta State Government. Uduaghan is no stranger to injustice as his brother was a well-qualified chemical engineer but was denied a position with Chevron while all the jobs went to Hausas, Igbos and Yorubas. (Comment: Poloff's recent discussions with Delta State interlocutors, including an Ijaw youth from Gbaramatu, suggest many Delta State indigenes are willing to give Uduaghan a chance to prove himself as Governor. End Comment.) -------------- -------------- Amnesty & Rehabilitation for Militants & Hostage Takers -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) When Uduaghan was Secretary to the State Government, before becoming Governor, he created a committee in Delta State through which militants and ethnically-diverse communities could discuss and recommend ways to achieve peace in the state. Now that Uduaghan is Governor, Pinnick said his Administration would adopt a two-prong approach to lower militancy in the state. First, the Delta State government would provide the Federal Government with names of militants it has identified as able to reintegrate into society and request that they be given amnesty. Government officials have contacts within the militant camps and, according to Pinnick, would be able to identify those that qualify for amnesty. Pinnick was confident such an overture would be welcomed by the militants since many of them are "highly educated and tired of living in the bush," he claimed. Pinnick recognized this was not the case for all militants, however, and said the State Security Service (SSS) is aware of those individuals with criminal backgrounds. LAGOS 00000452 002.2 OF 002 ¶4. (C) Pinnick said the second phase to this plan would be to disarm and rehabilitate militants. He noted that this must be done carefully since similar attempts have failed in the past. Three years ago, when the Rivers State Government offered youths money for arms, the youths took the money and kept their arms, claiming "not enough money" was offered. When the Rivers State Government offered the militants significantly more money for their arms, the militants accepted the exchange but subsequently purchased "more sophisticated weapons." The Delta State Government has learned from these failed approaches and will seek to "increase capacity" by offering militants alternative employment opportunities. He suggested that the militants could be given employment with international oil companies (IOCs) to protect pipelines and fulfill local content labor laws. (Note: Many Niger Delta interlocutors, including government officials, youths, and human rights activists, have discussed pipeline protection as an employment opportunity for disarmed militants. End Note.) Despite the inherent difficulties in gaining the militants' trust and offering viable employment opportunities, Pinnick was confident the state government would succeed because "people are tired" and want the Niger Delta to return to normalcy. -------------- DESOPADEC: Political Appointees Determine Derivation Spending -------------- ¶5. (C) On May 23, the Delta State House of Assembly approved an appropriation bill which will give naira 30 billion (approximately USD 235 million),one half the state's oil derivation, to the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) which will determine development pQts in oil producing communities. Eminent Ijaw Chief Wellington Okrika from Gbaramatu Kingdom, one of the state's highest oil producing communities, is Executive Chairman of the Commission. Pinnick said every oil-producing community is represented in DESOPADEC. Pinnick described the Commission as a body meant to give communities greater resource control. However, the government has selectively appointed committee members based on their "antecedents," such as their struggles for resource control and demands for emancipation. (Comment: The creation of DESOPADEC may initially appease community demands for greater resource control. However, the selection of DESOPADEC's members by the Delta State government casts a shadow over the Commission's independence and ability to make its own decisions. End Comment.) LATIMER