Militants hold hostages in Nigeria, claim new attack

Feb. 27, 2006
Militants holding nine foreign hostages in southern Nigeria claimed Feb. 20 that they attacked another oil facility and blew up a military vessel in continued violence that has further cut the country’s production of crude oil.

Militants holding nine foreign hostages in southern Nigeria claimed Feb. 20 that they attacked another oil facility and blew up a military vessel in continued violence that has further cut the country’s production of crude oil.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said the attacks were carried out on a houseboat belonging to the Nigerian army as well as the loading facility at Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s 380,000 b/d Forcados terminal in the region.

Shell said it was assessing the damage at Forcados and had closed down its nearby EA offshore field as a precaution, shutting in 115,000 b/d of production. Two domestic refineries also were shut down after the attackers blew up the pipeline supplying them.

In January, Shell shut in 120,000 b/d of oil production due to security concerns that followed the kidnapping of four workers. Gunmen in three boats seized the workers Jan. 11 from Shell’s EA oil platform (OGJ Online, Jan. 13, 2006).

The MEND claim came as Nigeria witnessed a sharp escalation in the conflict over the weekend of Feb. 18-19, with rebels seizing nine foreign hostages and also threatening to blow up oil tankers.

The militants kidnapped three Americans, one Briton, two Egyptians, one Filipino, and two Thais from barge WB 318 operated by Willbros Group Inc. on Feb. 18.

Willbros said on Feb. 19 that its vessel was anchored in the Forcados channel and that remaining employees had been returned to the company’s base at Port Harcourt. It said senior managers were to meet Feb. 20 with “appropriate parties and authorities to advance the safe release and return of the nine hostages.”

Thailand has sent a diplomat to Nigeria help the two Thai oil workers and is seeking assistance from the US government and Willbros.

Air attacks

MEND said the latest attacks were in direct response to air attacks by the Nigerian military on ethnic Ijaw villages in the delta on Feb. 16-17.

The Nigerian military said the attacks targeted barges used by criminal gangs to siphon crude oil from pipelines in the delta for sale to accomplice vessels waiting offshore.

MEND vowed further action, saying there was no shortage of targets to destroy in Nigeria and threatening to use rockets on oil tankers to stop them from taking the country’s oil.

The group said shipping could easily be destroyed by “setting the engine room and accommodation space on fire.” The group added, “As long as the integrity of the storage tanks has been compromised, whatever stored products will serve as fuel to ensure a complete destruction.”

A military spokesman acknowledged that the rebels’ capabilities were unknown but said assurances had been given at the highest level of government that oil tankers would be safe in Nigerian waters.