chuks,
You got out at a good time. Port Harcourt is daily descending into anarchy with the police getting ever more useless. I'm sure you've read about the raid on the police stations here by MEND on Sunday, in which they freed one of their leaders. MEND said they sent about 50 men, the police said it was about 300, probably as an excuse for rather carelessly allowing 125 prisoners to be 'liberated' from 2 police stations. It's pretty much summed up by one part of a report in a local newspaper where one of the market women was frightened by the noise of gun fire beside Moscow Rd but was really frightened by the sight of the police running up the road pulling off their Berets and uniform jacets and throwing them away
. It's about all the Nigerian police are good for.
Meanwhile a group claiming to be MEND, exhibited the Fillipino hostages taken from the Baco Liner in Chanomi Creek, to the press yesterday. "If the government doesn't listen to us, in 72 hours things will start happening," said Tamuno Goodwill, a masked militant who described himself as a field commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). He said he was referring to attacks on oil facilities and the security forces guarding them.
"We are going to drag the president into a civil war," said Goodwill, who did not reveal where the militants were keeping their Filipino captives.
Goodwill said his group were MEND fighters, although that is disputed by Jomo Gbomo, the person who has spoken for the faceless militant group since it first surfaced in Dec. 2005.
Gbomo has said MEND was not involved in the attack on the cargo ship. It is impossible to obtain independent confirmation of these details as the MEND has never offered details of its structure and leadership.
Gbomo says the group is fighting for the impoverished people of the delta to gain control of the region's oil wealth. He has also demanded the release of Asari, although he says Asari is not particularly important to the struggle.
Most of us out here now are just trying to maintain a low profile (not difficult as most expats in the Niger Delta have some kind of curfew imposed by their companies. Even with extra allowances being offered it's especially difficult to get pilots and engineers to come to Port Harcourt now. If things continue like this it will soon become just like Warri, with little or no social life as pubs, clubs and restaurants close down because of falling custom.
Good luck in Saudi, though it sounds a pity you're having to leave Algeria - sounds nice. You can always get an Emirates flight and route home on leave via Lagos so you can call in at the BRC and swap tall tales with old friends - you would be wellicome!
