NIGER DELTA CRISIS: We lose N8.7bn daily -FG -Soldiers begin manhunt for militants -Delta govt in security council meeting -Senate orders committee to investigate cause(s) - FG’s military offensive, mere peacekeeping option -Bankole

From Okey Muogbo, Sylvester Idowu, Soji Ajibola, Taiwo Adisa, Ayodele Adesanmi and Shola Adekola - 21.05.2009

NIGERIA loses about N8.7 billion daily, as a result of the ongoing military offensive in the Niger Delta area.

Briefing State House reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, Minister of State for Petroleum, Odein Ajumogobia, said the crisis was something Nigerians were sad about.

Giving statistics on the implications of the crisis, the minister said, “it is something we are all sad about. Nigeria has a production capacity of 3.2 million barrels a day. Today, we are down to about less than half of that in terms of production. We are over one million down in shut in. I think it is something that should concern all of us.”

On what the situation in the Niger Delta was like, the minister said, “I understand that the military high command is about issuing a statement and theirs will be more accurate and precise.

“I will say, however, that the loss of lives, whether the militants’ or members of the armed forces, is sad. I mean they are all Nigerians and so we will try and do what we can to prevent loss of lives and everything this administration has been doing is to restrain the military in its activities to try and minimise loss of lives.

“So, as for what is going on today in the Niger Delta, I think it is best to hear from the military. They will be able to give you a more accurate account,” he said.

The minister added that it was onshore production that was more affected than off-shore.

He said, “to take one example, Shell has lost most of its production in the east; it is completely shut down and the irony of it is that onshore is the cheapest to produce and, therefore, the return on that investment is greater but that is where we have most of the shut ins.”

He gave the monetary loss as being huge. “It is huge. I mean multiply today’s oil price ($60 per barrel) by a million barrels per day.”

On the fuel supply situation in the country, he said, “like you, what I see on the streets shows that the situation has improved tremendously. We have conquered the supply problem.

“There was a deficit of supply that I talked about the last time. I think we have conquered the supply problem; there are still some distribution bottlenecks, so you will still see some queues in some areas of some cities. We will get around that as well,” he said.

Speaking on the effects of the military bombing on the environment in the Niger Delta, Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey, said, “of course, there are implications as far as environment issues are concerned on human activities generally.

“If there are adverse effects, the actions of the militants or even the military they could affect the environment. Let us even talk about the oil spillage, that, of course, will negatively impact on the soil and at the same time pollute the water.

Meanwhile, heavy gunshots reverberated on the streets of Warri in the Warri-South Local Government Area of Delta State, on Wednesday, as the troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) extended their manhunt for suspected militants in the waterside area of the city.

A combined team of Army and Navy troops stormed the Marine Base area near Old NPA, predominantly inhabited by Ijaws, at about noon, shooting sporadically while cordoning off the area in search of militants that escaped from the captured Oporoza and Okerenkoko in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area of the state.

Security sources told the Nigerian Tribune that 14 suspected militants with a huge cache of arms and ammunition were arrested at the end of the about two hours exercise, which led to the killing of two people with seven injured.

Two of the injured, a woman identified as Mama Eba, a food vendor, and a young man, known simply as Omojevwe, were under intensive care when the Nigerian Tribune visited the emergency ward of the hospital.

Bullets pierced Mama Eba’s head while Omojevwe was shot in the back during the encounter between the soldiers and some of the escaping militants.

An unidentified body was deposited at the hospital at about 1.10 pm by some troops that secured the naval base end of the operation.

Nigerian Tribune also observed that majority of the health officers at the Central Hospital abandoned their duty posts, because of the intensity of the gunshots.

“We all went for cover, with many of us lying down when the shooting became frightening. As you can see most of our workers have run away. That is the end of work for today, even though we have very few others attending to patients,” a hospital source said.

The encounter took place just when the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Duke, was expected at Camp 5 at Oporoza, which was captured by soldiers on Tuesday.

Commander of the JTF, Major General Sarki Bello, his deputy, Brigadier-General Wuyep Rimtip and some senior officers were said to be at Oporoza since Monday preparing for Wednesday’s visit by the CDS.

The raid on the waterside, it was learnt, followed a report that some of the militants who escaped from the captured riverine communities had sheltered in the place, which was inhabited by mostly Ijaws.

The engagement between the suspected militants and the soldiers took place close to the Naval Base, which was cordoned off for several hours by fierce-looking personnel and undercover security men.

Nigerian Tribune observed that people scampered to safety while women abandoned their children in the process with the nearby main market hurriedly closed.

At the time of filing this report, the co-ordinator of Joint Media Campaign Centre of JTF, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, confirmed the incident but said it was carried out by the Naval wing of the JTF.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who returned from Abuja after a meeting with President Umaru Yar’Adua, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan and Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal, Paul Dike, arrived in Warri and hurriedly went into a state security council meeting, during which he was briefed on the incident.

In a related development, the Senate, on Wednesday, in Abuja waded into the crisis rocking the oil-rich Niger Delta region and ordered its Defence Committee to investigate the causes of the latest face-off and report back to the upper chamber immediately.

The action of the Senate followed a motion on order 40 rules of the Senate raised by Senator James Manager (PDP, Delta) on matter of urgent public importance on the alleged military bombardment and sacking of communities in the Gbaramatu clan of Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.

He pleaded with the Federal Government to halt the bombardment and equally withdraw the troops in the interest of the people, noting that the war had the greatest effects on innocent old men and women, as well as children.

Bankole, in a brief interview with airport correspondents on arrival from South Africa, said civilian casualties could not be completely avoided.

His words: “As far as am concerned, it’s a peacekeeping option that is going on in the Niger Delta. When two people are fighting and you try to separate them, you might get punched as well.”