March 17, 2007:
Over the last month, 31 foreign oil workers have been freed, apparently
after the payment of ransom. The government usually denies that ransom is paid,
but that is hard to believe. The prisoners are not freed until after long
(sometimes months long) negotiations. Some of the kidnapping gangs make
political demands, and these are rarely met. So the only incentive to free the
captives is ransom, and that is apparently being paid with the condition that the
details be kept secret. Europeans and Americans are apparently worth several
hundred thousand dollars each, captives from other parts of the world, much
less. In the last fifteen months, about
a hundred foreign oil workers have been taken by gangs in the Niger Delta. The
oil companies have beefed up security, but it's become difficult to recruit the
skilled people needed to run the oil operations. About a quarter of production
is currently halted because of criminal and terrorist activity. Government attempts
to negotiate a peace deal have failed because there are too many tribal chiefs
and gang bosses to get a comprehensive deal with. But the locals are
increasingly insistent that they get their share of the oil being extracted
from their neighborhood. The current anti-corruption drive has revealed that
about 40 percent of government expenditures is stolen by officials. Most of the
government's revenue come from oil taxes and fees (about $40 billion last
year). But the government is losing at least 20 percent of that, so far, this
year because of the unrest in the Niger Delta. The coming elections are likely
to put a Moslem northerner in office as president. That would mean a less
sympathetic attitude towards the troublesome tribes of the Niger Delta.
March 15, 2007:
After long negotiations, kidnappers released two Italians who had been
seized last December.
March 12, 2007:
Police raided a neighborhood in Port Harcourt (in the Niger Delta) and
rescued three foreign oil workers (two Croats and a Montenegrin) who had been kidnapped last month.
March 9, 2007:
Damage to pipelines and pumping stations has halted the export of
664,000 barrels of oil a day (worth about $40 million). Most of the damage is
done by gangs stealing the oil, at least until the army and repair crews show
up.