Nigeria: Kidnapping Gets Political

Archives

December 15, 2006: Over 70 foreigners, mostly oil workers, have been kidnapped for ransom so far this year. Most of these kidnappings were committed by Ijaw rebel groups. There are eight million Ijaw people in the Niger Delta, where most of Nigerias oil is. The Ijaw believe they have not gotten a fair share of the oil revenue. They are probably right, because there has been little public investment in the area, and it's now known that most of the government oil revenue, over the last few decades, was stolen by corrupt government officials. Nigeria is widely recognized as one of the most corrupt nations on earth.

The police force is also corrupt, and the source of some pretty atrocious behavior. There's currently a lot of unrest in central Nigeria, because of a recent police operation that resulted in ten dead civilians.

The Ijaw MEND rebels are still holding four foreigners in the Delta. MEND does not want a cash ransom, but the release of two of their leaders, and aid projects for the Delta region. MEND expects the hostages to be held through Christmas, and probably much longer, as the government has resisted giving into the MEND demands.

December 8, 2006: The navy now has one frigate and 15 smaller warships (many of them just patrol boats) in the Niger Delta, trying to provide security for the thousands of oil production facilities in the area. The navy is concentrating on the oil stealing (called "bunkering") operations, which fund the many criminal gangs, and rebel movements, in the area. Oil pipelines are punctured, the oil is transferred to larger and larger containers, until it ends up in small coastal tankers, that take the stuff to nearby countries, where oil brokers will buy the oil (at a discount, because it is stolen.) The navy is out looking for those small coastal tankers, and confiscating the ships, and the oil, and arresting the crews. Sometimes, the gangster tankers have very convincing counterfeit documents, which makes the policing job even more difficult. So far, the oil stealing gangs are winning, but the navy is taking tankers out of the illegal trade.

December 7, 2006: In the Delta region, MEND rebels kidnapped four foreigners and demanded that two rebel leaders be released, and a large ransom paid, before the foreigners would be freed. The MEND raid was made at 5:30 AM, and the military guard was asleep.

 

Article Archive

Nigeria: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close