US embassy cable - 05ABUJA1798

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001798 
 
SIPDIS 
 
ENERGY FOR DAS JBRODMAN AND CGAY 
TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS AND SRENENDER 
COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS 
STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR MARAD 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART 
STATE PASS TDA FOR NCABOT 
STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER 
STATE PASS USTR FOR ASST USTR SLISER 
STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, EPET, ASEC, NI, DELTAVIOLENCE 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA'S DELTA TENSE; ASARI IN COURT 
 
REF: A. ABUJA 1789 
 
     B. LAGOS 1463 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Russell J. Hanks for reasons 1.4 (B 
& D) 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  (C)  An uneasy calm has settled on Port Harcourt, but it 
is overshadowed by the fear among Embassy contacts that this 
incident could push the country into its most serious crisis 
in years.  Some of the militia members have returned to the 
rivers even as Asari appeared before a court in Abuja.  He 
has yet to be charged and political efforts are underway to 
secure his release and defuse the volatile situation.  Oil 
companies report interference with their operations in many 
parts of the region, but some postponed the decision on 
evacuations until tomorrow.  No AmCits are reported at risk. 
Asari's arrest, coupled with that of the Bayelsa Governor in 
London, continues to raise the tensions in the perennially 
tense Delta region. 
 
 
SECURITY UPDATE 
--------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) An uneasy calm has settled on Port Harcourt, 
although it is being enforced by what is described as a huge, 
visible police and military presence. 
 
3.  (C)  The apparent calm in Port Harcourt appears to be the 
result of the departure of large numbers of the militants. 
Reports indicate that many of the militants decided to return 
to the riverine areas to map out strategy in the event Asari 
is charged in court.  A large group is said to remain in the 
D-Line area of the city but according to reports, others are 
not evident.  One of Asari's political allies contacted 
PolCouns and in an obviously agitated state asked for USG 
intervention in the matter "before the Delta blows up."  He 
worried that no one in the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) 
could step in to the leadership position and control the 
various commanders.  "There is no number two" to take charge, 
he said.  Rather, the various commanders will "likely respond 
as they see fit," individually and capriciously. 
 
4.  (SBU) Mission sources report 3 or 4 Shell flow stations 
and Chevron's Ebama-area platform in Rivers State have been 
occupied by armed assailants, but no violence has broken out 
so far.  The Chevron platform was safely evacuated, but some 
personnel chose to remain.  Shell said none of its facilities 
had been occupied, but confirmed they have been evacuating 
non-essential personnel from flow stations and rigs into Port 
Harcourt.  Shell currently has no plans to evacuate employees 
out of Port Harcourt.  Rumors are spreading that takeovers 
may soon spread to oil facilities in Bayelsa and Delta 
States. 
 
ENERGY SECTOR UPDATE 
-------------------- 
 
5.  (C) The major oil companies in Nigeria remain in a state 
of alert.  Chevron Health, Safety and Environment Manager 
Cheryl Robnett reports all is quiet near Chevron's Port 
Harcourt office, with all employees accounted for. 
ConocoPhillips Managing Director Todd Creer noted they are 
still restricting travel, with all employees are accounted 
for.  Seacor Managing Director Robert Clemons (now MD of a 
newly merged Seabulk and Seacor corporation) reported 
gunshots in the Transamadi area of Port Harcourt this 
morning.  Seacor offices remain closed, and all expatriate 
and Nigerian employees are inside.  Participants in the 
disturbances in Port Harcourt yesterday smashed the windows 
of two Seacor vehicles, but local staff in the vehicles 
escaped unharmed. 
 
6.  (C) Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) 
reported tensions are high and increasing in Port Harcourt. 
SPDC's Port Harcourt-based headquarters remained closed, with 
several thousand primarily Nigerian employees remaining at 
home.  Shell production operations remain active, with 
operational personnel locked down on location in the field. 
Shell denied press reports their Eastern Area operations had 
been shut down. 
 
7.  (C) ExxonMobil Managing Director John Chaplin told us the 
Lagos Chamber of Commerce's Oil Producer's Trade Section 
(OPTS), the main industry group, met yesterday to consider 
the security situation.  In Chaplin's view, the situation 
since then has deteriorated, with at least one platform 
takeover, and Asari arraigned in court. In Chaplin's 
estimation, the oil companies might decided to begin to 
evacuate their people from the area back to Lagos or other 
safer points in Nigeria. ExxonMobil will make its decision 
tomorrow.  For now, ExxonMobil considers it safer for 
employees to remain in Port Harcourt than to attempt an 
evacuation.  ExxonMobil would like evacuate employees via a 
nearby naval air station, rather than risking the 45-minute 
drive to the airport.  In addition to employees at the main 
ExxonMobil compound, there are employees at Onne Free Port 
and the nearby Intels-managed port facilities.  All 
ExxonMobil employees and contractors are accounted for.  Oil 
service contractor Panalpina's country mana 
ger Chris Axelson reported their office was open but that 
many companies were beginning to move their personnel out of 
Port Harcourt by air. 
 
ASARI IN COURT 
-------------- 
 
8.  (C)  NDVF leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari appeared before 
Abuja High Court 19 about midday 22 September.  The court, 
located in the Gudu district, is an unfinished building with 
little public access and no sign.  In spite of this, PolSpec 
and a few reporters were on hand for the 10 minute appearance 
of Asari. 
 
9.  (C)  Justice Adekunola Banjoko opened the session, 
attended personally by Attorney General Chief Bayo Ojo. 
Asari launched a tirade against the Obasanjo regime, saying 
"this is not a court of justice.  It is a kangaroo court." 
"If this is what President Obasanjo calls democracy, it is a 
charade worse than military dictatorship," he continued. 
 
10.  (C) Banjoko responded to Asari by saying that this was 
not an arraignment, but rather a "court of cognizance."  He 
then asked Asari whether he was innocent of the charges. 
Asari complained that his attorney had been arrested and said 
he would not answer charges that had not been filed.  Banjoko 
remanded him to custody for two weeks and Asari was whisked 
away to an undisclosed detention facility.  Ojo told 
journalists after the session that Asari would soon be 
"officially charged to a Federal High Court for treason." 
 
11.  (C)  According to contacts in the National Assembly, 
efforts are underway to secure a meeting with President 
Obasanjo to discuss the implications of Asari's arrest.  The 
Representatives expressed "extreme concern" to PolCouns that 
Asari's continued detention could lead to "an explosion that 
Abuja cannot control."  They hoped that they could secure his 
release before confrontations escalated. 
 
PRESS REPORT 
------------ 
 
12.  (U) Major Lagos-based dailies today reported on the 
disturbance in the Delta touched off by Asari's arrest, as 
well as GON intent to try the leader for treason.  Business 
Day, the sole publication to report the kidnapping of two 
foreign nationals on September 21, provided no additional 
information on the unconfirmed report.  Mission sources also 
indicate that local reporting in the Delta on the 
disturbances has been censored, with at least one local 
daily, the Port Harcourt Telegraph, being warned to stop 
publishing about the Asari arrest. 
 
ACS REPORT 
---------- 
 
13.  (U)  We have no report of American citizens hurt or 
missing. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
14.  (C) The continued legal travails of Asari in Abuja and, 
to a lesser degree, of the Bayelsa governor Alameiyesiegha in 
London has stirred the pot. Tensions will remain high as long 
as Asari's confederates and sympathizers feel he is in the 
wrong hands - the GON legal system.  The takeover of 
facilities, disruption of operations and harm to oil company 
employees unfortunately are all possibilities in such a 
roiled environment as is the Delta right now. 
 
15.  (C)  The fear that this incident could push the country 
into its most serious crisis in years is evident among 
Embassy contacts from throughout the country.  The one 
glimmer of hope in the process is that Asari has not yet been 
charged.  The efforts of politicians and NGOs to contain the 
situation could lead to a peaceful resolution if the 
militants do not provoke the situation through violence. 
 
16.  (U)  This is a joint Lagos-Abuja cable. 
CAMPBELL