NIGERIA: ISRAELI MILITARY TRAINS, EQUIPS JTF IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LAGOS 000076

SIPDIS

STATE PASS NSC FOR BOBBY PITTMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PM EPET ECON KDEM NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ISRAELI MILITARY TRAINS, EQUIPS JTF IN
RIVERS

Classified By: Consul General Donna M. Blair for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Summary: Magnus Abe (protect throughout),Secretary to
the State Government of Rivers State, told Pol-Econ Chief
January 17 that Governor Amaechi had succeeded in pushing the
military into buying helicopters, gunboats and other
equipment for the Joint Task Force (JTF); as a result of
military activity, life has returned almost to normal in Port
Harcourt, Abe said. The Israeli military is equipping and
training the JTF, including with remote aerial surveillance
systems, according to Abe. Neither the Niger Delta Ministry
nor the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been
adequately funded in the federal government budget, resulting
in a great deal of anger among Niger Deltans, Abe reported.
In Abe's opinion, the President will not do anything for the
Niger Delta, because to do so he would have to take money out
of the hands of the other states, and stand up to Nigeria's
"rapacious elites." According to Abe, Rivers State
recognizes the complicity of the JTF in illegal bunkering,
and now orders the JTF to reduce by half amounts of illegally
bunkered oil coming out of the creeks, as a way to reduce
company losses. (Note: Abe's account neither explains how
this mechanism helps the company from which the oil is stolen
to reduce its losses, nor what happens to the other half of
the stolen oil. End Note) The Rivers State Sustainable
Development Program is being run by Shell, and has
established microfinance programs, loan programs for bus and
taxi service providers, health centers and subsidized health
care in each local government area (LGA) as well as built
roads. Cancer rates are rising in the Niger Delta, Abe
observed. We are unable to confirm some of Abe's claims,
particularly those related to the JTF's newly acquired
security equipment. However, both his prediction that the
President will do nothing to resolve the crisis in the Niger
Delta, and his observation that Niger Delta indigenes are
increasingly angry at that failure, are echoed by many of our
interlocutors. End Summary.

2. (C) Pol-Econ Chief met January 17 with Rivers State
Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Magnus Abe. Abe
stated that in October of 2007, when Governor Amaechi took
office, the JTF had had no functioning helicopters, nor
armored personnel carriers, and only two functioning
gunboats. Governor Amaechi provided the Joint Task force
with 140 vehicles, and actively lobbied the Federal
Government to provide additional equipment. The JTF now has
20-30 functioning gunboats, two helicopters and other
equipment. As a result, life in Port Harcourt, which had
been overrun by criminals, is almost back to normal and crime
has again become an unattractive proposition, Abe said.
Business transactions in Nigeria are especially vulnerable to
criminal activities, because the banks don't function the way
they do in the developed world; in Nigeria, everyone moves
large amounts of cash, and the criminals are after people who
are connected to or have access to that money, he said.


3. (C) With the improvement in security, there are
currently over 700 British nationals in Port Harcourt, and
the French "never left", Abe alleged. British and French
Consulate personnel "travel to Port Harcourt all the time".
Air France is considering regular flights to Port Harcourt,
according to Abe. (Note: Pol-Econ Chief spoke with French
Consul General Jean Luc Bodin February 19. Bodin confirmed
that the Government of France never warned its citizens
against travel to the Niger Delta, and noted that from
500-600 French nationals continue to reside in Port Harcourt.
Air France flies into the Port Harcourt international
airport from Paris four times per week, and hopes to increase
the frequency of flights to one a day, Bodin said. Bodin
travels to the region "from time to time", but another
Consulate staff person, a French citizen, travels to Port
Harcourt weekly on Consulate business. In a January 20
conversation, David Harries, Consul, British Deputy High
Commission in Lagos, told Pol-Econ Chief that the U.K.
continues to warn its citizens against travel to the Niger
Delta. He said that he had traveled twice in the last half
year to the Niger Delta, once to Port Harcourt in September
2008, and a second time in January. He confirmed that the
there are 676 registered British nationals living in Port
Harcourt, 65 living in Warri, Delta State, and 2 in Yenagoa,
Bayelsa State. End Note)

LAGOS 00000076 002 OF 004



Israeli Military Training, Equipping JTF
--------------


4. (C) The JTF has been collaborating with the Israeli
military, which has been providing equipment and training,
according to Abe. The equipment provided includes a
surveillance device that Abe called "a camera on a balloon,"
which allows the JTF remotely to scan the area with a certain
radius. This is particularly important when threats have
been received by telephone, Abe noted. It would be fine if
kidnappers or other criminals could be easily captured and
arrested, but when they start shooting, the JTF shoots back.
The killing that takes place sounds wanton, callous, he said,
unless the person kidnapped is your own child.

5. (C) Fara Dagogo and Ateke Tom are not putting their own
lives at risk, he said. Their networks sell oil and get
police protection. Students used to go to the camps for
three months during their vacations so that they could earn
money. They would earn 50,000 naira (USD 357 at the current
rate of exchange 140 naira/USD 1.00),for a total of 150,000
naira (USD 1,071) for a three month period. Now, however,
with the JTF pressing them, the job is no longer glamorous
but dangerous, and society is mobilized to call them
criminals, Abe stated. The Elem Tombia community that was
razed is now being developed, Abe alleged. The JTF has taken
up a position there, people are returning and the schools and
churches are open and functioning. (Note: We have been
unable to obtain independent information with which to verify
this claim. End Note) The criminals themselves have moved
away from the area, Abe said.

Anger at Failure to Fund New Ministry, NDDC
--------------


6. (C) While the Governor may have been able to push the
military into buying new equipment, he has not been able to
influence the federal government to allocate more funds to
the Niger Delta, Abe said. Neither the Niger Delta Ministry
nor the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been
adequately funded in the federal budget, and there is a great
deal of anger among the people of the region; Nigeria's
leaders are extremely insensitive to the equity issue, Abe
said. Unfortunately, the people's anger has led to violence
that has boomeranged and impacted on the people themselves,
according to Abe. Abe said he doubted that the President
will do anything for the Niger Delta; to do so, he would have
to take funds out of the hands of the other states.


7. (C) The country is in the hands of a "rapacious elite,"
Abe said, and it would be legitimate for the masses to rise.
Of the 500 people he sees every Tuesday and Thursday in his
office, they all want the same thing: inflated contracts. He
asks them: do you want me to steal, and the response is
invariably "yes." Abe said he tells them: Think about the
person whose child has malaria, whose wife needs a caesarian;
that is what the money will be spent for. To make change,
Abe said, a leader must confront the ruling class. In a few
cases, such as that of Governor Amaechi, who fell out with
his godfather, or Adams Oshiomhole, who managed to get by
without one, they will be able to make some progress, but
will have to watch their backs, he said. There are no
constituents in Nigeria, only godfathers, Abe stressed.


Rivers Tells JTF How Much It Can Illegally Bunker
-------------- --------------


8. (C) Illegal bunkering involves tremendous amounts of
money, and the operations of international criminal groups,
Abe said. Rivers State has been able to gain a modicum of
control over the illegal bunkering, Abe noted, by recognizing
the connivance between the criminals and the military. As a
result, when Shell calls to say that the company has lost
10,000 barrels of oil, Rivers State now calls the JTF
officers in charge of that portion of the territory, and
orders that the amount of oil coming out of the creeks be
reduced by half. In this fashion, the State is trying to
control international oil company losses sector by sector,
Abe contended. (Comment: Abe's account neither explains how

LAGOS 00000076 003 OF 004


this mechanism helps the company from which the oil is stolen
to reduce its losses, nor what happens to the other half of
the stolen oil. End Note)

RSSDP Guided By Board of International Partners
-------------- --


9. (C) The Rivers State Sustainable Development Program
(RSSDP) is being run by Shell and guided by a board composed
of international development partners, including the World
Bank. More than 300 youths have been sent abroad to study.
The State has constructed 250 schools pursuant to the
program, Abe said.

Micro-Finance Programs Operating
--------------


10. (C) A law establishing micro-finance systems has been
passed, and 600 million naira (USD 4.28 million) has been
distributed to individuals through the Ministry of Women's
Affairs, Abe noted. The program must be self-sustaining, Abe
said; if the loans are not repaid, the State will not
replenish the funds. To assure that the people who get the
loans use them well, the RSSDP is also conducting
entrepreneurship training via the local government areas
(LGAs). The State has also given two billion naira (USD 14.3
million) to the Rivers State microfinance institution in
partnership with First City Monument Bank. Three or four
microfinance banks have already been prequalified. Before
granting loans, they will provide training in elementary
bookkeeping and other skills. That will assure that they
will be able to pay back and keep the fund self-sustaining,
Abe stated.


11. (C) To improve safety, Port Harcourt has banned okadas
(motorcycle taxis) in the city. To assure that there is
sufficient low-cost transportation available, the RSSDP has
entered into a partnership with Skye Bank to arrange loans
for the purchase of taxis and busses. The cost is
approximately 300,000 naira (2,000 USD) for which the new
owners pay 15,000 naira (USD 100) per week until the vehicle
is paid for. Not enough new busses have as yet been
purchased to serve all the people, he said, but there are
plenty of other vehicles on the road to take up the slack.
(Comment: Other interlocutors, Port Harcourt indigenes who
actually rely upon okadas and busses for transport, say that
the majority of the vehicles purchased with the loans have
been placed in service, not as taxis, but as private
vehicles. They also report that there is widespread
suspicion that the loans were available only to cronies of
politicians. End Comment.)

Health Centers Established
--------------


12. (C) The RSSDP has established 160 health centers, five in
each LGA, Abe claimed. In the past, clinics were not more
than rooms, without equipment or medicines. Now each health
center is not only staffed by a doctor and two nurses, it is
equipped with an operating theater and an ambulance. Flats
have been provided so that the doctor and nurses can live
close to the clinic, said Abe. Treatment is free only for
children under six and for adults over 60, but the state
provides a subsidy of almost 30 billion naira (USD 214
million) to assure that the quality of care provided is high.


Roads Under Construction
--------------


13. (C) The Federal Government has not funded one road in the
key Niger Delta States in the last ten years, Abe alleged.
The Bayelsa to Bonny road was promised by Federal Government
but never funded. Rivers State has begun construction of the
Port Harcourt Ring Road, which will cost one billion naira
(USD 7.14 million). The Chinese will build the six lane
highway, as well as the three bridges needed to link parts of
the city, which will reduce the need for boat transportation
by approximately 90 percent, Abe said.


LAGOS 00000076 004 OF 004


Cancer Rates On the Rise
--------------


14. (C) Abe expressed concern that cancer rates in the Niger
Delta are on the rise. Based on the number of people he
knows who have cancer, the incidence of cancer has increased
dramatically in the last several years. Abe said he had just
heard that Presidential Advisor Oronto Douglas was suffering
from stomach cancer (Note: A story about Douglas' battle
with cancer, appeared that day in the Vanguard. Dr. Edit
Ikpi, Commissioner for Health of Cross River State, has also
told Pol-Econ Chief of his concern about the rising rates of
cancer he saw while in private practice. End Note)


5. (C) Comment: We are unable to confirm some of Abe's
claims, particularly those that relate to the security
equipment acquired by the JTF. However, both his prediction
that the President will do nothing to resolve the crisis in
the Niger Delta, and his observation that Niger Delta
indigenes are increasingly angry at that failure, are echoed
by many of our interlocutors.

BLAIR