NIGER DELTA POST-AMNESTY PROCESS STALLED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000040

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL, INR/AA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL NI
SUBJECT: NIGER DELTA POST-AMNESTY PROCESS STALLED

REF: 09 ABUJA 02295

Classified By: Political Counselor James P. McAnulty
for reasons in sections 1.4 (b) and (d).


--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) The new Nigerian Government (GON) Amnesty Subcommittee
on Niger Delta Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) has met
only once since its formation December 14. Committee members
drafted a proposed rehabilitation plan December 22 that
ex-militants then rejected January 10. United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) partners and the UNDP country team
leader continue to express frustration that the GON has
ignored their offer to engage on the Niger Delta, while civil
society groups and activists expressed frustration that the
Niger Delta Technical Committee (NDTC) report, submitted over
one year ago to President Yar'Adua, remained largely ignored
although it provided a highly detailed and comprehensive
proposal for addressing the underlying causes of militancy.
A Bayelsa State official predicted that ex-militants would
"return to the creeks" within six months due to GON inaction.
He said the GON has ignored all attempts by Bayelsa State to
coordinate rehabilitation efforts, and a disconnect existed
between Amnesty Committee members and former militants on the
meaning of rehabilitation. END SUMMARY.

--------------
AMNESTY REHABILITATION COMMITTEE SLOW TO START
-------------- -


2. (C) Presidential Amnesty Committee Spokesperson Timiebi
Koripamo told PolMilOff January 12 that the new Amnesty
Subcommittee on Niger Delta Rehabilitation and Reintegration
(DRR) has met only once since its formation December 14. The
meeting occurred at the Defense Ministry of Defense in Abuja
on December 22, with the committee drafting a proposed
rehabilitation plan that ex-militants later rejected January

10. The proposed rehabilitation plan focused on ex-militant
basic skills training (e.g., shoe-making, barbering, and
soap-making) and tuition grants to selected "educated"
individuals.

--------------
EX-MILITANTS JOIN NEW AMNESTY SUBCOMMITTEE
--------------


3. (C) Koripamo gave PolMilOff on January 12 a copy of the
meeting minutes and list of meeting participants, who besides
herself included Defense Minister retired General Godwin
Abbe, Niger Delta Minister Ufot Ekaette, three militant
representatives -- T.K. Ogoriba (former Ijaw Youth Council
national president and close confidant of Government
Ekpemupolo known better as "Tompolo"),Selekaye Victor Ben
(General Boyloaf's younger brother),and Kinglsey Kuku (Ijaw
Youth Council member and former Ondo State House
Representative) -- Senior Special Assistant to the President
Amina Az-Zubair, Secretary to the Government of the
Federation (SGF) Representative Dr. Shettima Abba, Military
Coordinator on Amnesty Air Vice Marshal Lucky Ararile, Niger
Delta Development Corporation Representative Chibuzor Ugwoha,
National Employment Director-General Mallam Abubakar
Mohammed, Nigeria Police Force Operations Director Inspector
General John Ahmadu, Petroleum Technology Development Fund
(PTDF) Executive Secretary M. R. Darma, MOD Special Assistant

P. K. Emefiele. Also invited, but absent, were Nigerian
Defense Academy (NDA) Senior Special Assistant to the
President Chief Timi Alaibe, National Poverty Eradication
QPresident Chief Timi Alaibe, National Poverty Eradication
Program (NAPEP) Senior Special Assistant to the President Dr.
Magnus L. Kpako, National Orientation Agency (NOA) Director
General Alhaji Idi Farouk.


4. (U) According to the Constitution of the DRR Committee,
the group's purpose is to monitor the full implementation of
the Disarmament Process and mop up all outstanding illegal
weapons in the hands of recalcitrant militants and criminals;
monitor the security situation in the region and assist
Security Agencies to restore normalcy; undertake inter- and
intra-community mediation to resolve amicably all lingering
disputes and misunderstandings; assist in reconciling former
militants with their local communities to ensure their

ABUJA 00000040 002 OF 003


complete integration as full and bonafide citizens of such
communities; monitor and advise on the conduct of skills
training and employment generation for the engagement of
ex-militants and non-militants youth in the Niger Delta
region; and carry out all the necessary endeavors to promote
conflict resolution, reconciliation, and peace building in
the region. Koripamo said, so far, the committee has only
drafted a DRR plan which discusses proposed course work for
militants but does not contain an implementation plan. The
Committee has not seen the UNDP-drafted Operations Plan given
to General Abbe in October.


5. (U) The four other GON post-amnesty subcommittees involve
Oil and Gas Asset Protection, Infrastructural Development,
Environmental Clean-Up and Remediation, and Modalities of
Host Communities in the Ownership of Petroleum Assets. Vice
President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the committees in
December, and SGF Mahmud Yayale Ahmed signed the
constitutions for each December 14.

--------------
DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS LOSING HOPE
--------------


6. (C) Koripamo commented that the GON plan drafted at the
December 22 meeting was not the same one that UNDP
consultants presented to General Abbe in October. According
to Koripamo, the Committee has not seen this plan nor the
letter in which UNDP partners offered to engage the GON on
the Niger Delta, which General Abbe received December 21
(reftel). This letter included a working paper on "Support
for Stabilization, Recovery, and Development in the Niger
Delta." UNDP Country Director Turhan Saleh told PolMilOff
January 9 that the Amnesty Committee has not even
acknowledged receipt of the letter, let alone requested
UNDP's technical assistance. He said he did not foresee any
request for help until after the GON resolved President
Yar'Adua's health crisis. European Union Head of Operations
Pierre Philippe reportedly told a Canadian diplomat January
11 that he expected never to hear from the GON. Nonetheless,
Philippe and Turhan emphasized that the goal has always been
for development partners to be seen as "doing something" --
not necessarily resolving the problem. Turhan hinted that
the GON would likely never "sincerely" seek UNDP assistance
on Niger Delta post-amnesty efforts.

--------------
EX-MILITANTS LOSING HOPE; WHY PLAN REJECTED
--------------


7. (C) Niger Delta ex-militants, including leaders Ateke Tom
and Tompolo, met in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, January 10, to
consider the December 22 GON rehabilitation plan, which
subcommittee members Ogoriba and Kuku presented to the group.
Koripamo told PolMilOff January 12 that ex-militants
rejected it because they objected to the suggested training
course content. Complaining that the training did not relate
to job opportunities, Koripamo remarked that "the militants
don't want to be barbers and soap-makers." Discontent also
arose over the slow pace in implementation and problems in
making timely stipend payments. That night, Bayelsa State
Due Process and E-Government Director Dimieari Von Kemedi,
who chairs Bayelsa State's post-amnesty program, confirmed to
PolMilOff that the group had rejected the plan, specifically
by objecting to the specified training. Ex-militants also
criticized the slow pace of GON post-amnesty efforts.
Qcriticized the slow pace of GON post-amnesty efforts.

--------------
ACTIVISTS LOSING HOPE; NDTC REPORT IGNORED
--------------


8. (C) Other activists from the region, including NDTC member
Tony Uranta, noted with frustration that the comprehensive
blue print provided by the NDTC to the President over one
year ago for addressing the root causes of conflict in the
Delta has remained largely ignored. (N.B: The NDTC Report
analyzed previous recommendations and laid out a plan for
resolving long-standing problems in the Niger Delta divided
into stages. NDTC had consulted militant leaders and
included their input in the report. END NOTE.)

-------------- --
BAYELSA LOSING HOPE; AMNESTY WILL FAIL BY AUGUST
-------------- --

ABUJA 00000040 003 OF 003




9. (C) Von Kemedi predicted that amnesty would fail no later
than this August, one year after President Yar'Adua first
launched his amnesty program. He believed ex-militants would
slowly begin returning to the creeks and previous criminal
activity over the next several months. The recent rise in
kidnappings was one example he gave of the consequences of
not dealing transparently and sincerely with the underlying
problems in the Niger Delta and post-amnesty process. Von
Kemedi stated that he has made repeated efforts to coordinate
Bayelsa state's post-amnesty efforts with the federal
government, without success. No one from the Amnesty
Committee will even return his calls. He believes GON
failure to establish an implementation working group, at the
technical level, represents another cause for the slow and
ineffective GON start. General Abbe must approve every
decision by the committee, according to Von Kemedi, while, as
Minister of Defense, he remained preoccupied with other
duties.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (C) GON failure to draft an operations or implementation
plan, adopt the NDTC blueprint, or reach out to UNDP for
technical assistance mean that the GON will not likely start
rehabilitation efforts for another three to six months. The
three ex-militant "representatives" at the January 10 meeting
consisted strictly of ethnic Ijaws with ties to militants in
Delta and Bayelsa States only, particularly to Tom Polo and
Boyloaf. Whether the GON did not invite key militant groups
from Rivers State, or they failed to attend, remains unknown.
Lack of clear indicators, transparency, or independent
monitoring of the process will also continue to breed
discontent among ex-militants, civil society, state
government officials, and NGOs, leading to increased violence
and criminal activity in the Niger Delta.


11. (U) Embassy coordinated this telegram with ConGen Lagos.

SANDERS