US embassy cable - 03LAGOS2193

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 002193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2013 
TAGS: EPET, PGOV, PINR, PINS, PHUM, ASEC, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: WARRI UPDATE 10/24/03 - ITSEKIRI WANT TO 
GO HOME 
 
REF: A. ABUJA 1761 
     B. LAGOS 1940 
 
 
Classified By: JGREGOIRE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
 
1. (C) Summary.  After more than a month of peace, clashes 
between ethnic groups in the Niger Delta appear on the rise, 
although less deadly than generally reported in the media. 
We have received reports of attacks and counter-attacks at 
multiple locations since Sunday, October 19. Chevron security 
personnel believe the Itsekiri are preparing to return en 
masse to their lands, by force if necessary, and the company 
is making new contingency plans in the event of a repeat of 
the widespread violence and displacement of villagers 
experienced in March 2003.  End Summary. 
 
 
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CHEVRON READYING FOR ITSEKIRI RETURN HOME 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
2. (C) Fresh fighting was reported in multiple locations of 
the Niger Delta during the week of October 20. On October 23, 
Dave Beddow, a security consultant from Control Risks Group 
working on-site at Chevron's Escravos terminal and tank farm, 
told Econoff that Chevron's security team is receiving an 
increasing number of reports of violent clashes along the 
waterways of the Delta, but is frustrated by a lack of 
corroboration and confirmation of deaths and injuries.  The 
security consultant said his team has intelligence that the 
Itsekiri are planning to return to their villages along the 
Escravos and Benin Rivers, and are attempting to align 
themselves with the Ilaje, an ethnic group occupying a narrow 
strip of coastal land North of the Escravos River toward the 
Delta/Ondo state line.  The Ilaje have not played a major 
role in the ethnic conflicts of 2003.  (Note: The Ilaje were 
reportedly attacked by Ijaw in the late 90s in a land grab. 
They are said to have quietly armed themselves thereafter, 
successfully repelling later attacks.  Subsequently, they 
mostly have been left out of the ethnic conflicts.)  Beddow 
also said he has information that the Itsekiri are reaching 
out to the militant Yoruba youth group the Oodua People's 
Congress (OPC), based mainly in Lagos.  The OPC are widely 
known as thugs and enforcers, hired by other groups and even 
politicians to provide protection and to pressure and 
intimidate political and financial enemies. (Note: Some 
Lagosians appreciate the "protection" the OPC provides some 
communities by enforcing curfews and checking identification 
of people wishing to enter neighborhoods under their 
wardship.) A similar allegation of Itsekiri collusion with 
the OPC surfaced in September; the Itsekiri share a historic 
bloodline to the Yoruba people (ref B). 
 
 
3. (C) In a conversation with Poloff on October 23, Daniel 
Reyenieju, of the Itsekiri National Youth Congress, did not 
confirm the specifics of this report, but did express 
frustration at the inability of the federal government to 
restore law and order in the riverine areas of the Delta. He 
showed equal frustration with the perceived ineptitude of the 
state government to address Itsekiri concerns in the region 
and accused Governor Ibori, an Urhobo with an Itsekiri 
mother, as siding with the Ijaw.  Reyenieju also made an 
appeal for NGOs and donors such as the USG to provide aid to 
the Itsekiri internally displaced persons (IDP) currently 
living mainly in Sapele.  He told Poloff, "No one discusses 
resettlement or going back home," and added, "We will go home 
peacefully, but if anyone accosts us, we will protect 
ourselves."  When asked if the Itsekiri are forming alliances 
with the Ilaje or OPC, he commented that the Ilaje are 
Yoruba, and have their own interest in protecting themselves 
against Ijaw incursions.  He dodged the question of OPC 
involvement in the region by saying, "If Yoruba were involved 
in the Delta, the Ijaw would be nowhere.  But if the Yoruba 
decide to get involved, they will do it on their own." 
 
 
4. (C) Chevron's security consultant David Beddow told 
Econoff that, in light of the information that the Itsekiri 
are planning a return to their homes, as well as the 
increasing frequency of violence in recent weeks (ref A), 
Chevron's security team is standing-up a mini-IMT (Incident 
Management Team), to formulate contingency plans for likely 
scenarios.  According to Beddow, based on the events of March 
2003 and current intelligence, the IMT will devise response 
plans for three scenarios: 1) the Escravos terminal is 
subject to indirect fire as warring ethnic factions attack 
each other in the waterways and villages surrounding 
Escravos, 2) large numbers of villagers displaced by such 
fighting pour into the Escravos facility seeking refuge, and 
3) one or more of the ethnic factions engages the Government 
Security Forces (GSF) assigned to protect the Escravos 
facility, trying to draw them into battle on the militants' 
home turf, namely, the waterways of the Delta.  The security 
consultant said the IMT would have new contingency plans for 
Escravos ready by Friday, October 24. 
---------------------------- 
FIERCE BOAT CHASE NEAR WARRI 
---------------------------- 
 
 
5. (C) Tony Obuaya, Warri security manager for Shell, told 
Econoff that on Tuesday, October 23, two groups of young men 
in boats chased each other to a point near the Shell 
waterfront of Warri.  A group of five Ijaw took shelter at 
the Shell facilities, four of whom were injured, two 
seriously, according to Obuaya.  Obuaya said Shell personnel 
provided immediate medical treatment to all the injured 
before they left to seek longer-term care.  He noted that in 
interviews with the four who could speak, each gave different 
accounts of what had occurred, so much so that he cannot 
speculate as to the origins of the fight.  But, he is 
suspicious that they were involved in something illegal and 
were trying, ineffectively, to create cover stories. 
 
 
6. (C) Chevron's security consultant Beddow had previously 
told Econoff that government forces had "bumped into" a group 
attempting to steal a barge.  The security forces gave chase, 
Beddow said, shooting along the way.  Beddow said the 
would-be thieves then found their way to the Shell facility. 
Shell's Obuaya denied that account, stating that there was no 
barge involved, and contrary to one report given by an Ijaw 
leader to Poloff, Shell facilities themselves were not 
attacked. 
 
 
----------------------- 
IJAW AND ITSEKIRI CLASH 
----------------------- 
 
 
7. (C) Chevron's Beddow also told Econoff that in a separate 
incident, some Itsekiri attacked an Ijaw boating party, 
resulting in one death and perhaps one Ijaw taken captive. 
Beddow said a Nigerian Navy commander confirmed this report. 
Similarly, Joel Bisina, a moderate Ijaw and head of the 
multi-ethnic Niger Delta Professionals for Development, told 
Poloff that on Tuesday, October 21, a group of Ijaw on a boat 
headed to Warri was attacked by "criminal elements" involved 
in piracy.  According to Bisina, the attackers, whom he 
presumes were Itsekiri but also admitted he had no proof, 
took the boat and its passengers captive.  He said other Ijaw 
later attempted to free the boat and its passengers, but that 
the armed Ijaw began shooting at the unarmed pirates, 
resulting in several Ijaw getting shot by friendly fire. 
 
 
--------------------- 
IJAW AND URHOBO CLASH 
--------------------- 
 
 
8. (C) In his conversation with Poloff, Bisina also confirmed 
press reports of a violent confrontation between Ijaw and the 
Urhobo elements.  According to Bisina, on Sunday, October 19, 
a group of Urhobo villagers clashed with Ijaw on the waters 
between the villages of Okwagbe and Ayakuroama, which sit 
directly across from each other on opposite banks of a river. 
 Bisina noted that a few weeks ago, some Urhobos were robbed 
along the waterways, and the fighting of the 19th may have 
been retaliation for that event as well as the result of a 
gradual build-up of resentment the Urhobo feel toward the 
Ijaw, who the Urhobo accuse of blocking the waterways and 
stealing from Urhobo boat travelers.  Bisina estimated that 
15 persons from both villages may have been killed on the 
19th.  He noted that press reports far exaggerated the event 
and the casualties, opining that such yellow journalism only 
serves to raise the tension levels in the Delta.  (Note: 
Interestingly, both oil company security officials who spoke 
to Econoff denied any knowledge of this clash, even though 
they claim to have sources throughout the communities and 
offer details of other unconfirmed incidents.) 
 
 
9. (C) Comment.  Numerous conversations from different 
sources with Poloff reveal that feelings of despair and 
frustration are great within the Itsekiri community. 
Itsekiris continue to express disillusionment with federal 
and state government and believe that only they alone can 
protect themselves.  Their desire to return to their villages 
along the Benin and Escravos rivers is great, and they have 
stated their strong intentions to do so regardless of the 
violence that may result. Their previous reliance on the rule 
of law may be reaching an endpoint, as they now identify 
armed defense as their only option.  A move to return to 
their villages may escalate small-arms conflict in the 
region.  This instability continues to pose a considerable 
challenge to oil production in the region, as Shell has only 
recently begun pumping oil from the swamps again, and Chevron 
insists it simply will not, until the government establishes 
and maintains peace in the region.  End Comment. 
GREGOIRE