I see that after the car bombs in the Shell and Agip residential areas, Shell is evacuating all expatriate staff dependants from their compounds in Port Harcourt, Warri and Bonny Island and Agip has moved families to Lagos (where armed robbers last night killed 8 passengers on a bus, then set the bus and driver on fire). The stable door has been shut after the horse has bolted and the poor Nigerians have been left to deal with any future attacks. Naturally, as the MEND leaders intended, there will be no further attacks on these locations as there is no publicity in bombing Nigerians (the car bombs in the Bori Camp Port Harcourt barracks earlier this year received scant publicity outside Nigeria). MEND has, yet again received maximum publicity as, although nobody was killed this time, expatriates are involved.
Just in case anyone thinks that this means that MEND are people who will not kill people not involved in their camapign against the government and oil companies, yesterday 3 people were killed in an attack at the Total production facility in Obagi, northwest of PH (did you see that one reported on BBC? no expats killed. They also released a new press statement on Wednesday:
MEND on Wednesday, in an e-mail statement to journalists, accused Agip of offering money to middlemen claiming to be able to negociate the release of the hostages.
“Agip is advised to disregard all who claim to be able to facilitate the release of these hostages. It will not happen. Rather than release them, the hostages will all be shot. This is a promise!”, the statement from the group said.
MEND is a shadowy group which employs various militias in the riverine and swamp areas of the Niger Delta to do its work. It doesn't always have much control over these groups and the situation is further clouded by many of the armed gangs who are in business only to make money from hostages, claiming that they are part of MEND. It has also been reported that some politicians are involved in both of these campaigns. They give money and encouragement to the gangs then are portrayed as the heroes when they are involved in negotiations to set the hostages free. Nobody outside a very close circle of those involved really knows how much (if any) money has been paid to free the hostages. Naturally nobody wants to own up to such a thing in view of the pronouncement from President Olusegun Obasanjo that no oil company or government agency should pay any ransom to hostage takers and that anyone violating this order will be treated as an accomplice.