TRAFFIC STOP OF FUGITIVE SOBOMA GEORGE LEADS TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 000058 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 E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2016 TAGS: EPET ENERG ASEC PTER KCRM NI SUBJECT: TRAFFIC STOP OF FUGITIVE SOBOMA GEORGE LEADS TO PORT HARCOURT SHOOTOUT, JAILBREAK Classified By: Consul General Brian Browne for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) Summary: After the inadvertent arrest of their leader, Soboma George, a band of armed criminal militants attacked at least one police station in Port Harcourt. Details are sketchy and we have in hand conflicting reports whether George escaped. Apparently, the melee resulted in some casualties, but we do not yet know how many. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Governor Peter Odili told Consul General that Soboma George was stopped and arrested by Port Harcourt police following a traffic violation, probably a minor traffic accident. The arrest was not the result of any organized attempt to capture George, who has been a fugitive from justice since 2006. In fact, the arresting officers were unaware of his identity and they processed him like any petty violator. They took him to the local station. That was a mistake they would regret and perhaps not forget in the foreseeable future. Upon learning their leader had been arrested, George's followers went to free him, according to the Governor. Governor Odili admitted having a difficult time getting information about the incident because the arrest was unplanned. As a result, senior level police officials were caught unawares and had to find the neighborhood police involved in order to get information. ¶3. (C) An attack on the prison, located near the railroad station in an older part of town, was confirmed by Port Harcourt non-governmental organization (NGO) contacts. According to the contacts, people fled the neighborhood where the incident took place. Guns and dynamite were used by the assailants. ¶3. (C) George, a leader in the Niger Delta Vigilante group, was an associate of Ateke Tom until their falling out in ¶2006. According to one NGO contact, George is involved in drug dealing, illegal oil bunkering and other criminal activity. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) reportedly claimed responsibility for breaking Soboma out of jail. (Note: George was sprung from jail in a similar incident more than a year ago. End Note.) ¶4. (C) Comment: If Governor Odili's information is accurate, this was just the result of decent police work, albeit unknowingly applied against a tough criminal. It goes to show the fragile balance that rules in the Delta area where to a large degree police and outlaw operate in rough parity. Even an inadvertent shaking of that balance can spark an incident that in another place would be a rarity that now seems almost normal in the region. BROWNE