US embassy cable - 04LAGOS523

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000523 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS AND LONDON PASS AFRICA WATCHERS 
DIA PASS J2 
ENERGY PASS CGUY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, PINS, PINR, ASEC, EPET, MCAP, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGER DELTA: FIGHTING IN THE STREETS OF WARRI 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Robyn Hinson-Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) an 
 
d (d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: Fighting has broken out in the streets of 
Warri involving members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) 
"Operation Restore Hope" and civilians, likely militant Ijaw 
youths.  We have conflicting unconfirmed reports regarding 
the cause of the clashes, but it seems the fighting began 
with a skirmish between the JTF and armed Ijaw youths in the 
early morning of March 9.  It is confirmed that one JTF 
soldier and four Ijaw youths were killed.  Reports of 20 
additional civilian casualties have not been confirmed.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
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DIFFERING ACCOUNTS, DRUGS AT THE ROOT 
------------------------------------- 
 
2. (C) Joel Bisina, a moderate Ijaw and peace activist with 
the Niger Delta Professionals for Development, told POLOFF he 
received unconfirmed eyewitness reports from other sources 
that soldiers indiscriminately fired upon civilians in 
response to an argument between a soldier and a drug dealer. 
He said the shootings occurred in the waterfront neighborhood 
of Senegdene near the Nigerian Port Authority.  Bisina said 
he was told the soldier was purchasing marijuana, but refused 
to pay, and pulled his gun on the drug dealer.  A fistfight 
ensued and the angry soldier went to his barracks and 
returned with a truckload of his comrades.  According to 
Bisina, the soldiers then began to indiscriminately fire upon 
the crowd, resulting in 20 civilian deaths.  Bisina said 
residential buildings were burned in retaliation, which was 
confirmed to us by another source. Bisina reports the 
neighborhood was cordoned off by the military on March 9, 
preventing him from visiting the area. 
 
3.  (C) On March 10, JTF Commander Brigadier General Elias 
Zamani refuted Bisina's claim that innocent civilians were 
killed. Zamani told POLOFF that two soldiers, investigating 
the sound of gunfire at 0200 on March 9 inside the main 
market neighborhood of Awor along the waterfront, came across 
armed Ijaw youths. Awor is in the same general area as 
Senegdene. A gunfight ensued, leaving one soldier and four 
youths dead.  At 0400 JTF soldiers surrounded a warehouse in 
an area known to be an Ijaw youth hideout, arrested 70 youths 
and confiscated two rifles and some ammunition.  Zamani told 
POLOFF "all is calm in Warri."  It is unknown at this time 
whether the March 10 fighting occurred before the telcon with 
Zamani. 
 
4.  (C) Reverend Sam Ken, an Ijaw youth leader, verified the 
shoot-out between Ijaw youths and the JTF to POLOFF and 
confirmed one soldier and four youths were killed.  Ken 
claimed that the shootout on March 9 was caused by armed Ijaw 
youths who entered Awor to buy cocaine.  The soldiers upon 
seeing the armed youths opened fire.  JTF reinforcements 
later arrived on the scene and Ken confirmed that they burned 
several Ijaw houses in the Awor neighborhood.  He said he 
heard reports that more deaths occurred as a result, but has 
been unable to verify this information.  Ken said he 
communicated with Zamani and brokered an end to the fighting. 
 He was unaware of any current fighting on Wednesday, March 
10. 
 
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FIGHTING MAY BE ONGOING 
----------------------- 
 
5.  (C) On Wednesday, March 10, ECONOFF spoke with Dennis 
Amachree, Halliburton's Country Manager for Corporate 
Security.  According to Amachree, soldiers fired "wantonly" 
in Warri again throughout the morning of March 10, and that 
the situation was degrading to "complete mayhem." Amachree 
said one of his employees was moving about Warri on Wednesday 
morning attempting to assess the situation after Tuesday's 
clashes.  Amachree said buildings and homes had been burned. 
By mid-morning, according to Amachree, the employee came upon 
renewed fighting near the old airport, located near the 
geographic center of the city, about halfway between the port 
complex and the current airport.  Amachree said he had first 
received information that an oil company's waterfront 
facility had been raided by Ijaw boatman in the early hours 
of March 9, triggering a military response to defend the 
facility. But he said as of Wednesday he had heard that a 
drug bust resulted in a soldier's death, and now the 
soldiers were simply retaliating.  He said the ongoing 
fighting was not ethnic-based, but rather, was an unchecked 
reaction by angry soldiers. 
6. (C) Amachree said Delta Governor Ibori traveled to Warri 
on Wednesday in an attempt to stop the shooting.  Amachree 
said a meeting of security forces and government officials 
was taking place Wednesday late-morning. 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT: Given these reports, it seems likely that 
soldiers came upon armed Ijaw youths attempting to buy 
cocaine and opened fire.  Reinforcements did later burn Ijaw 
homes.  During the exchange, it is likely that civilian 
deaths took place, but have yet to be confirmed.  Civilian 
killings by JTF soldiers have occurred intermittently within 
Warri since Operation Restore Hope began in August 2003. 
However, these killings were previously located at 
checkpoints and mainly targeted commercial motorcycle 
operators who refused to pay a 20 naira ($0.15) extortion fee 
as reported in the 2003 Human Rights Report. (Note: These 
same instances occur daily throughout Nigeria by police and 
security forces. End note.)  Stray bullets have killed 
civilians as well, including a 16-year old boy in 
mid-February.  To date, civilians have not been the targets 
of mass, indiscriminate killings. 
 
8. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED.  JTF soldiers generally are poorly 
trained, poorly equipped, and receive minimal logistical 
support from military headquarters in Abuja.  In addition, 
they receive pay only sporadically, and often prey upon 
civilians through bribes, extortion, and intimidation to 
supplement their incomes.  JTF soldiers mainly man 
checkpoints within the city of Warri, and sometimes serve on 
Navy vessels escorting commercial supply convoys for oil 
companies. They rarely engage militant youths directly in the 
swamps.  On occasions where they have engaged with militant 
youths, they are often out-gunned and are prone to flee 
instead of holding their ground. 
 
9.  (C) COMMENT CONTINUED.  Recent killings of soldiers and 
sailors have not provoked retaliatory strikes as some Delta 
watchers anticipated.  However, eight months of relative 
boredom and inadequate resources may have taken their toll, 
breaking down morale and increasing tension between the 
military and civilians. Innocent civilian casualties are 
always at risk.  END COMMENT. 
HINSON-JONES