Time Out,
The two guys taken in Port Harcourt, one a Brit and one an American, are well known to many in the expat community here, one of them has a Nigerian wife and family and both are street savvy guys. The fact that they were taken is a true sign of how bad things are getting, though this is probably a community issue and a kidnapping for money, rather than anything to do with MEND or the forthcoming presidential elections.
One pointer to how bad things are is just to compare the statistics so far with those of 2006 (yes, I know - statistics again, but pretty thought-provoking nonetheless). In 2006 72 expats were kidnapped in Nigeria, only 4 of those in January. In 2007 already, 27 expats have been kidnapped (though this could even be as high as 45 if some reports of the number of Fillipinos kidnapped at Chanomi Creek are true), 4 people have been killed in related incidents and at least 11 (or possibly 29) are currently being held hostage, 3 presently suffering their 48th day of incarceration. Already, in the third week of the year we are at somewhere between 40-50% of the total number of kidnappings of 2006.
Meanwhile, CHC, having changed its mind so many times, has still not started work on redeveloping its infamous East death camp, but has extended its deadline for ET pay by 6 months, and Bristow employees are living in insecure housing and still waiting to see if the backdated portion of promised increases in pay and allowances will ever be paid or whether it's just another empty management promise to try and keep enough pilots to crew aircraft for its core customers. Neither company really gives a damn, except to give the illusion of fulfilling its duty of care to its employees. After all, LLLL and The Shadow are enjoying the life of luxury in their secure camp (which they have no intention of abandoning for the Death Camp
) and will get out as soon as their 2 years on site are up, and Neddy Donut just wants to maximise profits and his share of the loot before retiring next year
.