Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LAGOS58
2007-01-29 16:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Lagos
Cable title:
TRAFFIC STOP OF FUGITIVE SOBOMA GEORGE LEADS TO
how-toVZCZCXRO1551 PP RUEHPA DE RUEHOS #0058 0291647 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 291647Z JAN 07 FM AMCONSUL LAGOS TO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA PRIORITY 8256 RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8423 INFO RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0104 RUEHCD/AMCONSUL CIUDAD JUAREZ 0082 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0089 RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0103 RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH AFB UK RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
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)
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
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