Extraction activities by multinational companies – including Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Elf and Agip – have caused serious environmental and social damage in the Niger Delta, an oil rich South-Eastern region of Nigeria. Crude oil extraction has caused the pollution of the river basin and surrounding land, the destruction of subsistence crops, and a de facto seizure of local residents territory. The opposition of local communities has been brutally repressed by police forces, resulting in bloodshed and hundreds of deaths. Local communities, supported by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), have continued their opposition to those exploitative policies. In particular, they demand a full clean-up of local waterways and territories, a more equitable distribution of oil revenues and broader compensation for ecological damage.
Nigeria’s colonial and post-colonial history is marked by violent internal conflicts, often related to the management of oil extraction, as the country is very rich in mineral resources and oil - which alone accounts for 95 percent of national exports. Just six years after gaining its independence from England in 1960, the country fell into a series of violent riots and unrest that eventually led to a long line of military dictatorships, all financed by oil revenues.
The nation’s enormous wealth of natural resources has never been fairly distributed, leaving the majority of the Nigerian population among the poorest in the world. The extensive environmental and social damage resulting from oil extraction has exasperated local residents, who had to deal with continuous land seizures, progressive contamination of soil and waterways, and on-going violence carried by State police and oil companies security services.
For years, local rural communities have demanded an end to the indiscriminate plundering of their territory, opposing oil extraction projects with protests and rallies, but they have always faced violent reactions by the hand of State police and security services hired by the multinational companies.
Over the last few years, an armed wing of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was formed. They carried out numerous acts of sabotage and targeted kidnappings, which they claimed was to draw International attention to the unacceptable plight of the Nigerian people. They have never accepted ransom money, and hostages have always been released in good psychological and physical condition. The MEND manifesto calls for an end to the plundering by multinational oil companies, a more equitable sharing of oil wealth, a broader compensation for the ecological damages and the demilitarisation of the territory.
The extraction of crude oil caused serious environmental and social damage, including:
The pollution of the Niger Delta water basin. Thirty six thousand square kilometers of mangroves, waterways and lagoons have been polluted by a black and oily sludge. This situation has limited access to drinking water and caused the destruction of traditional crops for local communities;
Regional territories are almost completely covered with oil sediment;
The construction of extraction facilities caused wide scale deforestation;
The natural gas associated with crude oil extraction is immediately burnt into the air through the process of gas flaring, a practice outlawed in Europe and North America for its toxicity and for its devastating consequences on the environment. All oil companies working on the Niger Delta practice ‘gas flaring’, provoking the dispersion of contaminating toxins like benzene into the air. This is considered the primary factor in rising rates of cancer and respiratory disease in local residents. These emissions release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contribute to the formation of acid rain;
Despite the high quantity of hydrocarbon reserves in the country, Nigeria is affected by the chronic scarcity of fuel due to the inefficiency of national oil refineries. Crude oil is therefore sold to International agents to be refined in South Africa, other West African countries or in Europe, and then is resold back to Nigeria;
Thousands hectares of land were seized, initially to build the facility infrastructure, then to put up security fences, and finally to allow the passage of oil pipelines. Compensation was hardly ever considered, or if it was the amount paid was extremely low;
Breathing problems, skin diseases, gastrointestinal disorders and cancer spread rapidly among local residents, particularly in villages closest to oil facilities;
Rural communities in the Niger Delta got organised to oppose those policies and to claim their rights to their life, dignity and territories. These protests were often brutally suppressed, worsening the already tragic impacts of extraction activities.
Causes of the Conflict
Nigeria’s colonial and post-colonial history is marked by violent internal conflicts, often related to the management of oil extraction, as the country is very rich in mineral resources and oil - which alone accounts for 95 percent of national exports. Just six years after gaining its independence from England in 1960, the country fell into a series of violent riots and unrest that eventually led to a long line of military dictatorships, all financed by oil revenues.
The nation’s enormous wealth of natural resources has never been fairly distributed, leaving the majority of the Nigerian population among the poorest in the world. The extensive environmental and social damage resulting from oil extraction has exasperated local residents, who had to deal with continuous land seizures, progressive contamination of soil and waterways, and on-going violence carried by State police and oil companies security services.
For years, local rural communities have demanded an end to the indiscriminate plundering of their territory, opposing oil extraction projects with protests and rallies, but they have always faced violent reactions by the hand of State police and security services hired by the multinational companies.
Over the last few years, an armed wing of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was formed. They carried out numerous acts of sabotage and targeted kidnappings, which they claimed was to draw International attention to the unacceptable plight of the Nigerian people. They have never accepted ransom money, and hostages have always been released in good psychological and physical condition. The MEND manifesto calls for an end to the plundering by multinational oil companies, a more equitable sharing of oil wealth, a broader compensation for the ecological damages and the demilitarisation of the territory.
Impacts
The extraction of crude oil caused serious environmental and social damage, including:
The pollution of the Niger Delta water basin. Thirty six thousand square kilometers of mangroves, waterways and lagoons have been polluted by a black and oily sludge. This situation has limited access to drinking water and caused the destruction of traditional crops for local communities;
Regional territories are almost completely covered with oil sediment;
The construction of extraction facilities caused wide scale deforestation;
The natural gas associated with crude oil extraction is immediately burnt into the air through the process of gas flaring, a practice outlawed in Europe and North America for its toxicity and for its devastating consequences on the environment. All oil companies working on the Niger Delta practice ‘gas flaring’, provoking the dispersion of contaminating toxins like benzene into the air. This is considered the primary factor in rising rates of cancer and respiratory disease in local residents. These emissions release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contribute to the formation of acid rain;
Despite the high quantity of hydrocarbon reserves in the country, Nigeria is affected by the chronic scarcity of fuel due to the inefficiency of national oil refineries. Crude oil is therefore sold to International agents to be refined in South Africa, other West African countries or in Europe, and then is resold back to Nigeria;
Thousands hectares of land were seized, initially to build the facility infrastructure, then to put up security fences, and finally to allow the passage of oil pipelines. Compensation was hardly ever considered, or if it was the amount paid was extremely low;
Breathing problems, skin diseases, gastrointestinal disorders and cancer spread rapidly among local residents, particularly in villages closest to oil facilities;
Rural communities in the Niger Delta got organised to oppose those policies and to claim their rights to their life, dignity and territories. These protests were often brutally suppressed, worsening the already tragic impacts of extraction activities.
CONFLICT TIMELINE
January / May 1993: In five months the military junta kills 1,800 people in the Rivers region, with the aim of stopping protests and allows drilling operations, lead by Shell, to continue.
November 10, 1995: The military Government hang the poet and activist [Ken Saro Wiwa->http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Sa...], together with other eight militants from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People ([MOSOP->http://www.mosop.net/]).
June 2003: Due to water shortages in the village of Janki, local residents draw water from an old well contaminated by toxic waste. The incident causes the death of more than 80 people, including many women and children.
2004: The Italian oil company ENI is excluded from the FTSE4Good Index Series, a list of socially responsible investments.
February 2005: MEND declares war on multinational companies operating in the region.
December 25, 2005: An attack on a Shell oil pipeline results in an explosion: eight people die and while many others are missing. For security reasons Shell closes two oil wells and shuts down oil production.
End 2005: Italian oil company Agip is accused of encouraging and supporting an order by the Nigerian Government for the demolition of a slum in Port Harcourt, supposedly too close to ENI oil installations.
During the period 2005-2007, MEND’s frequent sabotage of oil plants and targeted kidnapping starts to be used as a political tool. Hostages are always released unharmed and in good health, and without MEND accepting any ransom money.
January 16, 2006: After violent clashes between militia groups and Nigerian armed forces guarding a Shell oil platform in Benisede, in the State of Bayelsa, some 14 people are reportedly killed, though the actual number of casualties is uncertain. MEND claims responsibility for this and other two attacks in the area over the same week. The group calls for the release of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former Governor of Bayelsa State - Nigeria’s only wholly indigenous Ijaw state- and leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF/Alhaji Mujahideen Dokubo-Asari). Arrested in September 2005, Alamieyeseigha is a major political figure for the Ijaw ethnic group and strong advocate for a more equitable distribution of oil revenues in favor of the Ijaw indigenous community.
January 24, 2006: MEND leaders issue a press release urging foreign employees of oil companies to “leave immediately”. Rebels send an ultimatum: “Shell must pay the local government US$ 1,5 million in compensation for environmental damage, and central Government must free our leaders, otherwise from February 1st, 2006, we will carry more aggressive actions against oil company workers and their families”.
January 24, 2006: About twenty gunmen attack the ENI/Agip headquarters in Port Harcourt. The gunfight with private security personnel leaves nine people dead, eight of them Nigerian.
February 12-17, 2006: The Nigerian army launches air raids against the Ijaw Delta communities that supposedly support MEND rebels, killing and injuring several civilians.
February 17, 2006: MEND declares “total war” against oil corporations like Shell and ENI operating in the region. Speaking through the BBC, MEND leader, General G. Tamuno, orders foreign oil company employees to leave the area.
February 18, 2006: As a result of these attacks, gas and oil pipelines are sabotaged and around twenty percent of Nigeria’s oil exports are halted. MEND attacks a Shell oil rig taking hostage nine foreign employees of the US Willbros Group, a Shell subsidiary. According to local sources, a plant in the area of Forcados is set on fire, while a gas pipeline running from the Escravos area to the Kaduna refinery is destroyed. The attacks force Shell to suspend its export of 380,000 barrels of oil a day.
February 26, 2006: A police operation to flush out militiamen turns into a civilian bloodbath, destroying the village of Odiama. Eyewitness reports from Reuters and the IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) speak of at least 30 civilians being killed. The Nigerian Parliament sets up an inquiry to find out exactly what happened.
March 18, 2006: Activists attack and seriously damage an ENI/Agip oil pipeline running from Tebidaba to the Brass terminal resulting in a large oil spill which contaminates the Brass riverbank and adjacent areas covered in vegetation and mangroves.
April 19, 2006: A car bomb attack inside Port Harcourt barracks, blamed on the MEND, leaves two men dead and many others injured, .
April 22, 2006: MEND representatives sign a ceasefire with President Obasanjo in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
May10, 2006: A US oil company executive is killed in Port Harcourt.
June 8, 2006: Five South Korean oil workers are kidnapped and ten Nigerian security guards are killed during an attack carried by a MEND militia group on a ’Royal Dutch Shell’ gas platform, not far from Port Harcourt, in the southern Rivers State.
July 25, 2006: Activists peacefully occupy an ENI owned pumping station in Ogbainbiri. They demand compensation for their boat seized by the Nigerian Army.
July 31, 2006: ENI announces, via its affiliate [NAOC->http://www.nigeria-oil-gas.com/nige...], that occupants have left the Nigerian pumping station in Ogbainbiri and all oil activities are back to normal - thanks to successful negotiations carried by Government officials in Bayelsa State.
August 15, 2006: The Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, orders Army commanders of the Delta region to intervene and ‘pacify’ the area as rapidly as possible.
August 20, 2006: The “Joint Task Force”, a unit of the Nigerian Army, ambushes a group of 50 MEND rebels and kills them all, including a Shell oil worker being held hostage.
August 24, 2006: Gunmen kidnap Mario Pavesi, an Italian employee of the ENI subsidiary company [Saipem->http://www.saipem.it/] in Port Harcourt. According to local sources, his bodyguard is killed.
August 29, 2006: The Saipem technician is released.
August 31, 2006: Nigerian oil workers announce a three day strike starting September 13, denouncing the lack of security and frequent kidnapping of technicians and workers in the Niger Delta area.
October 2, 2006: A pumping station managed by Royal Dutch Shell is attacked by a militia group in the Rivers State. According to an oil company source, five soldiers guarding the Cawthrone Channel facilities are killed, while Army reports list only a few soldiers as being injured.
October 4, 2006: Five speedboats, with gunmen on board, attack a convoy of seven passenger boats near the Ekulama village, an hour and a half by boat to Port Harcourt. The convoy is carrying 24 Nigerian contractor workers of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company. During the attack a passenger is accidentally shot and dies, as the gunmen try to destroy the passenger boats engines.
October 30, 2006: Oil worker unions threaten to bring all ENI/Agip facilities in Nigeria to a halt. According to a union delegate, the threat will be carried out if the company refuses to pay their employees a security bonus, to reflect the higher risks they are exposed to.
November 1, 2006: As ENI/Agip is ready to negotiate, the strike is cancelled.
November 6, 2006: Several militants occupy an ENI pumping station in Tebidaba, taking 48 employees hostage and asking for US$ 75,000 in ransom.
November 7, 2006: Six hostages escape from Tebidaba and other five are released. Other employees of the Norwegian company, kidnapped on November the 2nd, are released after a ransom payment.
November 22, 2006: Saipem’s Mystra oil rig is attacked in Okono during the night, and seven technicians are kidnapped. The Nigerian Navy intercepts the kidnapper’s boat and four people are killed during the ensuing gun battle.
November 23, 2006: After 17 days, the remaining hostages kidnapped in Tebidaba are eventually released.
December 7, 2006: Three Italian and one Lebanese employee are kidnapped during an attack on the ENI/Agip station in Brass, in the State of Bayelsa. The Lebanese worker is later released, while the episode re-opens the public debate on ENI’s policies in Nigeria.
December 21, 2006: Three policemen die during an attack on the [Total->http://www.total.com/en/home_page/] oil facilities in Obagi.
December 26, 2006: An oil pipeline rupture in Abule Egba, north of Lagos, prompt residents to rush and collect the leaking fuel. However, almost 500 people are killed when the pipeline explodes.
In 2006 more than a hundred people are taken hostage, all workers of different nationalities employed by various companies, including: [Shell->http://www.shell.com/], [Peak Petroleum->http://www.peakpetrol.com.au/defaul...], [Bilfinger and Berger->http://www.bilfingerberger.de/C1257...], [Dredging International->http://www.dredging.com/], [ENI->http://www.eni.it/it_IT/home.html], Saipem and Norwegian Oil companies. The MEND claims responsibility for nearly all the hostage-taking operations and, after short periods, releases most of them.
2006-2007: The Italian NGO “A Sud” launches a public awareness campaign and asks the Italian Government, which owns 30 percent of ENI shares, to revise the corporation’s policy in Nigeria and to immediately stop the practice of gas flaring. “A Sud” sets up the ‘Osservatorio Eni’, a project to monitor and report on the conduct of the Italian multinational company.
January 17, 2007: Roberto Dieghi, taken hostage on December 7, 2006, is released because of his poor health condition.
January 27, 2007: The Rivers State security service arrests George Sobomado, a MEND leader.
January 28, 2007: MEND activists attacks the State police headquarters in Port Harcourt, in an attempt to set Sobomado free; according to police reports, two people are killed in the attack.
February 21, 2007: ENI’s Administrator announces that the Lebanese hostage is being released. A MEND spokesman under the pseudonym of Jomo Gbomo, threats retaliation against ENI because the hostage was able to escape after bribing his guards.
February 22, 2007: ENI claims that no money had ever been paid, directly or indirectly, to free hostages.
March 14, 2007: MEND releases the last two Italians taken hostage, who claim to have been well treated during their ordeal.
April 4, 2007: Four more foreigners are taken hostage by groups unaffiliated to the MEND, from different locations in the Niger Delta. The four oil workers, an Englishman kidnapped on March 31, a Dutch man and two Lebanese citizens kidnapped on March 23, are soon released simultaneously.
April 14, 2007: Unknown activists assault two police stations in Port Harcourt, killing seven officers and freeing several inmates. The attack, according to a police spokesperson, takes place a few hours before the nearby polling station opens to start counting votes after the national election of local governors and MPs for the 36 States of the Nigerian Confederation.
April 21, 2007: The election to mark the democratic handover of power by President Olusegun Obasanjo, in charge since 1998, to his successor, ends up with 200 people dead and allegations of electoral fraud reported by European and International observers.
April 25, 2007: Italian journalists Emanuele Piano and Marco Ricchello are detained for nearly eight hours and interrogated by police in Abuja – shortly after their meeting with local journalists in the offices of the National Independent Electoral Commission.
May 1, 2007: Several [Chevron->http://www.chevron.com/] employees are taken hostage, including four Italians, one US and one Croatian citizen. MEND claims responsibility for the kidnapping with a message that reads: “Contrary to Nigerian media claim, we deny our alleged support for the newly-elected vice-President Jonathan Goodluck and President Yar Adua”. The group adds that even if Goodluck is chosen as vice-President, his status as a Christian and Ijaw – the same ethnic group as most MEND activists – will not alter the situation: the peace conditions imposed on oil corporations by the Nigerian Government are not being accepted. The kidnapping of the six men is also a direct warning to Chevron.
May 3, 2007: MEND continues its disrupting operations, despite reports suggesting they are supporting the new administration, including an article in the newspaper [“This Day”->http://www.thisdayonline.com/], claiming that a MEND commander is highly praising the President-elect.
May 7, 2007: Crowds of people armed with sticks and machetes besiege the Ebite station, the largest US Chevron oil facilities in the Delta and producer of forty two thousand barrels of oil per day. Despite Government security forces already in place, the facilities are forced to close down.
May 9, 2007: MEND alleges it has ordered all armed groups in the Niger Delta to launch a month of “chaos”, to underline their request for greater autonomy in the oil production region. According to Eni/Agip, the last sabotage attempts by MEND activists on two pipelines caused a fall in oil production of 98,000 barrels per day.
May 14, 2007: MEND releases a statement announcing that the six Chevron employees taken hostage on May 1 are to be released on May 30 only if “a new Government is put in place.” May 29 is inauguration day for the new President Umaru Yar’ Adua, though MEND activists fear that “Obasanjo could refuse to hand over the Presidency, using any excuse to remain in power”.
May 29, 2007: A group of protesters occupy a Nigerian pipeline in K-Dere, forcing the Royal Dutch Shell Company to cut its production of 150,000 barrels per day. Days later, local community leaders persuade the protesters to stop their occupation.
June 2, 2007: The six technicians kidnapped on May 1 are finally released. As a sign of good will, MEND announces a one-month truce. However, that same morning seven people are kidnapped by gunmen attacking the “Akpajo Housing Estate” residential complex, owned by the Indonesian chemical company [Indorama Limited->http://www.indorama.co.in/]; according to the [Times of Nigeria->http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/] two women with two children are among the kidnapped group. According to the news agency [Misna->http://www.misna.org/], at least two officers die during the ensuing gun battle, while MEND distances itself from the attack.
June 12, 2007: During a Hearing by the Foreign Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, ENI’s Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni states their facilities in Brass are back to “full production”. The Nigerian Army, patrolling the oil facilities by boat, shoots at a ship supposedly carrying dangerous activists, killing nine unarmed civilians instead.
June 14, 2007: A few days after a unilateral ceasefire announced by MEND activists, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, former leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) is released on bail for health reasons. In doing so, Abuja authorities accept one of MEND’s major requests.
June 17, 2007: In the morning ENI reports that several gunmen are attacking the flow station of Ogbainbiri, in the State of Bayelsa. Twenty-four Nigerian employees and fifty one soldiers are taken hostage, forty soldiers and eight workers manage to leave. This station regularly produces 40,000 barrels of oil per day.
June 21, 2007: A massacre takes place during a police intervention to free the ENI/Agip flow station at Ogbainbiri. According to media reports, at least 15 people are dead, though there is a lot of confusion surrounding the events.
June 25, 2007: Cynthia Whyte, spokesperson for the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), a coalition of militia troops in the Niger Delta region, sends a message to the Times of Nigeria, then picked up by other Nigerian newspapers, with her recollection of events: “A few weeks ago the army killed twelve indigenous Ijaw civilians as they were peacefully occupying the ENI/Agip flow station, to protest against the shooting of their families one week earlier”.
July 4, 2007: In a statement to major news agencies, MEND announces the end of their one month unilateral truce, adding: “The Nigerian Army has recently executed with impunity numerous Delta residents, while the Government has imprisoned other citizens without due process. We cannot remain silent in the face of theses facts”.
July 5, 2007: The Italian Government replies to a question on the Ogbainbiri flow station massacre urged by the ENI Observatory. The Government spokesperson confirms that there were only unarmed civilians on the flow station when the Nigerian Army moved in, and that obviously something went ‘horribly wrong’. Meanwhile, three year old Margaret Hill, daughter of an English worker and a Nigerian woman, is kidnapped in Port Harcourt.
July 8, 2007: Margaret Hill is released unharmed. A MEND spokesperson says: “This crime against a minor is perpetrated by common criminals and even if they have released the girl, I promise that their punishment is going to be well deserved”.
July 10, 2007: According to an Army spokesperson, gunmen attack a Daewoo camp near Port Harcourt. During the attack one “militia man is killed and another captured”, says Lawrence Ngubane, in charge of the Joint Task Force.
July 22, 2007: Over only a few days of counterfeit oil, sold for domestic use, leaves around 10 dead and dozens injured. The victims are killed by explosions triggered after lighting up their kitchen range in the cities of Warri and Effurun.
August 20, 2007: A curfew is imposed on Port Harcourt, with the city paralysed by heavy fighting for over a week.
September 3, 2007: Henry Okah, considered by many as the MEND leader who signs his statements Jomo Gbomo, is arrested in Angola.
September 23, 2007: MEND announces the resumption of its operations, accusing Yar’ Adua’s Government of “not showing any intention of solving the crisis in the Niger Delta, having chosen instead, to follow the in the steps of his predecessor Obasanjo by trying to divide local residents”.
September 27, 2007: The company headquarters of Saipem (ENI) in Port Harcourt is attacked and a Colombian worker is killed.
October 10, 2007: The two Saipem technicians kidnapped on September 27th are released.
October 20, 2007: An armed group attacks a Royal Shell oil rig and takes seven technicians prisoner. The operation risks compromising Royal Shell plans to restart oil production by 2008, suspended in February 2007 after a series of attacks.
October 22, 2007: MEND claims responsibility for the Shell oil rig attack, announcing a new campaign against oil companies and their employees. The 7 technicians kidnapped on the 20th are released.
Throughout 2007 around 200 hundred people are kidnapped: as in 2006, they are all employees of different nationalities working for several overseas corporations, including: [Daewoo->http://www.daewoo.com/english/index...], the [Pivot Engineering and Construction Company->http://www.pivot-engineering.com/oi...], [China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC)->http://www.cnpc.com.cn/eng/], [Total->http://www.total.com/], [Impregilo->http://www.impregilo.it/Impregilois...], Eni/Agip, [Setraco->http://www.setraco.net/], [Dolphin Drilling->http://www.applegate.co.uk/chemical...], [Merpa->http://www.mer-pa.com.tr/merpa_nije...], and the [Eleme Petrochemical->http://www.nnpcgroup.com/epcl.htm]. This year, MEND distances itself from some of those operations, claiming they were carried by local individuals. In any case, nearly all the hostages released during the year are in good health.
May 3, 2008: The Federal High Court in Jos decides the trial of Henry Okah is to be held behind closed doors. Judge Stephen Adah agrees with the public prosecutor Salisu Aliyu that a public trial could present risks to the national security. Seemingly, the proceedings open with the reading of criminal charges against Okah. His attorney Femi Falena explains that his client had no prior knowledge of the charges against him, and could not prepare his defence properly. In addition, during his three month detention, Okah claims that he is was allowed to talk to his lawyer for just a few seconds, while being kept in darkness and able to see daylight only twice. Therefore, Okah refuses to answer the Judge questions, stating he will not speak until the end of the trial. The Judge upholds the defence claims, and adjourns the case until June10th.
May 4, 2008: MEND launches Operation Cyclone: in reply to the previous day’s events in Okah trial, activists blow up three oil wells run by Royal Dutch Shell – marking their fifth attack in the last few weeks.
May 6, 2008: In a long statement, MEND tries to get public attention by claiming that Barak Obama is appealing for a ceasefire: “In the last few days the American Democratic Presidential candidate has launched an appeal asking for a temporary ceasefire and the reopening of peace negotiations on the Niger Delta”. They also categorically deny that Mrs. Margaret Edisi, wife of a rich Delta oil tycoon taken hostage days before, is being held by the organization, adding: “This is just Government propaganda, our rules of war state that women are untouchable. (..) Many kidnapping nowadays are actions carried out by individuals who know their victims”.
Finally, the group confirms the death of Awala Emmanuel during surgery in a MEND camp, from the wounds sustained during an attack on a Chevron oil facility.
May 26, 2008: Operation Cyclone continues with an attack on a large Shell gas pipelines at the Awoba pumping station in the Rivers State. According to MEND sources, 11 soldiers are killed while their boat is sunk. A JTF (Joint Task Force) spokesperson immediately denies this information, claiming the pumping station was not guarded by the Army. However, a Shell spokesperson confirms the attack in an interview with Nigerian newspaper Vanguard. Oil production is suspended as a precautionary measure. According to a MEND statement, “The attack is a warning to Umaru Yar ‘Adua and the Jonathan administration, because they were not able to guarantee peace, security and reconciliation in the region after one year in office”. One week before, the Ministry of Defence proposed armed militants could set up “vigilante societies” and patrol the Delta on behalf of the Government. The MEND refuses this proposal, saying it just represents an absurd attempt to hide the regions real problems.
May 31, 2008: The JTF attacks and destroys three Ijaw communities in the States of Bayelsa, Edo and Ondo. MEND urges all groups to avenge this attack on the Ijaw communities.
June 2, 2008: One Nigerian Navy soldier is killed and four others are wounded while escorting an oil tanker from [Addax’s Antan->http://www.addaxpetroleum.com/press...], an oil company active in the Delta.
June 5, 2008: The legal battle for the recognition of Henry Okah’s rights continues. [West African Bar Association->http://wabaecowas.org/aboutWABA01.html] President Femi Falena, who is also Okah defence lawyer, accuses the President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua of heavy bias against the MEND leader.
June 6, 2008: A ship escorting another Addax oil tanker is attacked. According to the Army spokesperson, nine soldiers are killed and four civilians are wounded.
June 17, 2008: MEND activists, and leaders of other groups operating in the area, announce they are not participating in the peace summit negotiations over the Delta region convened by the Government, particularly because the event is managed by Ibrahim Gambari, Nigerian special councilor of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Gambari defended dictator Abachi against International criticism for his decision to execute Saro-Wiwa and other eight militant leaders.
June 18, 2008: Due to an ‘incompatibility’ issue, Shell concessions in the Ogoni region are revoked and reassigned to another company. Shell is granted concessions in other areas instead, and it seems that the company has to pay damage compensation.
June 21, 2008: After an attack on the Bonga oil field, described by the Nigerian Government as “a sabotage of national interests”, Shell declares “force majeure” throughout June and July - a measure which frees the company from respecting contractual obligations. According to a company spokesperson, ongoing talks are being held with its staff to decide when they can return to work. President Yar ‘Adua orders the Army to strengthen the troops protecting oil fields, as this attack against oil production means a total loss of 800,000 barrels per day.
June 23, 2008: MEND announces a unilateral ceasefire in the Niger Delta region starting from midnight on Tuesday 24. A statement send to press agencies says: “We welcome the appeal by Niger Delta elders to give peace and dialogue another chance”.
July 10, 2008: MEND affirms the ceasefire will last until July 12 while also threatening the British Government: its economic interests may be attacked if military and logistic help is given to the Nigerian Government.
July 28, 2008: The ceasefire is broken. MEND takes fifteen workers of various nationalities hostage and also claims responsibility for the attack of two pipelines owned by Royal Dutch Shell.
August 8, 2008: A Nigerian Tribunal denies a request to release Henry Okah from jail due to his pending criminal charges. His lawyer Wilson Ajuwa states “even if the decision is hardly surprising, we are going ahead with a new appeal”.
September 7, 2008: According to a statement given to AFP by Nigerian Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Musa Sagir, gunmen attack and hijack “the Agip ship Fulmar Lamnaco on the Sambriero River, in the Rivers State”, adding that “during the attack one crew member was killed and another kidnapped”.
September 9, 2008: In another attack against the MT Blue Ocean ship, five foreign workers are taken hostages, including two British, two South African and one Ukrainian citizen, along with 22 Nigerian personnel. On the same day, activists occupy a Conoil oil rig in the Bayelsa State.
September 14, 2008: MEND spokesperson ‘Jomo Gbomo’, warns the oil company: “All workers must be evacuated within the next 24 hours as a hurricane is going to sweep away all the oil facilities over the Niger Delta region”. The workers kidnapped on the Blue Ocean are safely in the hands of MEND.
September 17, 2008: MEND declares an “oil war” and in a short time destroys a Shell pipeline in the Rivers State, attacks a Chevron oil platform, takes a British citizen hostage in Port Harcourt, destroys a Shell oil-pumping station in Orubiri killing the soldiers guarding the facility and destroys a Shell-Agip pipeline in Rumuekpe.
September 21, 2008: A MEND spokesperson announces a ceasefire until further notice, a week after armed clashes with the military and attacks on oil facilities reduce the output of Africa’s largest exporter of ‘black gold’. These clashes are sparked off by the events of September 13, when Government security forces allegedly destroyed the villages of Soku, Kula, and Tombia, while looking for Farah Dagogo, an MEND member. Many civilians are caught up in the battle.
September 25, 2008: The wife of alleged MEND leader Henry Okah says she is worried that her husband’s health is so poor he could die in prison before January 29, 2009, when the next hearing is scheduled. Appealing to the International community, civil and human rights associations, as well as the UN, she urges them to pressure the Federal Government to allow a specialist to visit her husband and, if needed, to schedule a surgery in proper medical facilities.
November 6, 2008: Four hostages kidnapped from the boat Blue Ocean are released.
November 11, 2008: Tensions rise again in the Delta after two statements released by MEND activists. The first says: “The two British citizens still hostage will not be released until the Gordon Brown Government stops offering training and material aid to the Nigerian Army, whose barbarian behavior is spreading over other regions of the country”. The second statement, published by Sahara Reporters, denies MEND participation in the kidnapping of two workers from the ship Borifish Hercules belonging to Offshore Nigeria Ltd.
November 28, 2008: Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), supplier of around 10 percent of the European and American's regassifiers, declares “force majeure” after Shell is forced to shut down one of its feeder plants. Thanks to this statement, oil companies can miss contractual obligations to their customers without incurring any legal liabilities, “due to circumstances beyond their control.” The Italian company Agip (ENI) is also part of the NLNG joint venture.
December 18, 2008: The 2009 Government budget, allocating over 800 billion Naira for arms and ammunition to the Nigerian Army and only 47 billion Naira for the new Delta Ministry, is strongly criticised by moderate leaders. MEND announces that “attacks will resume if Henry Okah is not released and no concrete action is taken to economically sustain the Niger Delta Development Commission project (NDDC) and the Niger Delta Ministry”.
December 26, 2008: Lieutenant Colonel Rabe Abubakar warns of a possible attack on the oil transit station in Tebidaba, the State of Bayelsa, operated by Agip (Eni). MEND denies its participation in this attack and stresses its decision to “maintain the ceasefire” started on September 21. MEND spokesman ‘Jomo Gbomo’ takes this opportunity to urge the International community to pressure the Nigerian Government for the release of Henry Okah.
January 2, 2009: ENI halts production from its flow station after an AGIP pipeline is attacked between the villages of Odimodi and Ogulagha. MEND claims the sabotage is the work of local individuals.
January 13, 2009: MEND sends out a statement, and photos, on two British men taken hostage October 2008, threatening the further kidnapping of many European and American workers. One hostage appeals to this family, claiming his kidnapping is the “result of Government lies, oil company greed and Gordon Brown’s silence”. MEND confirms it will hold the hostages until Henry Okah is released and urges oil trade unions to hold a general strike. The statement also raises doubts about the role of the USA in Okah’s arrest, after it refused an entry visa to an Okah family member.
January 14, 2009: The leader of a non-MEND activist group is killed in Rivers State. While the Army claims he was killed trying to escape, MEND talk of an execution, threatening to break the September ceasefire "with an attack on a military target in the city".
January 21, 2009: The petrol tanker, MT Meredith, is attacked by a group linked to MEND in the Bonny area, and a Romanian crew member is taken hostage. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan observes that hostile acts against oil companies will continue if Nigerian people do not share in the nation’s oil wealth.
January 31, 2009: A MEND statement declares an end to the ceasefire, and announces “a powerful assault”, termed “Hurricane Obama”, against oil companies in the Niger Delta.
February 7, 2009: Following its threat that oil companies must leave the Niger Delta by the 14, MEND attacks a Shell gas facility at Uturogu, in the Delta State. February 10, 2009: Italy offers to supply two naval units to patrol the Niger Delta. MEND accuses Italy of “supporting an illegal regime, which has violently oppressed and marginalised Nigerians for a long time”. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini denies the allegation.
February 13, 2009: In Jos, Federal High Court Judge Stephen Ada, abandons the trial of Okah as none of the alleged offences are committed in the Jos area, and moves the trial to the Delta region as requested by Okah’s defence.
April 3, 2009: Nigerian President Umaru Yar’ Adua announces the possible amnesty for all activists in the Niger Delta who renounce violence. MEND refuses the offer.
April 18, 2009: Amnesty International condemns the Nigerian police for their use of torture, false imprisonment and summary execution of suspected activists. The accusation emerges after Chika Ibeku, former Niger Delta gang member, confides in a possible amnesty and– only to disappear after a few days. He is first detained by officials of the Swift Rose Operation (SOS), who later claim to have no knowledge of his whereabouts.
April 19, 2009: MEND releases British hostage Robin Barry Hughes for “health reasons”, without a ransom demand and ignoring Government offers to pay the prisoners release. However, MEND continues to hold the other British hostage, Matthew John Maguire.
April 25, 2009: A trial against Shell of Nigerian for human rights violations, aiding former dictators, and complicity in the death of peace poet Ken Saro-Wiwa, opens in New York. The trial is based on the 1789 US Alien Tort Statute and the Victims of Torture Protection Law, which allow non-US citizens the right to denounce US human rights violations abroad.
May 13, 2009: MEND claims that the Nigerian Army attacks two of their largest camps in the Delta State, and demands oil companies to leave the country in 24 hours or they will become involved in a future civil war.
May 14, 2009: MEND activists attack a Navy base and extend their 24 hour ultimatum to May 16, when the whole Delta region will become a no-fly zone for oil company aircraft. In addition, MEND confirms the kidnapping of fifteen workers from the MV Spirit ship.
May 15, 2009: In one of Nigeria’s largest military offensives, the JFT attacks several Ijaw communities allegedly supporting MEND, killing 65 people and injuring 100 more people.
May 16, 2009: MEND restates its threat of a general war in the Delta region, while Shell announces its staff is being evacuated and Chevron Nigeria Ltd. (CNL) restricts workers movements around its oil facilities.
May 17, 2009: The JTF bombing of indigenous communities in Oporoza, Ubefan, Okerenkoko, Kurutie, Azama, Benikurukuru and Gbaramatu, is denounced by Ijaw national leader Edwin Clark, the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Senators James Manager (PDP, Delta South) and Fred Brume, representatives of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), respectively.
According to MEND activists, two hostages are killed in the bombings, while another two people are taken prisoner. They also take responsibility for attacking a gas pipeline near Escravos, in Deltas State. Another pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Gas company is assaulted in the village of Abiteye, where Chevron has its headquarters.
May 22, 2009: The JTF extends its war against so-called ‘militants’ to the States of Ondo, Edo and Bayelsa, as Amnesty International denounces the military operation, claiming it caused hundreds of civilian deaths and over 20,000 forced displacements. The Nigerian House of Representatives calls for an investigative commission on JTF attacks in Delta State. In the USA, the Nigerian MEND solidarity movement (NIASOMEND) is launched.
May 24-26, 2009: Even though local papers report that more than 1,500 people, mainly civilians, are killed during the first ten days of the Army operations, the Parliament approves a resolution asking President Yar’ Adua to extend the JTF offensive; instead, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Governor of Rivers State, votes in favour of MEND. An important Chevron oil facility at Abiteye, in the South-Western Warri province, is attacked by MEND activists, who also claim responsibility for attacking a Total pipeline near Amena. Nigeria is losing one million barrels of oil a day as a result of these attacks.
May 29, 2009: The trial against Royal Dutch Shell continues in New York, amid protest rallies held on Manhattan Island by various human rights and civil society groups.
June 1, 2009: British hostage Matthew Maguire refuses to be freed until Henry Okah is able take part in a real peace process.
5 June, 2009: Three former Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) leaders from Bayelsa State are arrested and charged with attempted homicide, then kept in isolation at Yenagoa jail without being allowed to contact their lawyers.
10 June, 2009: For the second time in just over a week, MEND claims it will release British hostage Maguire within twenty four hours. Shell offers US.5 million to the families of activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, murdered by the Sani Abacha regime in 1995 for denouncing the corruption and environmental damage resulting from Shell activities in the Niger Delta. Meanwhile, the 7,000 strong JTF force is bolstered by the arrival of 4,000 troops.
June 12, 2009: MEND releases an [open letter -> http://www.portametronia.it/2009/06...] to the JTF troops stationed in the Niger Delta.
June 13, 2009: MEND spokesperson Jomo Gbomo confirms that the organisation is responsible for the destruction of two Chevron oil facilities, and threatens a further attack on a Chevron facility at Escravos. He also announces the release of British hostage Matthew Maguire to Nigerian authorities.
16 June, 2009: The websites of various Nigerian newspapers post a video excerpt apparently showing JTF soldiers killing two civilians. A JTF spokesperson claims instead that it is a ‘set up’ and ‘pure MEND propaganda’, while Ojo Maduekwe, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, says the Nigerian Government is investigating allegations of summary executions in the Niger Delta.
June 19, 2009: MEND activists claim again responsibility for an attack on an AGIP facility in the southern Nigerian region of Bayelsa.
June 21, 2009: A MEND statement not only claims responsibility for attacks on a Shell oil rig off the Ofirma coast – an attack later denied by Shell - , and gas pipelines at Adamakiri and Kula in Rivers State, but identifies the two civilians, fishermen from Bonny Island, killed on the video by JTF soldiers after being arrested as suspected MEND informants.
June 24, 2009: The Government admits that there is no more crude oil in its refineries for local needs.
June 25, 2009: Given the lack of crude oil, the refineries of Warri and Port Harcourt close down, while the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says a third facility has only fifteen days of reserves left. MEND activists mark the visit of Russian Premier Medvedev with an attack on a Shell pipeline in Rivers State. June 26, 2009: According to an Army official, Nigerian security forces will observe a sixty day ceasefire.
June 27, 2009: MEND declares its willingness to accept the Government amnesty promised on June 25, if the following conditions are met: “the unconditional release of Henry Okah, investigations on summary executions by the JTF, the withdrawal of all troops, assistance to displaced residents and the reconstruction of their villages”.
June 28, 2009: The Government amnesty is rejected by Cynthia White, spokeswoman for the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) including MEND, the Reformed Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and the Martyrs Brigade.
June 29. 2009: A MEND statement condemns the refusal of Yar’ Adua to release Henry Okah and claims the deaths of around twenty soldiers during an attack on a Shell facility at Forcados. While admitting the attack, a spokesperson for the security forces says there were no casualties. Following repeated attacks, Shell suspends activities in the Western region of the Niger Delta, including the Delta State and part of Bayelsa.
June 29, 2009: President Yar’ Adua orders the General responsible for the amnesty procedures to meet with Okah, and after verifying his acceptance, to make arrangements for Okah’s quick release.
June 30, 2009: Amnesty International releases a report entitled [“Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta”->www.portametronia.it/2009/06...]. Its conclusions point to “a Government which fails to act in the public interest and the lack of respect for human rights by almost all multinational companies”. A copy of the report is sent to the ENI CEO, Paolo Scaroni, and to key stakeholders in the Italian Government and Parliament.
July 3, 2009: A Federal High Court Judge orders Okah to receive immediate medical treatment for serious kidney problems, as requested by his defence lawyer Femi Falana.
July 4, 2009: MEND denounces the disappearance of tribal leader Isaac Thikan, a very vocal critic of the Army violence, and his probable killing after being “kidnapped by the JTF” on June 24 and interrogated at Effrun in Warri.
July 5, 2009: MEND activists assault the Shell oil well #20, at Cawthorne Channel 1, in Rivers State.
July 6, 2009: MEND claims the destruction of the Okan supply ship, used to transport eighty percent of oil from Chevron offshore rigs, on June 5, in response to the kidnapping of Isaac Thikan and the continued incarceration of Henry Okah. MEND also claims responsibility for taking hostage six crew members of the Sichem Peace tanker on July 5.
July 8, 2009: MEND claims responsibility for two more attacks on Shell and AGIP oil pipelines in Bayelsa State, while ENI says it has lost 24,000 barrels of oil as a result of the sabotage.
July 9, 2009: During the G8 meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, Femi Falana states that Henry Okah accepts the Government amnesty, which is confirmed by the Nigerian Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi.
July 10, 2009: In an email to news agencies, MEND supports the decision by Okah but underlines that “his freedom cannot be part of the general amnesty offered to combatants”, as he has no weapons to surrender. MEND also agrees with the nomination of Timi Alibe as Special Advisor to the President on the Niger Delta. Lastly, it claims responsibility for an attack on a Chevron gas pipeline linking Alero Creek to the export terminal at Abiteye.
July 12, 2009: MEND attacks an oil terminal in the port of the former Nigeria capital, Lagos.
July 13, 2009: Henry Okah is released.
July 14, 2009: A statement from Jomo Gbomo says that the charges against Okah have been dropped and that his release is a step forward towards peace and prosperity. Meanwhile, a MEND email declares a new sixty day ceasefire from midnight of July 15, in order to move ahead with peace negotiations with the Government.
July 15, 2009: Just 12 hours after the ceasefire declaration, seven armed JTF boats are positioned near a Niger Delta MEND camp, an act which risks bringing peace negotiations to a halt.
July 23, 2009: After eighteen days of captivity, MEND releases its six hostages from the Sichem Peace tanker.
August 6, 2009: The Government gives the rebels sixty days to accept the amnesty. MEND replies with detailed demands: the establishing of real federalism, environmental protection, development of regional infrastructure for clean water, sewers, lighting and roads.
August 24, 2009: MEND denounces the amnesty for not addressing regional problems, and announces new attacks against oil facilities starting from September 15.
September 16, 2009: MEND activists announce a truce extension for another 30 days, in order to solve inherent regional problems. According to [the African Security Research Project-> http://concernedafricascholars.org/...] in Washington, the Nigerian Army is preparing a large scale offensive at the end of the current ceasefire.
October 1, 2009: Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe Okha, Major General Luke Kakadu Aprezi and Dr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde are appointed as negotiators by the MEND, with the task to "oversee a transparent and proper process of MEND disarmament", after Government officials will actually take care of the issues affecting the Niger Delta.
October 9, 2009: Key MEND "leaders" accept the amnesty offer. Jomo Gbomo says it is time to move on to definitively end the fifty years of slavery suffered by the people of the Niger Delta at the hands of the Nigerian Government. He also threatens that MEND rebels are ready to blow up oil pipelines and destroy the related facilities.
October 19-25, 2009: The meeting between President Umaru Yar ‘Adua and Henry Okah ends with a shared agreement. The Federal Government expresses its readiness for dialogue to achieve a lasting peace in the Niger Delta, and commits to allocating funds to carry out public and infrastructure works while reviewing the allocation of oil revenues - with the possibility of increasing the share for local communities by up to ten percent. On October 25, MEND declares an indefinite ceasefire to encourage the dialogue with the Federal Government. The rebels demand the release of all MEND leaders and other independent peace activists still in prison. MEND reminds everyone that they were forced to take up arms in response to the bloody repression unleashed by the military dictatorship in the 1990’s.
December 2009: After being admitted in a Saudi hospital on November 23, the long absence of Nigerian President Yar 'Adua from the political scene threatens to plunge the region back into chaos. The President did not defer his powers to his Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan. The resulting power vacuum causes a slowdown of talks on the amnesty and the resolution of social problems and regional development.
December 19-21, 2009: MEND rebels break the truce with the Nigerian Government, attacking Shell and Chevron oil pipelines in Rivers State. The pipeline Abonemma, around 50 km (30 miles) from Port Harcourt, is severely damaged. MEND issues a statement underlining that the attacks are a warning against the unjustified suspension of peace talks by the Government on the pretext of President Yar'Adua’s illness. The rebels claim to be open to dialogue, but announce that the indefinite ceasefire, established on Sunday, October 25, will be reviewed within the next 30 days.
January 12, 2010: Three British and one Colombian are taken hostage after an assault on a convoy near the Port Harcourt oil facility. Police spokeswoman Rita Abbey claims one policeman is killed in the attack, while no-one claims responsibility for the kidnappings.
March 15, 2010: MEND activists blow up three bombs at the Delta State Government building, ironically the location chosen for a conference on pacification and amnesty in the Niger Delta. In a telephone warning thirty minutes before the blasts, spokesperson Jomo Gbomo explains why MEND has chosen to sabotage the event: “The never ending pretence of talks and conferences, like this one, will not be tolerated, especially when The Niger Delta is being subdivided into oil blocks allocated mainly to Northerners, while the people of the Niger Delta can barely survive – their rights taken away with a pen stroke.”
March 17, 2010: In an interview with English newspaper ‘The Independent’ Wole Soyinka –1986 Nobel Prize recipient for Literature and human rights activist - denounces the dire situation in his country, now "on the brink of the abyss." He states, "The level of anger has never been higher. I do not exclude the breakup of Nigeria as this is what can happen to a failed state.” He also defends the right of MEND rebels to fight for their country, after decades of neglect, rights violations, environmental crimes and the theft of resources.
October 1, 2010: MEND activists attacks the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Nigerian independence in the capital Abuja. In a warning of the attack to major news agencies, Jomo Gbomo says: "50 years of failure is not worth celebrating. During this time the people of the Niger Delta have seen their lands and resources stolen. Before independence, military forces and illegal Governments mutilated the constitution and took control of the country’s resources - this injustice still needs addressing.” However, the warning is ignored by Nigerian security forces and the two explosions kill at least 15 people.
That same night, South African police search the Johannesburg home of Henry Okah, seemingly at the request of the Nigerian authorities, on suspicion of supplying arms to Niger Delta rebels. Okah says: “The Nigerian Government should solve its internal problems itself. I live in South Africa not in Nigeria”. He also claims to be shocked by the attack, which he knew nothing about.
October 4, 2010: A South African court charges Henry Okah with conspiracy in the rebel attack on Nigeria's capital. The accusation comes after comments by the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, and his Special Adviser on the Niger Delta Timi Alaibe, absolving MEND activists despite their claim of responsibility. President Jonathan declares that a small terrorist group based outside Nigeria, sponsored by unpatriotic elements within the country, is responsible for the attack. The Special Adviser Alaibe argues that MEND leaders are collaborating with the Government and that Okah was actually involved in the attack.
October 7, 2010: In an interview on Al Jazeera about his alleged involvement in the Abuja attack, Okah not only insists that he has nothing to do with it but reveals the Nigerian Government urged him to ask MEND to stop claiming responsibility - in order to guarantee the re-election of President Jonathan in 2011 by blaming the attacks on his political opponents.
October 15, 2010: A MEND statement threatens more violent actions in Abuja to underline its responsibility for the October 1 attack. It also claims that the charges against Henry Okah are unfounded and merely the result of President Jonathan’s political ambition. The statement says: “The Nigerian Government is hiding behind a supposed hunting for phantom terrorists... falsely accusing anyone who opposes it... next time we will give them a thirty-minute warning and see how they manage to put the blame on others.”
October 16, 2010: Nigerian police arrests Charles Okah in Lagos. However, it is unclear whether the arrest is due to comments made against President Jonathan by his brother Henry, or because he is actually the of MEND spokesman using the pseudonym of Jomo Gbomo.
October 20, 2010: The South African Government reveals that investigations against Henry Okah shed light on a complex web of relations between the so-called MEND leader and the chief advisor to President Jonathan. Evidence points to a secret meeting between Okah and Niger Delta minister Orubebe two weeks before the Abuja attack, though Orubebe denies everything.
November 6, 2010: During his new bail hearing Henry Okah admits to renting a house, at Orlu, in Johannesburg, from a man accused of being connected to the Abuja attack by the Nigerian Government. However, he denies again any involvement because this man was using a false name. Okah's lawyer maintains that the evidence against his client is concocted by the Nigerian authorities to keep him in jail until after the 2011 elections - the fact that the South African police have no evidence for their charges against Okah is proof of this plot. The Judge postpones the hearing until November 9.
November 8, 2010: MEND activists attack an AFREN oil company facility in Akwa Ibom State, owned by former Oil Minister Rilwan Lukman. MEND does not claim responsibility, but rather threatens new raids against Africa's largest producer of oil and gas. News agencies say five workers are taken hostage - according to Nigerian security forces they are two Frenchmen, two Americans and a Canadian - although there is no official confirmation. This new wave of violence creates problems for President Jonathan, as not only is he the first head of State from this area but he has to face elections in April 2011.
November 9, 2010: MEND releases a statement on the internet claiming to have taken over the capture of three French and one Thai workers from unknown rebels who attacked an Addax oil facility in September. It adds that new attacks are planned around the Niger Delta, preceded as always by a public warning.
November 11, 2010: The French Foreign Minister, Kouchner, announces the freedom of the three workers taken hostage by unknown rebels in September, and handed over to MEND in November.
November 12, 2010: A MEND statement mentions the seven individuals kidnapped in the attack on the Akwa Ibama oil facility on November 7, confirming that all of them are in good health. It adds that the release of four foreigners on November 9 was for humanitarian reasons, due to their poor health. Meanwhile in South Africa, the decision on the Okah release is postponed to November 19, due to unavailability of Okah’s phone call records. That morning rebels break into the house of Timi Alaibe, the Niger Delta Regional Councillor, who also negotiated the Government amnesty for the MEND rebels – who eventually refused that amnesty without an investment program for regional development.
November 14, 2010. MEND rebels attack an off-shore oil rig belonging to Mobil Producing Nigeria, an ExxonMobil subsidiary managed by the Nigeria Petroleum Corporation, along the Akwa Ibom coast. ExxonMobil suspends its activities as a precautionary measure, but refuses to say how much production is affected by the attack on one of Nigeria’s largest oil wells, producing about 100,000 barrels a day. These last attacks reveal a difference between former rebel commanders who accept the Government amnesty program after receiving cash or incentives, such as free housing, and the majority of low-level rebels who feel cheated and betrayed.
November 16, 2010: MEND claims responsibility for the November 14 oil rig attack and says it has kidnapped seven workers to “prevent the Government attributing the attack to a working accident.” In addition, rebels threaten a major new offensive on oil facilities throughout the Delta area, as a way of forcing the Government into negotiations to solve the regional problems. Finally, MEND claims that an attack by the Army on one of its Rivers State camps endangered the lives of hostages, stressing that “No military action will help to free our hostages, as they will be released only when we decide to do so”.
November 18, 2010: Nineteen hostages are released in good health. The Nigerian Army is credited with their release, after a raid led by Obese, in the Rivers State, without any ransom or negotiations. The head of the JTF states that Obese, a new MEND commander, contacted the security forces through a former rebel leader. He also says that the JTF controls several rebel camps in the key States of Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta. MEND rebels do not comment on the operation.
The freed hostages include the seven foreign workers kidnapped on November 7 from the Afren offshore facility, eight Nigerians kidnapped from the ExxonMobil oil rig on November 14, and four employees of the Julius Berger company - though MEND does not claim responsibility for their kidnapping. November 19, 2010: The Johannesburg Court refuses bail to Henry Okah, stating he failed to prove that he was not a MEND leader and to explain the presence of a long list of weapons in one of his diaries. Okah is now set to face trial for his alleged involvement in the Abuja rebel attack, resulting in the deaths of twelve citizens. The trial is set to begin on February 11, 2011.
November 23, 2010: MEND rebels destroys a pipeline linking Obidi to the Warri refinery in Delta State, producing up to 125,000 barrels per day. This large scale attack announces a return to acts of sabotage, and signals the failure of the Government amnesty program, as well as its lack of will to actually solve the long-standing problems. Nearly thirty million people continue to drink contaminated water, to live without electricity and sewerage, roads and schools with an income of less than one dollar a day, while the wealth of their lands is being seized. A MEND spokesperson states: “This attack, and others to follow, remind the Government about the futility of wasting the nation's resources in fighting the rebels without addressing the causes of concern in the Niger Delta”. According to the JTF, the attack is in response to a massive Government operation to arrest a commander and 62 rebels, leading to the release of nineteen MEND hostages. However, according to a MEND statement, the group attacked by the JTF was not part of its ranks and surrendered after negotiations with two former commanders, releasing the hostages while accepting the amnesty and Government money. Both versions seem fabricated: the JTF claiming to have completed the operation without firing a shot is not credible - but neither is the MEND stand to have released fourteen hostages without knowing who kidnapped them.
December 3, 2010: An activist from the Forum of Justice and Human Rights Defense says that 150 civilians died during a JTF raid on the village of Ayokoromo in the Delta State. The JTF spokesman confirms that an operation was launched against three rebel camps to try and capture John Togo, the leader of the Liberation Force in the Niger Delta (NDLF), a group that has not accepted the amnesty program.
He also confirms that an unspecified number of people may have been killed, but underlines the fact that they are criminals anyway “because innocent people do not live in these camps.” The news of the massacre is confirmed by MISNA (the Missionary International Service News Agency) after talking with several local sources. It should be noted that the Nigerian Army Joint Task Force, a notorious armed group created specifically to counter the Delta region rebels, is best known for its lies about murders and abuses against local communities. Both ‘oil wars’ waged by MEND rebels are born out of bloody JTF attacks on alleged rebel camps which left scores of civilians dead.
December 7, 2010: MEND rebels destroys an AGIP/ENI pipeline operated by the Nigerian AGIP Oil Company (NAOC) in Igbomu Toru in protest at the award of a security contract to a former rebel who is at odds with the Igbomo Toru community. The attack is also a message to AGIP/ENI to employ local youth, and a protest against the contamination caused by on-going leaks from the facility. Two other ENI pipelines, operated by NAOC, are attacked in Gbaran Logosgene and Bayelsa State. The company remains silent about the damage caused by the attacks and their possible reduction of production. Rebel groups often accuse ENI of bribing local communities and non-political armed groups gain protection and to prevent attacks on its facilities - rather than seeking a permanent solution to the problems caused to the local community by the Italian company activities.
December 9, 2010: The newspapers ‘The Guardian’ and ‘Sahara Reporters’ publish some Wikileaks reports describing a meeting between the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and the Vice-President of Shell for Sub-Saharian Africa, Ann Pickard, - where she is quoted saying that “Shell has its own men in all Nigeria's most important ministries”. They also discuss new laws on procedures for granting "oil blocks", regional security issues and the need to put pressure on Nigerian politicians. On the question of concessions, the Ambassador asks whether there is cohesion with the other major oil companies, to which Ann Pickard replies that "accordance with other International oil companies is total at every level".
The report also says that Shell would exchange intelligence information with the United States: the oil company would provide the names of Nigerian politicians suspected of supporting guerrilla activities in the Niger Delta to American diplomats and the United States would turn over information to Shell about the possibility that the rebels are equipped with anti-aircraft missiles. In a subsequent comment, Social Action Nigeria states:
“Shell and the Nigerian Government are two sides of the same coin. Shell is everywhere. They have people on the payroll in every community; this is why it is doing so well. Shell is more powerful than the Nigerian Government”. The oil company tries to play down the meeting report, calling it a “private” conversation containing “personal views” of the U.S role in Nigeria between one of its officials and the Ambassador.
The assertion that Shell has employees at every level of the Nigerian Government seems to be supported by the career path of Diezani Allison-Madueke. A Shell employee from 1992 to 2007 and the first woman appointed as Executive Director of Shell in Nigeria, in April 2010 she became Minister of Petroleum Resources of the African Nations, after serving as Minister of Transportation and then Minister of Mines and Industry in July 2007.
January 7, 2011: The South African court denies the release on bail to alleged MEND leader Henry Okah, charged with the attack of 1. October in Abuja and still in jail along with his brother Charles and other two individuals. The trial, set to begin 11 February, will probably be postponed.
January 18, 2011: MEND rebels announce upcoming attacks on Nigerian oil deposits in a press release, and call for the "immediate evacuation" of local residents to prevent casualties. The threat follows the collapse in Court of Charles Okah, severely debilitated by his time in prison.
January 23-25, 2011: Amnesty International and Environmental Rights Action (ERA)/Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) accuse Royal Dutch Shell of breachingOECD Guidelines regarding multinational companies and file a complaint to Dutch and British NCPs. Specifically, Amnesty International and ERA/FoEI accuse Shell of making false, misleading and incomplete statements about incidents of sabotage to its operations and the sources of pollution in the Niger Delta. The company had recently identified such incidents of sabotage as being the cause for about 98% of oil spills. According to the complainants, the company provided misleading information and omitted mentioning relevant facts about the causes of these spills. Additionally, they claim that Shell based its communications on biased and unverified information, thus failing to provide reliable and relevant information to external stakeholders, allegedly in order to avoid responsibility for the compensation of damage done to local inhabitants or their livelihoods. The Dutch NCP accepts the case presented by Amnesty International and ERA/FOEI and states that it will collaborate with the British NCP to collect further information. The NCP has invited the parties involved to contribute to the data collection.
January 28, 2011: Local sources from Lagos report that Shell is being sued by notorious arms dealer Akinluyi Gabriel who claims that Shell owes him over $200,000 in fees for his part in securing arms to protect the company’s oil establishments in 1994. The information has not been verified.
February 3, 2011: Mark Anthony, spokesperson for Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF), announces the end of the militant group’s ceasefire in one week’s time. The reasons for revoking the ceasefire would be the refusal on behalf of the Federal Government to call a post-amnesty conference with members of the military who had been affected by the government’s decision.
February 9, 2011: Conclusion of the investigation carried out by the NDES (Niger Delta Environmental Survey). The survey had been promoted since 1995 by SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd.), NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Company), Agip, Elf and OPTS (Oil’s Producers Trade Sector). After 16 years of field research, the report concludes with a number of recommendations, including the necessity to remediate the polluted territory, the development of welfare programs by petroleum companies in support to local communities, the distribution of health services and a more in-depth research into the links between environmental impact and living conditions in the area. Specifically, the report emphasizes the necessity to cooperate with local inhabitants in order to minimize conflict.
April 2011: Royal Dutch Shell and Saipem Contracting Nigeria Ltd. sign a $101 million contract for the construction of a 42 km-long pipeline to take gas currently being flared in the vast wetlands of the Niger Delta to a new processing plant. ‘This is an extremely important project for SPDC in terms of our commitment to ending routine gas flaring, and consolidating our leadership position in the domestic gas market,’ Mutiu Sunmonu, SPDC managing director, said in a statement.
April 16 2011: Goodluck Jonathan is elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with 58% of votes. On the 19th of April, following the announcement of Jonathan’s victory, conflicts begin in the North of the country.
May 5, 2011: ERA activist Osayande Omokaro speaks at the ENI shareholders’ meeting. Omokaro demands that the details on the reductions of emissions and gas flaring be made public, as announced in 2005. ENI reiterates its commitment to reduce gas flaring by 5% by 2014. Omokaro also asks the board to justify the company’s disengagement regarding the development of infrastructure in affected communities.
May 18, 2011: Joint Task Force (JTF) executes John Togo, presumed head of NDLF (Niger Delta Liberation Force), following an attack on Aladja, in proximity to Warry, in the Delta State. According to local sources, the attack would have lasted for 5 days.
May 24, 2011: Mutiu Sumonu, CEO for Shell Nigeria, reports a rise in the percentage of oil stolen in the Niger Delta, despite an actual reduction of the number of violent attacks on the company’s infrastructure and employees. According to Sumonu, the reduction of violence would be connected to the government’s amnesty program for the Niger Delta.
May 26, 2011: Communities from Kolo Creek, Bayelsa stste, including the Immiringi, the Elebe, the Otu-Asiga and the Oruma, protest against SPDC because of the company’s failure to respect the terms of the agreement made in 1999 regarding the provision of electricity. The communities accuse the company of benefitting of full access to electricity to the expense of local communities.
June 6, 2011: MEND rebel leader Jomo Gbomo, in a statement to Sahara Reporters, speaks of the group’s ‘outrage’ at ‘the involvement of the ENI group of Italy in the attacks on the innocent citizens of Libya by western nation’s intent on plundering the mineral resources of that nation. […] In solidarity with the oppressed people of Libya we vow this day to hence forth pursue the complete destruction of all investment owned by ENI group in Nigeria and urge all around Africa to do likewise’. In another statement addressed to oil firms in Nigeria, MEND implies that the apparent silence of the group is but ‘the calm before the storm’.
June 9, 2011: The Niger Delta Freedom Group – an armed force in Edo State – asks President Jonathan to enroll in the government’s amnesty program. On the same day MEND restates their distance from ex-militants who accepted the government’s rehabilitation program.
June 13, 2011: SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd.) calls for force majeure regarding fires and spills the previous week along the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), a pipeline passing through Ogoniland.
July 12, 2011: Godspower Odenema, President of the NDYM (Niger Delta Youth Movement) calls upon the Nigerian Federal Government and the international community to react against the intentions of Royal Dutch Shell to sell a number of oil wells without giving any retribution to local communities. According to Odenema, Shell is one of the major culprits for the insecurity and the violence in the country, due to its ruthless and extensive exploitation of land and people. The refusal on behalf of Shell to compensate local communities would further breach the Nigerian Content Development Act, a Delta State development program launched in 2010.
July 27, 2011: Following Odenema’s accusations (above), President Goodluck Jonathan sets up a committee to examine the details of the concessions released to the Niger Delta Development Commission. Thus, attention shifts from Royal Dutch Shell to the regional commission, the members of which are suspected of corruption.
July 29, 2011: Environmental Rights Action (ERA) uncovers the reopening of a Royal Dutch Shell furnace after noting that the chemical composition of the atmosphere in the Odopo area had changed. Following these investigations, ERA releases a statement in which an appeal is made to the Federal Government and to Shell to close down the furnace, to reduce and control extensive gas flaring and to reduce in general atmospheric pollution and the wasting of local resources.
August 2, 2011: Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director for SERAP (Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project) accuses the Nigerian Federal Government of breaching international regulations for failing to ensure fair retribution to the Nigerian population for the environmental damage caused by extensive oil extraction. Mumuni emphasized the problem of corruption related to the activity of multinationals throughout the Delta area.
August 4, 2011: UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) publishes theEnvironmental Assessment of Ogoniland Report. The report denounces the disastrous effects of massive unrefined oil spills in near Ogoniland, and claims that the remediation process will take between 25 and 30 years. UNEP appeals to the Federal Government demanding its involvement in a collective effort for environmental remediation.
August 13, 2011: President Goodluck Jonathan holds a formal meeting with the leaders of oil multinational ENI. The meeting focuses on the reduction of gas flaring activities and on the production and distribution of electricity in the country. No formal decision is taken however.
September 21, 2011: The South Gauteng High Court, in Johannesburg, declares the detention of Henry Okah, presumed leader of MEND, as ‘inhuman and illegal’. The trial against Henry Okah, held in South Africa for terrorism charges, is set to begin on the 12th of January 2012.
September 21-26, 2011: ERA (Environmental Rights Action), reports several oil spills in the inhabited aria of Kalaba land, on river Taylor. ERA has called upon Agip, the company responsible for the spills, to undertake remediation of the territory, as well as ensure that the spills diminish and that compensation is given to the local population.
October 1, 2011: In a statement MEND threatens to set off bombs in Eagle Square, where celebrations for the 51st anniversary of the independence of Nigera will take place. According to the statement, ‘After fifty one years of independence, Nigerians still have nothing to celebrate. The general public is strongly advised to consider this as a first and final warning.’ Following the statement however no attacks were recorded.
December 8, 2011: A peaceful demonstration along the Abuja-Lokoja road takes place, organized by ex-militants from Niger Delta on their way to Abuja to protest against their exclusion from the national amnesty rehabilitation program.
January 16, 2012: ERA (Environmental Rights Action) publishes a number of reports on oil spills in Ijaw and Kalaba lands, allegedly from Agip-owned facilities. The multinational, following appeals in December 2011, had already made a commitment to reduce oil spills by January 2012.
January 19, 2012: A Chevron oil well explodes in North Apoi, in Bayelsa State. Following visits to local communities, ERA publishes a report where it reveals that polluting substances from the explosion of the Chevron oil well have reached the coasts and are affecting the livelihoods of local communities. The report demands that the Federal Government intervene to pressure Chevron into taking on responsibility for the remediation of the contaminated territories.
January 30, 2012: The South African Supreme Court postpones the beginning of the trial against MEND leader Henry Okah. The Court gives no reason, however Rudi Krause, Okah’s lawyer, admits that neither prosecution nor defense attorneys felt ready to start the trial. The beginning of the trial is thus postponed to the 1st of October 2012.
February 4, 2012: A bomb is set off at one of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) pipelines, in the vicinities of Brass, in Bayelsa State. MEND releases a statement in which it takes responsibility for the attack. In the statement the group also takes responsibility for another attack which took place in mid-January against the compound of Minister of Niger Delta Odsday Orubebe in Ogbobagbene, seat of the Burutu local government, in Delta State. ENI confirmed the attack and reported a subsequent decline in production of about 4,000 barrels a day. MEND also threatens in its statement that more attacks will follow.
March 1, 2012: Four people are killed in the Niger Delta area during an attack on a police station. The next day, MEND issues a statement taking responsibility for both the attack on the police station and another attack which took place one week earlier, a sabotage to a pipeline.
April 13, 2012: Eni/Agip facilities are attacked at Clough Creek in Bayelsa State, in the Niger Delta region. Specifically, the pipeline connecting Clough Creek and the Tebida oil plant are affected. Again, MEND takes responsibility for the attack and announces more attacks in the future.
May 3, 2012: Heny Okah presents to a South African court a 194 page-long document in which he emphasizes again his distances from MEND and accuses President Jonathan of framing him in the court case. According to Okah, the government would be itself responsible for several of the attacks, allegedly committed by militant groups, and would have blamed Okah for these in order to secure Jonathan’s victory during the 2011 presidential elections. Moreover, during the campaign Jonathan would have relied heavily on defamatory campaigns against his political opponents. The President has denied all the claims made by Okah, stating that, if necessary, he would be present at the trial against the alleged leader of MEND.
June 23, 2012: Henry Okah reiterates his accusations against Goodluck Jonathan during an interview with daily newspaper Sahara Reporters. The presumed leader of MEND also reasserted his innocence regarding the Abuja attacks in 2010, as well as any of the other attacks attributed to him as leader of the militant group. According to Okah, the South African government is guilty of not respecting his fundamental rights from the moment in which it collaborated in the set-up organized by Jonathan.
October 1, 2012: On the day of the 52d anniversary of the Independence of Nigeria, exactly two years after the Abuja attacks, the trial against Henry Okah begins. Shaun Abrahams, head of the Johannesburg Supreme Court, reveals that he has formal confirmation from Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice that there would be no extradition request for the defendant, accused of terrorism for the Warri (March 2010) and the Abuja (October 2010) attacks. Godsday Orubebe, Minister of the Niger Delta, is the first witness to testify, giving the historical perspective of the agitation of the Niger Delta people leading to the institution of the amnesty program for militants in the region. Orubebe is also questioned about his relation with the accused. The Minister however denies any involvement concerning the acquisition of arms from Okah. The trial is estimated to continue for 18 months, during which time 100 witnesses will be heard.
October 2, 2012: Friends of Earth International (FoEI) releases a statement to the main press agencies in which it claims to have completed its research in the Niger Delta, a research which took place between the 27th of September and the 2nd of October. The aims of the research were to collect proof to present to the Aja court on the 11th of October, when the trial against Royal Dutch Shell would begin.
October 11th 2012: Beginning of the Royal Dutch Shell case. According to the main environmental institutions involved in the trial, a conviction against Royal Dutch Shell would mean an important step forward for the local inhabitants of the Niger Delta, opening further the possibilities for other major or minor disputes. The verdict of the trial is expected for the end of 2012 or for early 2013.
December 16, 2012: During the trial Serap vs. Nigeria (which began in 2009), the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Community Court of Justice unanimously found the Nigerian Government to be guilty for the abuses committed by petrol companies in the country, and declared that the Government is required to demand reports from these companies regarding their operations. The Court finds the Nigerian Government guilty of breaching articles 21 (concerning the right to natural resources and riches) and 24 (concerning the right to a healthy environment) of the African Charter on Human and People’s rights, by failing to protect the Delta region and its inhabitants from the damaging activities of oil companies, responsible for decades of devastating environmental damage. The Court decreed that the impossibility on behalf of the Nigerian government of issuing adequate laws, of creating efficient institutions as concerns the activities of multinational companies in the country and of prosecuting those responsible for the pollution constitutes appropriate grounds for finding the Nigerian Government guilty of breaching international obligations regarding human rights.
November 10, 1995: The military Government hang the poet and activist [Ken Saro Wiwa->http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Sa...], together with other eight militants from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People ([MOSOP->http://www.mosop.net/]).
June 2003: Due to water shortages in the village of Janki, local residents draw water from an old well contaminated by toxic waste. The incident causes the death of more than 80 people, including many women and children.
2004: The Italian oil company ENI is excluded from the FTSE4Good Index Series, a list of socially responsible investments.
February 2005: MEND declares war on multinational companies operating in the region.
December 25, 2005: An attack on a Shell oil pipeline results in an explosion: eight people die and while many others are missing. For security reasons Shell closes two oil wells and shuts down oil production.
End 2005: Italian oil company Agip is accused of encouraging and supporting an order by the Nigerian Government for the demolition of a slum in Port Harcourt, supposedly too close to ENI oil installations.
During the period 2005-2007, MEND’s frequent sabotage of oil plants and targeted kidnapping starts to be used as a political tool. Hostages are always released unharmed and in good health, and without MEND accepting any ransom money.
January 16, 2006: After violent clashes between militia groups and Nigerian armed forces guarding a Shell oil platform in Benisede, in the State of Bayelsa, some 14 people are reportedly killed, though the actual number of casualties is uncertain. MEND claims responsibility for this and other two attacks in the area over the same week. The group calls for the release of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former Governor of Bayelsa State - Nigeria’s only wholly indigenous Ijaw state- and leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF/Alhaji Mujahideen Dokubo-Asari). Arrested in September 2005, Alamieyeseigha is a major political figure for the Ijaw ethnic group and strong advocate for a more equitable distribution of oil revenues in favor of the Ijaw indigenous community.
January 24, 2006: MEND leaders issue a press release urging foreign employees of oil companies to “leave immediately”. Rebels send an ultimatum: “Shell must pay the local government US$ 1,5 million in compensation for environmental damage, and central Government must free our leaders, otherwise from February 1st, 2006, we will carry more aggressive actions against oil company workers and their families”.
January 24, 2006: About twenty gunmen attack the ENI/Agip headquarters in Port Harcourt. The gunfight with private security personnel leaves nine people dead, eight of them Nigerian.
February 12-17, 2006: The Nigerian army launches air raids against the Ijaw Delta communities that supposedly support MEND rebels, killing and injuring several civilians.
February 17, 2006: MEND declares “total war” against oil corporations like Shell and ENI operating in the region. Speaking through the BBC, MEND leader, General G. Tamuno, orders foreign oil company employees to leave the area.
February 18, 2006: As a result of these attacks, gas and oil pipelines are sabotaged and around twenty percent of Nigeria’s oil exports are halted. MEND attacks a Shell oil rig taking hostage nine foreign employees of the US Willbros Group, a Shell subsidiary. According to local sources, a plant in the area of Forcados is set on fire, while a gas pipeline running from the Escravos area to the Kaduna refinery is destroyed. The attacks force Shell to suspend its export of 380,000 barrels of oil a day.
February 26, 2006: A police operation to flush out militiamen turns into a civilian bloodbath, destroying the village of Odiama. Eyewitness reports from Reuters and the IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) speak of at least 30 civilians being killed. The Nigerian Parliament sets up an inquiry to find out exactly what happened.
March 18, 2006: Activists attack and seriously damage an ENI/Agip oil pipeline running from Tebidaba to the Brass terminal resulting in a large oil spill which contaminates the Brass riverbank and adjacent areas covered in vegetation and mangroves.
April 19, 2006: A car bomb attack inside Port Harcourt barracks, blamed on the MEND, leaves two men dead and many others injured, .
April 22, 2006: MEND representatives sign a ceasefire with President Obasanjo in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
May10, 2006: A US oil company executive is killed in Port Harcourt.
June 8, 2006: Five South Korean oil workers are kidnapped and ten Nigerian security guards are killed during an attack carried by a MEND militia group on a ’Royal Dutch Shell’ gas platform, not far from Port Harcourt, in the southern Rivers State.
July 25, 2006: Activists peacefully occupy an ENI owned pumping station in Ogbainbiri. They demand compensation for their boat seized by the Nigerian Army.
July 31, 2006: ENI announces, via its affiliate [NAOC->http://www.nigeria-oil-gas.com/nige...], that occupants have left the Nigerian pumping station in Ogbainbiri and all oil activities are back to normal - thanks to successful negotiations carried by Government officials in Bayelsa State.
August 15, 2006: The Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, orders Army commanders of the Delta region to intervene and ‘pacify’ the area as rapidly as possible.
August 20, 2006: The “Joint Task Force”, a unit of the Nigerian Army, ambushes a group of 50 MEND rebels and kills them all, including a Shell oil worker being held hostage.
August 24, 2006: Gunmen kidnap Mario Pavesi, an Italian employee of the ENI subsidiary company [Saipem->http://www.saipem.it/] in Port Harcourt. According to local sources, his bodyguard is killed.
August 29, 2006: The Saipem technician is released.
August 31, 2006: Nigerian oil workers announce a three day strike starting September 13, denouncing the lack of security and frequent kidnapping of technicians and workers in the Niger Delta area.
October 2, 2006: A pumping station managed by Royal Dutch Shell is attacked by a militia group in the Rivers State. According to an oil company source, five soldiers guarding the Cawthrone Channel facilities are killed, while Army reports list only a few soldiers as being injured.
October 4, 2006: Five speedboats, with gunmen on board, attack a convoy of seven passenger boats near the Ekulama village, an hour and a half by boat to Port Harcourt. The convoy is carrying 24 Nigerian contractor workers of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company. During the attack a passenger is accidentally shot and dies, as the gunmen try to destroy the passenger boats engines.
October 30, 2006: Oil worker unions threaten to bring all ENI/Agip facilities in Nigeria to a halt. According to a union delegate, the threat will be carried out if the company refuses to pay their employees a security bonus, to reflect the higher risks they are exposed to.
November 1, 2006: As ENI/Agip is ready to negotiate, the strike is cancelled.
November 6, 2006: Several militants occupy an ENI pumping station in Tebidaba, taking 48 employees hostage and asking for US$ 75,000 in ransom.
November 7, 2006: Six hostages escape from Tebidaba and other five are released. Other employees of the Norwegian company, kidnapped on November the 2nd, are released after a ransom payment.
November 22, 2006: Saipem’s Mystra oil rig is attacked in Okono during the night, and seven technicians are kidnapped. The Nigerian Navy intercepts the kidnapper’s boat and four people are killed during the ensuing gun battle.
November 23, 2006: After 17 days, the remaining hostages kidnapped in Tebidaba are eventually released.
December 7, 2006: Three Italian and one Lebanese employee are kidnapped during an attack on the ENI/Agip station in Brass, in the State of Bayelsa. The Lebanese worker is later released, while the episode re-opens the public debate on ENI’s policies in Nigeria.
December 21, 2006: Three policemen die during an attack on the [Total->http://www.total.com/en/home_page/] oil facilities in Obagi.
December 26, 2006: An oil pipeline rupture in Abule Egba, north of Lagos, prompt residents to rush and collect the leaking fuel. However, almost 500 people are killed when the pipeline explodes.
In 2006 more than a hundred people are taken hostage, all workers of different nationalities employed by various companies, including: [Shell->http://www.shell.com/], [Peak Petroleum->http://www.peakpetrol.com.au/defaul...], [Bilfinger and Berger->http://www.bilfingerberger.de/C1257...], [Dredging International->http://www.dredging.com/], [ENI->http://www.eni.it/it_IT/home.html], Saipem and Norwegian Oil companies. The MEND claims responsibility for nearly all the hostage-taking operations and, after short periods, releases most of them.
2006-2007: The Italian NGO “A Sud” launches a public awareness campaign and asks the Italian Government, which owns 30 percent of ENI shares, to revise the corporation’s policy in Nigeria and to immediately stop the practice of gas flaring. “A Sud” sets up the ‘Osservatorio Eni’, a project to monitor and report on the conduct of the Italian multinational company.
January 17, 2007: Roberto Dieghi, taken hostage on December 7, 2006, is released because of his poor health condition.
January 27, 2007: The Rivers State security service arrests George Sobomado, a MEND leader.
January 28, 2007: MEND activists attacks the State police headquarters in Port Harcourt, in an attempt to set Sobomado free; according to police reports, two people are killed in the attack.
February 21, 2007: ENI’s Administrator announces that the Lebanese hostage is being released. A MEND spokesman under the pseudonym of Jomo Gbomo, threats retaliation against ENI because the hostage was able to escape after bribing his guards.
February 22, 2007: ENI claims that no money had ever been paid, directly or indirectly, to free hostages.
March 14, 2007: MEND releases the last two Italians taken hostage, who claim to have been well treated during their ordeal.
April 4, 2007: Four more foreigners are taken hostage by groups unaffiliated to the MEND, from different locations in the Niger Delta. The four oil workers, an Englishman kidnapped on March 31, a Dutch man and two Lebanese citizens kidnapped on March 23, are soon released simultaneously.
April 14, 2007: Unknown activists assault two police stations in Port Harcourt, killing seven officers and freeing several inmates. The attack, according to a police spokesperson, takes place a few hours before the nearby polling station opens to start counting votes after the national election of local governors and MPs for the 36 States of the Nigerian Confederation.
April 21, 2007: The election to mark the democratic handover of power by President Olusegun Obasanjo, in charge since 1998, to his successor, ends up with 200 people dead and allegations of electoral fraud reported by European and International observers.
April 25, 2007: Italian journalists Emanuele Piano and Marco Ricchello are detained for nearly eight hours and interrogated by police in Abuja – shortly after their meeting with local journalists in the offices of the National Independent Electoral Commission.
May 1, 2007: Several [Chevron->http://www.chevron.com/] employees are taken hostage, including four Italians, one US and one Croatian citizen. MEND claims responsibility for the kidnapping with a message that reads: “Contrary to Nigerian media claim, we deny our alleged support for the newly-elected vice-President Jonathan Goodluck and President Yar Adua”. The group adds that even if Goodluck is chosen as vice-President, his status as a Christian and Ijaw – the same ethnic group as most MEND activists – will not alter the situation: the peace conditions imposed on oil corporations by the Nigerian Government are not being accepted. The kidnapping of the six men is also a direct warning to Chevron.
May 3, 2007: MEND continues its disrupting operations, despite reports suggesting they are supporting the new administration, including an article in the newspaper [“This Day”->http://www.thisdayonline.com/], claiming that a MEND commander is highly praising the President-elect.
May 7, 2007: Crowds of people armed with sticks and machetes besiege the Ebite station, the largest US Chevron oil facilities in the Delta and producer of forty two thousand barrels of oil per day. Despite Government security forces already in place, the facilities are forced to close down.
May 9, 2007: MEND alleges it has ordered all armed groups in the Niger Delta to launch a month of “chaos”, to underline their request for greater autonomy in the oil production region. According to Eni/Agip, the last sabotage attempts by MEND activists on two pipelines caused a fall in oil production of 98,000 barrels per day.
May 14, 2007: MEND releases a statement announcing that the six Chevron employees taken hostage on May 1 are to be released on May 30 only if “a new Government is put in place.” May 29 is inauguration day for the new President Umaru Yar’ Adua, though MEND activists fear that “Obasanjo could refuse to hand over the Presidency, using any excuse to remain in power”.
May 29, 2007: A group of protesters occupy a Nigerian pipeline in K-Dere, forcing the Royal Dutch Shell Company to cut its production of 150,000 barrels per day. Days later, local community leaders persuade the protesters to stop their occupation.
June 2, 2007: The six technicians kidnapped on May 1 are finally released. As a sign of good will, MEND announces a one-month truce. However, that same morning seven people are kidnapped by gunmen attacking the “Akpajo Housing Estate” residential complex, owned by the Indonesian chemical company [Indorama Limited->http://www.indorama.co.in/]; according to the [Times of Nigeria->http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/] two women with two children are among the kidnapped group. According to the news agency [Misna->http://www.misna.org/], at least two officers die during the ensuing gun battle, while MEND distances itself from the attack.
June 12, 2007: During a Hearing by the Foreign Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, ENI’s Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni states their facilities in Brass are back to “full production”. The Nigerian Army, patrolling the oil facilities by boat, shoots at a ship supposedly carrying dangerous activists, killing nine unarmed civilians instead.
June 14, 2007: A few days after a unilateral ceasefire announced by MEND activists, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, former leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) is released on bail for health reasons. In doing so, Abuja authorities accept one of MEND’s major requests.
June 17, 2007: In the morning ENI reports that several gunmen are attacking the flow station of Ogbainbiri, in the State of Bayelsa. Twenty-four Nigerian employees and fifty one soldiers are taken hostage, forty soldiers and eight workers manage to leave. This station regularly produces 40,000 barrels of oil per day.
June 21, 2007: A massacre takes place during a police intervention to free the ENI/Agip flow station at Ogbainbiri. According to media reports, at least 15 people are dead, though there is a lot of confusion surrounding the events.
June 25, 2007: Cynthia Whyte, spokesperson for the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), a coalition of militia troops in the Niger Delta region, sends a message to the Times of Nigeria, then picked up by other Nigerian newspapers, with her recollection of events: “A few weeks ago the army killed twelve indigenous Ijaw civilians as they were peacefully occupying the ENI/Agip flow station, to protest against the shooting of their families one week earlier”.
July 4, 2007: In a statement to major news agencies, MEND announces the end of their one month unilateral truce, adding: “The Nigerian Army has recently executed with impunity numerous Delta residents, while the Government has imprisoned other citizens without due process. We cannot remain silent in the face of theses facts”.
July 5, 2007: The Italian Government replies to a question on the Ogbainbiri flow station massacre urged by the ENI Observatory. The Government spokesperson confirms that there were only unarmed civilians on the flow station when the Nigerian Army moved in, and that obviously something went ‘horribly wrong’. Meanwhile, three year old Margaret Hill, daughter of an English worker and a Nigerian woman, is kidnapped in Port Harcourt.
July 8, 2007: Margaret Hill is released unharmed. A MEND spokesperson says: “This crime against a minor is perpetrated by common criminals and even if they have released the girl, I promise that their punishment is going to be well deserved”.
July 10, 2007: According to an Army spokesperson, gunmen attack a Daewoo camp near Port Harcourt. During the attack one “militia man is killed and another captured”, says Lawrence Ngubane, in charge of the Joint Task Force.
July 22, 2007: Over only a few days of counterfeit oil, sold for domestic use, leaves around 10 dead and dozens injured. The victims are killed by explosions triggered after lighting up their kitchen range in the cities of Warri and Effurun.
August 20, 2007: A curfew is imposed on Port Harcourt, with the city paralysed by heavy fighting for over a week.
September 3, 2007: Henry Okah, considered by many as the MEND leader who signs his statements Jomo Gbomo, is arrested in Angola.
September 23, 2007: MEND announces the resumption of its operations, accusing Yar’ Adua’s Government of “not showing any intention of solving the crisis in the Niger Delta, having chosen instead, to follow the in the steps of his predecessor Obasanjo by trying to divide local residents”.
September 27, 2007: The company headquarters of Saipem (ENI) in Port Harcourt is attacked and a Colombian worker is killed.
October 10, 2007: The two Saipem technicians kidnapped on September 27th are released.
October 20, 2007: An armed group attacks a Royal Shell oil rig and takes seven technicians prisoner. The operation risks compromising Royal Shell plans to restart oil production by 2008, suspended in February 2007 after a series of attacks.
October 22, 2007: MEND claims responsibility for the Shell oil rig attack, announcing a new campaign against oil companies and their employees. The 7 technicians kidnapped on the 20th are released.
Throughout 2007 around 200 hundred people are kidnapped: as in 2006, they are all employees of different nationalities working for several overseas corporations, including: [Daewoo->http://www.daewoo.com/english/index...], the [Pivot Engineering and Construction Company->http://www.pivot-engineering.com/oi...], [China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC)->http://www.cnpc.com.cn/eng/], [Total->http://www.total.com/], [Impregilo->http://www.impregilo.it/Impregilois...], Eni/Agip, [Setraco->http://www.setraco.net/], [Dolphin Drilling->http://www.applegate.co.uk/chemical...], [Merpa->http://www.mer-pa.com.tr/merpa_nije...], and the [Eleme Petrochemical->http://www.nnpcgroup.com/epcl.htm]. This year, MEND distances itself from some of those operations, claiming they were carried by local individuals. In any case, nearly all the hostages released during the year are in good health.
May 3, 2008: The Federal High Court in Jos decides the trial of Henry Okah is to be held behind closed doors. Judge Stephen Adah agrees with the public prosecutor Salisu Aliyu that a public trial could present risks to the national security. Seemingly, the proceedings open with the reading of criminal charges against Okah. His attorney Femi Falena explains that his client had no prior knowledge of the charges against him, and could not prepare his defence properly. In addition, during his three month detention, Okah claims that he is was allowed to talk to his lawyer for just a few seconds, while being kept in darkness and able to see daylight only twice. Therefore, Okah refuses to answer the Judge questions, stating he will not speak until the end of the trial. The Judge upholds the defence claims, and adjourns the case until June10th.
May 4, 2008: MEND launches Operation Cyclone: in reply to the previous day’s events in Okah trial, activists blow up three oil wells run by Royal Dutch Shell – marking their fifth attack in the last few weeks.
May 6, 2008: In a long statement, MEND tries to get public attention by claiming that Barak Obama is appealing for a ceasefire: “In the last few days the American Democratic Presidential candidate has launched an appeal asking for a temporary ceasefire and the reopening of peace negotiations on the Niger Delta”. They also categorically deny that Mrs. Margaret Edisi, wife of a rich Delta oil tycoon taken hostage days before, is being held by the organization, adding: “This is just Government propaganda, our rules of war state that women are untouchable. (..) Many kidnapping nowadays are actions carried out by individuals who know their victims”.
Finally, the group confirms the death of Awala Emmanuel during surgery in a MEND camp, from the wounds sustained during an attack on a Chevron oil facility.
May 26, 2008: Operation Cyclone continues with an attack on a large Shell gas pipelines at the Awoba pumping station in the Rivers State. According to MEND sources, 11 soldiers are killed while their boat is sunk. A JTF (Joint Task Force) spokesperson immediately denies this information, claiming the pumping station was not guarded by the Army. However, a Shell spokesperson confirms the attack in an interview with Nigerian newspaper Vanguard. Oil production is suspended as a precautionary measure. According to a MEND statement, “The attack is a warning to Umaru Yar ‘Adua and the Jonathan administration, because they were not able to guarantee peace, security and reconciliation in the region after one year in office”. One week before, the Ministry of Defence proposed armed militants could set up “vigilante societies” and patrol the Delta on behalf of the Government. The MEND refuses this proposal, saying it just represents an absurd attempt to hide the regions real problems.
May 31, 2008: The JTF attacks and destroys three Ijaw communities in the States of Bayelsa, Edo and Ondo. MEND urges all groups to avenge this attack on the Ijaw communities.
June 2, 2008: One Nigerian Navy soldier is killed and four others are wounded while escorting an oil tanker from [Addax’s Antan->http://www.addaxpetroleum.com/press...], an oil company active in the Delta.
June 5, 2008: The legal battle for the recognition of Henry Okah’s rights continues. [West African Bar Association->http://wabaecowas.org/aboutWABA01.html] President Femi Falena, who is also Okah defence lawyer, accuses the President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua of heavy bias against the MEND leader.
June 6, 2008: A ship escorting another Addax oil tanker is attacked. According to the Army spokesperson, nine soldiers are killed and four civilians are wounded.
June 17, 2008: MEND activists, and leaders of other groups operating in the area, announce they are not participating in the peace summit negotiations over the Delta region convened by the Government, particularly because the event is managed by Ibrahim Gambari, Nigerian special councilor of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Gambari defended dictator Abachi against International criticism for his decision to execute Saro-Wiwa and other eight militant leaders.
June 18, 2008: Due to an ‘incompatibility’ issue, Shell concessions in the Ogoni region are revoked and reassigned to another company. Shell is granted concessions in other areas instead, and it seems that the company has to pay damage compensation.
June 21, 2008: After an attack on the Bonga oil field, described by the Nigerian Government as “a sabotage of national interests”, Shell declares “force majeure” throughout June and July - a measure which frees the company from respecting contractual obligations. According to a company spokesperson, ongoing talks are being held with its staff to decide when they can return to work. President Yar ‘Adua orders the Army to strengthen the troops protecting oil fields, as this attack against oil production means a total loss of 800,000 barrels per day.
June 23, 2008: MEND announces a unilateral ceasefire in the Niger Delta region starting from midnight on Tuesday 24. A statement send to press agencies says: “We welcome the appeal by Niger Delta elders to give peace and dialogue another chance”.
July 10, 2008: MEND affirms the ceasefire will last until July 12 while also threatening the British Government: its economic interests may be attacked if military and logistic help is given to the Nigerian Government.
July 28, 2008: The ceasefire is broken. MEND takes fifteen workers of various nationalities hostage and also claims responsibility for the attack of two pipelines owned by Royal Dutch Shell.
August 8, 2008: A Nigerian Tribunal denies a request to release Henry Okah from jail due to his pending criminal charges. His lawyer Wilson Ajuwa states “even if the decision is hardly surprising, we are going ahead with a new appeal”.
September 7, 2008: According to a statement given to AFP by Nigerian Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Musa Sagir, gunmen attack and hijack “the Agip ship Fulmar Lamnaco on the Sambriero River, in the Rivers State”, adding that “during the attack one crew member was killed and another kidnapped”.
September 9, 2008: In another attack against the MT Blue Ocean ship, five foreign workers are taken hostages, including two British, two South African and one Ukrainian citizen, along with 22 Nigerian personnel. On the same day, activists occupy a Conoil oil rig in the Bayelsa State.
September 14, 2008: MEND spokesperson ‘Jomo Gbomo’, warns the oil company: “All workers must be evacuated within the next 24 hours as a hurricane is going to sweep away all the oil facilities over the Niger Delta region”. The workers kidnapped on the Blue Ocean are safely in the hands of MEND.
September 17, 2008: MEND declares an “oil war” and in a short time destroys a Shell pipeline in the Rivers State, attacks a Chevron oil platform, takes a British citizen hostage in Port Harcourt, destroys a Shell oil-pumping station in Orubiri killing the soldiers guarding the facility and destroys a Shell-Agip pipeline in Rumuekpe.
September 21, 2008: A MEND spokesperson announces a ceasefire until further notice, a week after armed clashes with the military and attacks on oil facilities reduce the output of Africa’s largest exporter of ‘black gold’. These clashes are sparked off by the events of September 13, when Government security forces allegedly destroyed the villages of Soku, Kula, and Tombia, while looking for Farah Dagogo, an MEND member. Many civilians are caught up in the battle.
September 25, 2008: The wife of alleged MEND leader Henry Okah says she is worried that her husband’s health is so poor he could die in prison before January 29, 2009, when the next hearing is scheduled. Appealing to the International community, civil and human rights associations, as well as the UN, she urges them to pressure the Federal Government to allow a specialist to visit her husband and, if needed, to schedule a surgery in proper medical facilities.
November 6, 2008: Four hostages kidnapped from the boat Blue Ocean are released.
November 11, 2008: Tensions rise again in the Delta after two statements released by MEND activists. The first says: “The two British citizens still hostage will not be released until the Gordon Brown Government stops offering training and material aid to the Nigerian Army, whose barbarian behavior is spreading over other regions of the country”. The second statement, published by Sahara Reporters, denies MEND participation in the kidnapping of two workers from the ship Borifish Hercules belonging to Offshore Nigeria Ltd.
November 28, 2008: Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), supplier of around 10 percent of the European and American's regassifiers, declares “force majeure” after Shell is forced to shut down one of its feeder plants. Thanks to this statement, oil companies can miss contractual obligations to their customers without incurring any legal liabilities, “due to circumstances beyond their control.” The Italian company Agip (ENI) is also part of the NLNG joint venture.
December 18, 2008: The 2009 Government budget, allocating over 800 billion Naira for arms and ammunition to the Nigerian Army and only 47 billion Naira for the new Delta Ministry, is strongly criticised by moderate leaders. MEND announces that “attacks will resume if Henry Okah is not released and no concrete action is taken to economically sustain the Niger Delta Development Commission project (NDDC) and the Niger Delta Ministry”.
December 26, 2008: Lieutenant Colonel Rabe Abubakar warns of a possible attack on the oil transit station in Tebidaba, the State of Bayelsa, operated by Agip (Eni). MEND denies its participation in this attack and stresses its decision to “maintain the ceasefire” started on September 21. MEND spokesman ‘Jomo Gbomo’ takes this opportunity to urge the International community to pressure the Nigerian Government for the release of Henry Okah.
January 2, 2009: ENI halts production from its flow station after an AGIP pipeline is attacked between the villages of Odimodi and Ogulagha. MEND claims the sabotage is the work of local individuals.
January 13, 2009: MEND sends out a statement, and photos, on two British men taken hostage October 2008, threatening the further kidnapping of many European and American workers. One hostage appeals to this family, claiming his kidnapping is the “result of Government lies, oil company greed and Gordon Brown’s silence”. MEND confirms it will hold the hostages until Henry Okah is released and urges oil trade unions to hold a general strike. The statement also raises doubts about the role of the USA in Okah’s arrest, after it refused an entry visa to an Okah family member.
January 14, 2009: The leader of a non-MEND activist group is killed in Rivers State. While the Army claims he was killed trying to escape, MEND talk of an execution, threatening to break the September ceasefire "with an attack on a military target in the city".
January 21, 2009: The petrol tanker, MT Meredith, is attacked by a group linked to MEND in the Bonny area, and a Romanian crew member is taken hostage. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan observes that hostile acts against oil companies will continue if Nigerian people do not share in the nation’s oil wealth.
January 31, 2009: A MEND statement declares an end to the ceasefire, and announces “a powerful assault”, termed “Hurricane Obama”, against oil companies in the Niger Delta.
February 7, 2009: Following its threat that oil companies must leave the Niger Delta by the 14, MEND attacks a Shell gas facility at Uturogu, in the Delta State. February 10, 2009: Italy offers to supply two naval units to patrol the Niger Delta. MEND accuses Italy of “supporting an illegal regime, which has violently oppressed and marginalised Nigerians for a long time”. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini denies the allegation.
February 13, 2009: In Jos, Federal High Court Judge Stephen Ada, abandons the trial of Okah as none of the alleged offences are committed in the Jos area, and moves the trial to the Delta region as requested by Okah’s defence.
April 3, 2009: Nigerian President Umaru Yar’ Adua announces the possible amnesty for all activists in the Niger Delta who renounce violence. MEND refuses the offer.
April 18, 2009: Amnesty International condemns the Nigerian police for their use of torture, false imprisonment and summary execution of suspected activists. The accusation emerges after Chika Ibeku, former Niger Delta gang member, confides in a possible amnesty and– only to disappear after a few days. He is first detained by officials of the Swift Rose Operation (SOS), who later claim to have no knowledge of his whereabouts.
April 19, 2009: MEND releases British hostage Robin Barry Hughes for “health reasons”, without a ransom demand and ignoring Government offers to pay the prisoners release. However, MEND continues to hold the other British hostage, Matthew John Maguire.
April 25, 2009: A trial against Shell of Nigerian for human rights violations, aiding former dictators, and complicity in the death of peace poet Ken Saro-Wiwa, opens in New York. The trial is based on the 1789 US Alien Tort Statute and the Victims of Torture Protection Law, which allow non-US citizens the right to denounce US human rights violations abroad.
May 13, 2009: MEND claims that the Nigerian Army attacks two of their largest camps in the Delta State, and demands oil companies to leave the country in 24 hours or they will become involved in a future civil war.
May 14, 2009: MEND activists attack a Navy base and extend their 24 hour ultimatum to May 16, when the whole Delta region will become a no-fly zone for oil company aircraft. In addition, MEND confirms the kidnapping of fifteen workers from the MV Spirit ship.
May 15, 2009: In one of Nigeria’s largest military offensives, the JFT attacks several Ijaw communities allegedly supporting MEND, killing 65 people and injuring 100 more people.
May 16, 2009: MEND restates its threat of a general war in the Delta region, while Shell announces its staff is being evacuated and Chevron Nigeria Ltd. (CNL) restricts workers movements around its oil facilities.
May 17, 2009: The JTF bombing of indigenous communities in Oporoza, Ubefan, Okerenkoko, Kurutie, Azama, Benikurukuru and Gbaramatu, is denounced by Ijaw national leader Edwin Clark, the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Senators James Manager (PDP, Delta South) and Fred Brume, representatives of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), respectively.
According to MEND activists, two hostages are killed in the bombings, while another two people are taken prisoner. They also take responsibility for attacking a gas pipeline near Escravos, in Deltas State. Another pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Gas company is assaulted in the village of Abiteye, where Chevron has its headquarters.
May 22, 2009: The JTF extends its war against so-called ‘militants’ to the States of Ondo, Edo and Bayelsa, as Amnesty International denounces the military operation, claiming it caused hundreds of civilian deaths and over 20,000 forced displacements. The Nigerian House of Representatives calls for an investigative commission on JTF attacks in Delta State. In the USA, the Nigerian MEND solidarity movement (NIASOMEND) is launched.
May 24-26, 2009: Even though local papers report that more than 1,500 people, mainly civilians, are killed during the first ten days of the Army operations, the Parliament approves a resolution asking President Yar’ Adua to extend the JTF offensive; instead, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Governor of Rivers State, votes in favour of MEND. An important Chevron oil facility at Abiteye, in the South-Western Warri province, is attacked by MEND activists, who also claim responsibility for attacking a Total pipeline near Amena. Nigeria is losing one million barrels of oil a day as a result of these attacks.
May 29, 2009: The trial against Royal Dutch Shell continues in New York, amid protest rallies held on Manhattan Island by various human rights and civil society groups.
June 1, 2009: British hostage Matthew Maguire refuses to be freed until Henry Okah is able take part in a real peace process.
5 June, 2009: Three former Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) leaders from Bayelsa State are arrested and charged with attempted homicide, then kept in isolation at Yenagoa jail without being allowed to contact their lawyers.
10 June, 2009: For the second time in just over a week, MEND claims it will release British hostage Maguire within twenty four hours. Shell offers US.5 million to the families of activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, murdered by the Sani Abacha regime in 1995 for denouncing the corruption and environmental damage resulting from Shell activities in the Niger Delta. Meanwhile, the 7,000 strong JTF force is bolstered by the arrival of 4,000 troops.
June 12, 2009: MEND releases an [open letter -> http://www.portametronia.it/2009/06...] to the JTF troops stationed in the Niger Delta.
June 13, 2009: MEND spokesperson Jomo Gbomo confirms that the organisation is responsible for the destruction of two Chevron oil facilities, and threatens a further attack on a Chevron facility at Escravos. He also announces the release of British hostage Matthew Maguire to Nigerian authorities.
16 June, 2009: The websites of various Nigerian newspapers post a video excerpt apparently showing JTF soldiers killing two civilians. A JTF spokesperson claims instead that it is a ‘set up’ and ‘pure MEND propaganda’, while Ojo Maduekwe, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, says the Nigerian Government is investigating allegations of summary executions in the Niger Delta.
June 19, 2009: MEND activists claim again responsibility for an attack on an AGIP facility in the southern Nigerian region of Bayelsa.
June 21, 2009: A MEND statement not only claims responsibility for attacks on a Shell oil rig off the Ofirma coast – an attack later denied by Shell - , and gas pipelines at Adamakiri and Kula in Rivers State, but identifies the two civilians, fishermen from Bonny Island, killed on the video by JTF soldiers after being arrested as suspected MEND informants.
June 24, 2009: The Government admits that there is no more crude oil in its refineries for local needs.
June 25, 2009: Given the lack of crude oil, the refineries of Warri and Port Harcourt close down, while the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says a third facility has only fifteen days of reserves left. MEND activists mark the visit of Russian Premier Medvedev with an attack on a Shell pipeline in Rivers State. June 26, 2009: According to an Army official, Nigerian security forces will observe a sixty day ceasefire.
June 27, 2009: MEND declares its willingness to accept the Government amnesty promised on June 25, if the following conditions are met: “the unconditional release of Henry Okah, investigations on summary executions by the JTF, the withdrawal of all troops, assistance to displaced residents and the reconstruction of their villages”.
June 28, 2009: The Government amnesty is rejected by Cynthia White, spokeswoman for the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) including MEND, the Reformed Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and the Martyrs Brigade.
June 29. 2009: A MEND statement condemns the refusal of Yar’ Adua to release Henry Okah and claims the deaths of around twenty soldiers during an attack on a Shell facility at Forcados. While admitting the attack, a spokesperson for the security forces says there were no casualties. Following repeated attacks, Shell suspends activities in the Western region of the Niger Delta, including the Delta State and part of Bayelsa.
June 29, 2009: President Yar’ Adua orders the General responsible for the amnesty procedures to meet with Okah, and after verifying his acceptance, to make arrangements for Okah’s quick release.
June 30, 2009: Amnesty International releases a report entitled [“Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta”->www.portametronia.it/2009/06...]. Its conclusions point to “a Government which fails to act in the public interest and the lack of respect for human rights by almost all multinational companies”. A copy of the report is sent to the ENI CEO, Paolo Scaroni, and to key stakeholders in the Italian Government and Parliament.
July 3, 2009: A Federal High Court Judge orders Okah to receive immediate medical treatment for serious kidney problems, as requested by his defence lawyer Femi Falana.
July 4, 2009: MEND denounces the disappearance of tribal leader Isaac Thikan, a very vocal critic of the Army violence, and his probable killing after being “kidnapped by the JTF” on June 24 and interrogated at Effrun in Warri.
July 5, 2009: MEND activists assault the Shell oil well #20, at Cawthorne Channel 1, in Rivers State.
July 6, 2009: MEND claims the destruction of the Okan supply ship, used to transport eighty percent of oil from Chevron offshore rigs, on June 5, in response to the kidnapping of Isaac Thikan and the continued incarceration of Henry Okah. MEND also claims responsibility for taking hostage six crew members of the Sichem Peace tanker on July 5.
July 8, 2009: MEND claims responsibility for two more attacks on Shell and AGIP oil pipelines in Bayelsa State, while ENI says it has lost 24,000 barrels of oil as a result of the sabotage.
July 9, 2009: During the G8 meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, Femi Falana states that Henry Okah accepts the Government amnesty, which is confirmed by the Nigerian Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi.
July 10, 2009: In an email to news agencies, MEND supports the decision by Okah but underlines that “his freedom cannot be part of the general amnesty offered to combatants”, as he has no weapons to surrender. MEND also agrees with the nomination of Timi Alibe as Special Advisor to the President on the Niger Delta. Lastly, it claims responsibility for an attack on a Chevron gas pipeline linking Alero Creek to the export terminal at Abiteye.
July 12, 2009: MEND attacks an oil terminal in the port of the former Nigeria capital, Lagos.
July 13, 2009: Henry Okah is released.
July 14, 2009: A statement from Jomo Gbomo says that the charges against Okah have been dropped and that his release is a step forward towards peace and prosperity. Meanwhile, a MEND email declares a new sixty day ceasefire from midnight of July 15, in order to move ahead with peace negotiations with the Government.
July 15, 2009: Just 12 hours after the ceasefire declaration, seven armed JTF boats are positioned near a Niger Delta MEND camp, an act which risks bringing peace negotiations to a halt.
July 23, 2009: After eighteen days of captivity, MEND releases its six hostages from the Sichem Peace tanker.
August 6, 2009: The Government gives the rebels sixty days to accept the amnesty. MEND replies with detailed demands: the establishing of real federalism, environmental protection, development of regional infrastructure for clean water, sewers, lighting and roads.
August 24, 2009: MEND denounces the amnesty for not addressing regional problems, and announces new attacks against oil facilities starting from September 15.
September 16, 2009: MEND activists announce a truce extension for another 30 days, in order to solve inherent regional problems. According to [the African Security Research Project-> http://concernedafricascholars.org/...] in Washington, the Nigerian Army is preparing a large scale offensive at the end of the current ceasefire.
October 1, 2009: Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe Okha, Major General Luke Kakadu Aprezi and Dr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde are appointed as negotiators by the MEND, with the task to "oversee a transparent and proper process of MEND disarmament", after Government officials will actually take care of the issues affecting the Niger Delta.
October 9, 2009: Key MEND "leaders" accept the amnesty offer. Jomo Gbomo says it is time to move on to definitively end the fifty years of slavery suffered by the people of the Niger Delta at the hands of the Nigerian Government. He also threatens that MEND rebels are ready to blow up oil pipelines and destroy the related facilities.
October 19-25, 2009: The meeting between President Umaru Yar ‘Adua and Henry Okah ends with a shared agreement. The Federal Government expresses its readiness for dialogue to achieve a lasting peace in the Niger Delta, and commits to allocating funds to carry out public and infrastructure works while reviewing the allocation of oil revenues - with the possibility of increasing the share for local communities by up to ten percent. On October 25, MEND declares an indefinite ceasefire to encourage the dialogue with the Federal Government. The rebels demand the release of all MEND leaders and other independent peace activists still in prison. MEND reminds everyone that they were forced to take up arms in response to the bloody repression unleashed by the military dictatorship in the 1990’s.
December 2009: After being admitted in a Saudi hospital on November 23, the long absence of Nigerian President Yar 'Adua from the political scene threatens to plunge the region back into chaos. The President did not defer his powers to his Vice-President, Goodluck Jonathan. The resulting power vacuum causes a slowdown of talks on the amnesty and the resolution of social problems and regional development.
December 19-21, 2009: MEND rebels break the truce with the Nigerian Government, attacking Shell and Chevron oil pipelines in Rivers State. The pipeline Abonemma, around 50 km (30 miles) from Port Harcourt, is severely damaged. MEND issues a statement underlining that the attacks are a warning against the unjustified suspension of peace talks by the Government on the pretext of President Yar'Adua’s illness. The rebels claim to be open to dialogue, but announce that the indefinite ceasefire, established on Sunday, October 25, will be reviewed within the next 30 days.
January 12, 2010: Three British and one Colombian are taken hostage after an assault on a convoy near the Port Harcourt oil facility. Police spokeswoman Rita Abbey claims one policeman is killed in the attack, while no-one claims responsibility for the kidnappings.
March 15, 2010: MEND activists blow up three bombs at the Delta State Government building, ironically the location chosen for a conference on pacification and amnesty in the Niger Delta. In a telephone warning thirty minutes before the blasts, spokesperson Jomo Gbomo explains why MEND has chosen to sabotage the event: “The never ending pretence of talks and conferences, like this one, will not be tolerated, especially when The Niger Delta is being subdivided into oil blocks allocated mainly to Northerners, while the people of the Niger Delta can barely survive – their rights taken away with a pen stroke.”
March 17, 2010: In an interview with English newspaper ‘The Independent’ Wole Soyinka –1986 Nobel Prize recipient for Literature and human rights activist - denounces the dire situation in his country, now "on the brink of the abyss." He states, "The level of anger has never been higher. I do not exclude the breakup of Nigeria as this is what can happen to a failed state.” He also defends the right of MEND rebels to fight for their country, after decades of neglect, rights violations, environmental crimes and the theft of resources.
October 1, 2010: MEND activists attacks the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Nigerian independence in the capital Abuja. In a warning of the attack to major news agencies, Jomo Gbomo says: "50 years of failure is not worth celebrating. During this time the people of the Niger Delta have seen their lands and resources stolen. Before independence, military forces and illegal Governments mutilated the constitution and took control of the country’s resources - this injustice still needs addressing.” However, the warning is ignored by Nigerian security forces and the two explosions kill at least 15 people.
That same night, South African police search the Johannesburg home of Henry Okah, seemingly at the request of the Nigerian authorities, on suspicion of supplying arms to Niger Delta rebels. Okah says: “The Nigerian Government should solve its internal problems itself. I live in South Africa not in Nigeria”. He also claims to be shocked by the attack, which he knew nothing about.
October 4, 2010: A South African court charges Henry Okah with conspiracy in the rebel attack on Nigeria's capital. The accusation comes after comments by the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, and his Special Adviser on the Niger Delta Timi Alaibe, absolving MEND activists despite their claim of responsibility. President Jonathan declares that a small terrorist group based outside Nigeria, sponsored by unpatriotic elements within the country, is responsible for the attack. The Special Adviser Alaibe argues that MEND leaders are collaborating with the Government and that Okah was actually involved in the attack.
October 7, 2010: In an interview on Al Jazeera about his alleged involvement in the Abuja attack, Okah not only insists that he has nothing to do with it but reveals the Nigerian Government urged him to ask MEND to stop claiming responsibility - in order to guarantee the re-election of President Jonathan in 2011 by blaming the attacks on his political opponents.
October 15, 2010: A MEND statement threatens more violent actions in Abuja to underline its responsibility for the October 1 attack. It also claims that the charges against Henry Okah are unfounded and merely the result of President Jonathan’s political ambition. The statement says: “The Nigerian Government is hiding behind a supposed hunting for phantom terrorists... falsely accusing anyone who opposes it... next time we will give them a thirty-minute warning and see how they manage to put the blame on others.”
October 16, 2010: Nigerian police arrests Charles Okah in Lagos. However, it is unclear whether the arrest is due to comments made against President Jonathan by his brother Henry, or because he is actually the of MEND spokesman using the pseudonym of Jomo Gbomo.
October 20, 2010: The South African Government reveals that investigations against Henry Okah shed light on a complex web of relations between the so-called MEND leader and the chief advisor to President Jonathan. Evidence points to a secret meeting between Okah and Niger Delta minister Orubebe two weeks before the Abuja attack, though Orubebe denies everything.
November 6, 2010: During his new bail hearing Henry Okah admits to renting a house, at Orlu, in Johannesburg, from a man accused of being connected to the Abuja attack by the Nigerian Government. However, he denies again any involvement because this man was using a false name. Okah's lawyer maintains that the evidence against his client is concocted by the Nigerian authorities to keep him in jail until after the 2011 elections - the fact that the South African police have no evidence for their charges against Okah is proof of this plot. The Judge postpones the hearing until November 9.
November 8, 2010: MEND activists attack an AFREN oil company facility in Akwa Ibom State, owned by former Oil Minister Rilwan Lukman. MEND does not claim responsibility, but rather threatens new raids against Africa's largest producer of oil and gas. News agencies say five workers are taken hostage - according to Nigerian security forces they are two Frenchmen, two Americans and a Canadian - although there is no official confirmation. This new wave of violence creates problems for President Jonathan, as not only is he the first head of State from this area but he has to face elections in April 2011.
November 9, 2010: MEND releases a statement on the internet claiming to have taken over the capture of three French and one Thai workers from unknown rebels who attacked an Addax oil facility in September. It adds that new attacks are planned around the Niger Delta, preceded as always by a public warning.
November 11, 2010: The French Foreign Minister, Kouchner, announces the freedom of the three workers taken hostage by unknown rebels in September, and handed over to MEND in November.
November 12, 2010: A MEND statement mentions the seven individuals kidnapped in the attack on the Akwa Ibama oil facility on November 7, confirming that all of them are in good health. It adds that the release of four foreigners on November 9 was for humanitarian reasons, due to their poor health. Meanwhile in South Africa, the decision on the Okah release is postponed to November 19, due to unavailability of Okah’s phone call records. That morning rebels break into the house of Timi Alaibe, the Niger Delta Regional Councillor, who also negotiated the Government amnesty for the MEND rebels – who eventually refused that amnesty without an investment program for regional development.
November 14, 2010. MEND rebels attack an off-shore oil rig belonging to Mobil Producing Nigeria, an ExxonMobil subsidiary managed by the Nigeria Petroleum Corporation, along the Akwa Ibom coast. ExxonMobil suspends its activities as a precautionary measure, but refuses to say how much production is affected by the attack on one of Nigeria’s largest oil wells, producing about 100,000 barrels a day. These last attacks reveal a difference between former rebel commanders who accept the Government amnesty program after receiving cash or incentives, such as free housing, and the majority of low-level rebels who feel cheated and betrayed.
November 16, 2010: MEND claims responsibility for the November 14 oil rig attack and says it has kidnapped seven workers to “prevent the Government attributing the attack to a working accident.” In addition, rebels threaten a major new offensive on oil facilities throughout the Delta area, as a way of forcing the Government into negotiations to solve the regional problems. Finally, MEND claims that an attack by the Army on one of its Rivers State camps endangered the lives of hostages, stressing that “No military action will help to free our hostages, as they will be released only when we decide to do so”.
November 18, 2010: Nineteen hostages are released in good health. The Nigerian Army is credited with their release, after a raid led by Obese, in the Rivers State, without any ransom or negotiations. The head of the JTF states that Obese, a new MEND commander, contacted the security forces through a former rebel leader. He also says that the JTF controls several rebel camps in the key States of Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta. MEND rebels do not comment on the operation.
The freed hostages include the seven foreign workers kidnapped on November 7 from the Afren offshore facility, eight Nigerians kidnapped from the ExxonMobil oil rig on November 14, and four employees of the Julius Berger company - though MEND does not claim responsibility for their kidnapping. November 19, 2010: The Johannesburg Court refuses bail to Henry Okah, stating he failed to prove that he was not a MEND leader and to explain the presence of a long list of weapons in one of his diaries. Okah is now set to face trial for his alleged involvement in the Abuja rebel attack, resulting in the deaths of twelve citizens. The trial is set to begin on February 11, 2011.
November 23, 2010: MEND rebels destroys a pipeline linking Obidi to the Warri refinery in Delta State, producing up to 125,000 barrels per day. This large scale attack announces a return to acts of sabotage, and signals the failure of the Government amnesty program, as well as its lack of will to actually solve the long-standing problems. Nearly thirty million people continue to drink contaminated water, to live without electricity and sewerage, roads and schools with an income of less than one dollar a day, while the wealth of their lands is being seized. A MEND spokesperson states: “This attack, and others to follow, remind the Government about the futility of wasting the nation's resources in fighting the rebels without addressing the causes of concern in the Niger Delta”. According to the JTF, the attack is in response to a massive Government operation to arrest a commander and 62 rebels, leading to the release of nineteen MEND hostages. However, according to a MEND statement, the group attacked by the JTF was not part of its ranks and surrendered after negotiations with two former commanders, releasing the hostages while accepting the amnesty and Government money. Both versions seem fabricated: the JTF claiming to have completed the operation without firing a shot is not credible - but neither is the MEND stand to have released fourteen hostages without knowing who kidnapped them.
December 3, 2010: An activist from the Forum of Justice and Human Rights Defense says that 150 civilians died during a JTF raid on the village of Ayokoromo in the Delta State. The JTF spokesman confirms that an operation was launched against three rebel camps to try and capture John Togo, the leader of the Liberation Force in the Niger Delta (NDLF), a group that has not accepted the amnesty program.
He also confirms that an unspecified number of people may have been killed, but underlines the fact that they are criminals anyway “because innocent people do not live in these camps.” The news of the massacre is confirmed by MISNA (the Missionary International Service News Agency) after talking with several local sources. It should be noted that the Nigerian Army Joint Task Force, a notorious armed group created specifically to counter the Delta region rebels, is best known for its lies about murders and abuses against local communities. Both ‘oil wars’ waged by MEND rebels are born out of bloody JTF attacks on alleged rebel camps which left scores of civilians dead.
December 7, 2010: MEND rebels destroys an AGIP/ENI pipeline operated by the Nigerian AGIP Oil Company (NAOC) in Igbomu Toru in protest at the award of a security contract to a former rebel who is at odds with the Igbomo Toru community. The attack is also a message to AGIP/ENI to employ local youth, and a protest against the contamination caused by on-going leaks from the facility. Two other ENI pipelines, operated by NAOC, are attacked in Gbaran Logosgene and Bayelsa State. The company remains silent about the damage caused by the attacks and their possible reduction of production. Rebel groups often accuse ENI of bribing local communities and non-political armed groups gain protection and to prevent attacks on its facilities - rather than seeking a permanent solution to the problems caused to the local community by the Italian company activities.
December 9, 2010: The newspapers ‘The Guardian’ and ‘Sahara Reporters’ publish some Wikileaks reports describing a meeting between the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and the Vice-President of Shell for Sub-Saharian Africa, Ann Pickard, - where she is quoted saying that “Shell has its own men in all Nigeria's most important ministries”. They also discuss new laws on procedures for granting "oil blocks", regional security issues and the need to put pressure on Nigerian politicians. On the question of concessions, the Ambassador asks whether there is cohesion with the other major oil companies, to which Ann Pickard replies that "accordance with other International oil companies is total at every level".
The report also says that Shell would exchange intelligence information with the United States: the oil company would provide the names of Nigerian politicians suspected of supporting guerrilla activities in the Niger Delta to American diplomats and the United States would turn over information to Shell about the possibility that the rebels are equipped with anti-aircraft missiles. In a subsequent comment, Social Action Nigeria states:
“Shell and the Nigerian Government are two sides of the same coin. Shell is everywhere. They have people on the payroll in every community; this is why it is doing so well. Shell is more powerful than the Nigerian Government”. The oil company tries to play down the meeting report, calling it a “private” conversation containing “personal views” of the U.S role in Nigeria between one of its officials and the Ambassador.
The assertion that Shell has employees at every level of the Nigerian Government seems to be supported by the career path of Diezani Allison-Madueke. A Shell employee from 1992 to 2007 and the first woman appointed as Executive Director of Shell in Nigeria, in April 2010 she became Minister of Petroleum Resources of the African Nations, after serving as Minister of Transportation and then Minister of Mines and Industry in July 2007.
January 7, 2011: The South African court denies the release on bail to alleged MEND leader Henry Okah, charged with the attack of 1. October in Abuja and still in jail along with his brother Charles and other two individuals. The trial, set to begin 11 February, will probably be postponed.
January 18, 2011: MEND rebels announce upcoming attacks on Nigerian oil deposits in a press release, and call for the "immediate evacuation" of local residents to prevent casualties. The threat follows the collapse in Court of Charles Okah, severely debilitated by his time in prison.
January 23-25, 2011: Amnesty International and Environmental Rights Action (ERA)/Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) accuse Royal Dutch Shell of breachingOECD Guidelines regarding multinational companies and file a complaint to Dutch and British NCPs. Specifically, Amnesty International and ERA/FoEI accuse Shell of making false, misleading and incomplete statements about incidents of sabotage to its operations and the sources of pollution in the Niger Delta. The company had recently identified such incidents of sabotage as being the cause for about 98% of oil spills. According to the complainants, the company provided misleading information and omitted mentioning relevant facts about the causes of these spills. Additionally, they claim that Shell based its communications on biased and unverified information, thus failing to provide reliable and relevant information to external stakeholders, allegedly in order to avoid responsibility for the compensation of damage done to local inhabitants or their livelihoods. The Dutch NCP accepts the case presented by Amnesty International and ERA/FOEI and states that it will collaborate with the British NCP to collect further information. The NCP has invited the parties involved to contribute to the data collection.
January 28, 2011: Local sources from Lagos report that Shell is being sued by notorious arms dealer Akinluyi Gabriel who claims that Shell owes him over $200,000 in fees for his part in securing arms to protect the company’s oil establishments in 1994. The information has not been verified.
February 3, 2011: Mark Anthony, spokesperson for Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF), announces the end of the militant group’s ceasefire in one week’s time. The reasons for revoking the ceasefire would be the refusal on behalf of the Federal Government to call a post-amnesty conference with members of the military who had been affected by the government’s decision.
February 9, 2011: Conclusion of the investigation carried out by the NDES (Niger Delta Environmental Survey). The survey had been promoted since 1995 by SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd.), NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Company), Agip, Elf and OPTS (Oil’s Producers Trade Sector). After 16 years of field research, the report concludes with a number of recommendations, including the necessity to remediate the polluted territory, the development of welfare programs by petroleum companies in support to local communities, the distribution of health services and a more in-depth research into the links between environmental impact and living conditions in the area. Specifically, the report emphasizes the necessity to cooperate with local inhabitants in order to minimize conflict.
April 2011: Royal Dutch Shell and Saipem Contracting Nigeria Ltd. sign a $101 million contract for the construction of a 42 km-long pipeline to take gas currently being flared in the vast wetlands of the Niger Delta to a new processing plant. ‘This is an extremely important project for SPDC in terms of our commitment to ending routine gas flaring, and consolidating our leadership position in the domestic gas market,’ Mutiu Sunmonu, SPDC managing director, said in a statement.
April 16 2011: Goodluck Jonathan is elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with 58% of votes. On the 19th of April, following the announcement of Jonathan’s victory, conflicts begin in the North of the country.
May 5, 2011: ERA activist Osayande Omokaro speaks at the ENI shareholders’ meeting. Omokaro demands that the details on the reductions of emissions and gas flaring be made public, as announced in 2005. ENI reiterates its commitment to reduce gas flaring by 5% by 2014. Omokaro also asks the board to justify the company’s disengagement regarding the development of infrastructure in affected communities.
May 18, 2011: Joint Task Force (JTF) executes John Togo, presumed head of NDLF (Niger Delta Liberation Force), following an attack on Aladja, in proximity to Warry, in the Delta State. According to local sources, the attack would have lasted for 5 days.
May 24, 2011: Mutiu Sumonu, CEO for Shell Nigeria, reports a rise in the percentage of oil stolen in the Niger Delta, despite an actual reduction of the number of violent attacks on the company’s infrastructure and employees. According to Sumonu, the reduction of violence would be connected to the government’s amnesty program for the Niger Delta.
May 26, 2011: Communities from Kolo Creek, Bayelsa stste, including the Immiringi, the Elebe, the Otu-Asiga and the Oruma, protest against SPDC because of the company’s failure to respect the terms of the agreement made in 1999 regarding the provision of electricity. The communities accuse the company of benefitting of full access to electricity to the expense of local communities.
June 6, 2011: MEND rebel leader Jomo Gbomo, in a statement to Sahara Reporters, speaks of the group’s ‘outrage’ at ‘the involvement of the ENI group of Italy in the attacks on the innocent citizens of Libya by western nation’s intent on plundering the mineral resources of that nation. […] In solidarity with the oppressed people of Libya we vow this day to hence forth pursue the complete destruction of all investment owned by ENI group in Nigeria and urge all around Africa to do likewise’. In another statement addressed to oil firms in Nigeria, MEND implies that the apparent silence of the group is but ‘the calm before the storm’.
June 9, 2011: The Niger Delta Freedom Group – an armed force in Edo State – asks President Jonathan to enroll in the government’s amnesty program. On the same day MEND restates their distance from ex-militants who accepted the government’s rehabilitation program.
June 13, 2011: SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd.) calls for force majeure regarding fires and spills the previous week along the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), a pipeline passing through Ogoniland.
July 12, 2011: Godspower Odenema, President of the NDYM (Niger Delta Youth Movement) calls upon the Nigerian Federal Government and the international community to react against the intentions of Royal Dutch Shell to sell a number of oil wells without giving any retribution to local communities. According to Odenema, Shell is one of the major culprits for the insecurity and the violence in the country, due to its ruthless and extensive exploitation of land and people. The refusal on behalf of Shell to compensate local communities would further breach the Nigerian Content Development Act, a Delta State development program launched in 2010.
July 27, 2011: Following Odenema’s accusations (above), President Goodluck Jonathan sets up a committee to examine the details of the concessions released to the Niger Delta Development Commission. Thus, attention shifts from Royal Dutch Shell to the regional commission, the members of which are suspected of corruption.
July 29, 2011: Environmental Rights Action (ERA) uncovers the reopening of a Royal Dutch Shell furnace after noting that the chemical composition of the atmosphere in the Odopo area had changed. Following these investigations, ERA releases a statement in which an appeal is made to the Federal Government and to Shell to close down the furnace, to reduce and control extensive gas flaring and to reduce in general atmospheric pollution and the wasting of local resources.
August 2, 2011: Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director for SERAP (Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project) accuses the Nigerian Federal Government of breaching international regulations for failing to ensure fair retribution to the Nigerian population for the environmental damage caused by extensive oil extraction. Mumuni emphasized the problem of corruption related to the activity of multinationals throughout the Delta area.
August 4, 2011: UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) publishes theEnvironmental Assessment of Ogoniland Report. The report denounces the disastrous effects of massive unrefined oil spills in near Ogoniland, and claims that the remediation process will take between 25 and 30 years. UNEP appeals to the Federal Government demanding its involvement in a collective effort for environmental remediation.
August 13, 2011: President Goodluck Jonathan holds a formal meeting with the leaders of oil multinational ENI. The meeting focuses on the reduction of gas flaring activities and on the production and distribution of electricity in the country. No formal decision is taken however.
September 21, 2011: The South Gauteng High Court, in Johannesburg, declares the detention of Henry Okah, presumed leader of MEND, as ‘inhuman and illegal’. The trial against Henry Okah, held in South Africa for terrorism charges, is set to begin on the 12th of January 2012.
September 21-26, 2011: ERA (Environmental Rights Action), reports several oil spills in the inhabited aria of Kalaba land, on river Taylor. ERA has called upon Agip, the company responsible for the spills, to undertake remediation of the territory, as well as ensure that the spills diminish and that compensation is given to the local population.
October 1, 2011: In a statement MEND threatens to set off bombs in Eagle Square, where celebrations for the 51st anniversary of the independence of Nigera will take place. According to the statement, ‘After fifty one years of independence, Nigerians still have nothing to celebrate. The general public is strongly advised to consider this as a first and final warning.’ Following the statement however no attacks were recorded.
December 8, 2011: A peaceful demonstration along the Abuja-Lokoja road takes place, organized by ex-militants from Niger Delta on their way to Abuja to protest against their exclusion from the national amnesty rehabilitation program.
January 16, 2012: ERA (Environmental Rights Action) publishes a number of reports on oil spills in Ijaw and Kalaba lands, allegedly from Agip-owned facilities. The multinational, following appeals in December 2011, had already made a commitment to reduce oil spills by January 2012.
January 19, 2012: A Chevron oil well explodes in North Apoi, in Bayelsa State. Following visits to local communities, ERA publishes a report where it reveals that polluting substances from the explosion of the Chevron oil well have reached the coasts and are affecting the livelihoods of local communities. The report demands that the Federal Government intervene to pressure Chevron into taking on responsibility for the remediation of the contaminated territories.
January 30, 2012: The South African Supreme Court postpones the beginning of the trial against MEND leader Henry Okah. The Court gives no reason, however Rudi Krause, Okah’s lawyer, admits that neither prosecution nor defense attorneys felt ready to start the trial. The beginning of the trial is thus postponed to the 1st of October 2012.
February 4, 2012: A bomb is set off at one of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) pipelines, in the vicinities of Brass, in Bayelsa State. MEND releases a statement in which it takes responsibility for the attack. In the statement the group also takes responsibility for another attack which took place in mid-January against the compound of Minister of Niger Delta Odsday Orubebe in Ogbobagbene, seat of the Burutu local government, in Delta State. ENI confirmed the attack and reported a subsequent decline in production of about 4,000 barrels a day. MEND also threatens in its statement that more attacks will follow.
March 1, 2012: Four people are killed in the Niger Delta area during an attack on a police station. The next day, MEND issues a statement taking responsibility for both the attack on the police station and another attack which took place one week earlier, a sabotage to a pipeline.
April 13, 2012: Eni/Agip facilities are attacked at Clough Creek in Bayelsa State, in the Niger Delta region. Specifically, the pipeline connecting Clough Creek and the Tebida oil plant are affected. Again, MEND takes responsibility for the attack and announces more attacks in the future.
May 3, 2012: Heny Okah presents to a South African court a 194 page-long document in which he emphasizes again his distances from MEND and accuses President Jonathan of framing him in the court case. According to Okah, the government would be itself responsible for several of the attacks, allegedly committed by militant groups, and would have blamed Okah for these in order to secure Jonathan’s victory during the 2011 presidential elections. Moreover, during the campaign Jonathan would have relied heavily on defamatory campaigns against his political opponents. The President has denied all the claims made by Okah, stating that, if necessary, he would be present at the trial against the alleged leader of MEND.
June 23, 2012: Henry Okah reiterates his accusations against Goodluck Jonathan during an interview with daily newspaper Sahara Reporters. The presumed leader of MEND also reasserted his innocence regarding the Abuja attacks in 2010, as well as any of the other attacks attributed to him as leader of the militant group. According to Okah, the South African government is guilty of not respecting his fundamental rights from the moment in which it collaborated in the set-up organized by Jonathan.
October 1, 2012: On the day of the 52d anniversary of the Independence of Nigeria, exactly two years after the Abuja attacks, the trial against Henry Okah begins. Shaun Abrahams, head of the Johannesburg Supreme Court, reveals that he has formal confirmation from Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice that there would be no extradition request for the defendant, accused of terrorism for the Warri (March 2010) and the Abuja (October 2010) attacks. Godsday Orubebe, Minister of the Niger Delta, is the first witness to testify, giving the historical perspective of the agitation of the Niger Delta people leading to the institution of the amnesty program for militants in the region. Orubebe is also questioned about his relation with the accused. The Minister however denies any involvement concerning the acquisition of arms from Okah. The trial is estimated to continue for 18 months, during which time 100 witnesses will be heard.
October 2, 2012: Friends of Earth International (FoEI) releases a statement to the main press agencies in which it claims to have completed its research in the Niger Delta, a research which took place between the 27th of September and the 2nd of October. The aims of the research were to collect proof to present to the Aja court on the 11th of October, when the trial against Royal Dutch Shell would begin.
October 11th 2012: Beginning of the Royal Dutch Shell case. According to the main environmental institutions involved in the trial, a conviction against Royal Dutch Shell would mean an important step forward for the local inhabitants of the Niger Delta, opening further the possibilities for other major or minor disputes. The verdict of the trial is expected for the end of 2012 or for early 2013.
December 16, 2012: During the trial Serap vs. Nigeria (which began in 2009), the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Community Court of Justice unanimously found the Nigerian Government to be guilty for the abuses committed by petrol companies in the country, and declared that the Government is required to demand reports from these companies regarding their operations. The Court finds the Nigerian Government guilty of breaching articles 21 (concerning the right to natural resources and riches) and 24 (concerning the right to a healthy environment) of the African Charter on Human and People’s rights, by failing to protect the Delta region and its inhabitants from the damaging activities of oil companies, responsible for decades of devastating environmental damage. The Court decreed that the impossibility on behalf of the Nigerian government of issuing adequate laws, of creating efficient institutions as concerns the activities of multinational companies in the country and of prosecuting those responsible for the pollution constitutes appropriate grounds for finding the Nigerian Government guilty of breaching international obligations regarding human rights.
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