The present gang warfare in Port Harcourt must make Bristow be glad that they moved away from 'Dodgy Woji' as many of the gunmen 2 days ago routed via Slaughter (appropriately named) via Woji to Trans Amadi. It still makes their drive home a bit nerve wracking at present. With so many oil majors now being on lockdown and restricted to air travel only it makes one wonder why Bristow management isn't using helicopters to position their crews. CHC are not immune either, as a lot of the shooting has been happening around D Line, just down the road.
Further afield in the city gangs made a second attack on the NNPC mega-station ( the largest filling station in the city) and destroyed 9 fuel pumps with dynamite. Official figures put the body count at 15 at present, but in reality everyone knows it's considerably higher. Many of the gang members are dressed in MOPOL uniforms and ebgaging in firefights with the army. It's often difficult to tell who's who out here as MOPOL frequently just dress in fatigue trousers, T-shirts and flip flops. Many of the gunmen of the last few days were seen carrying AK 47s, dynamite and pump-action shotguns. Most of them were in dark glasses many were smoking (probably wacky baccy). A number of soldiers were also arrested in Port Harcourt a few months ago on suspicion of being involved in kidnappings. All too often, those supposedly here to protect us are also criminals and terrorists and it's difficult to know who to trust and whether you can have faith in anything but good luck
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The Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro and the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Andrew Owoye Azazi were in Port Harcourt yesterday but deniied that the situation had deteriorated to the point where a state of emergency needs to be declared - yeah right:
The state government said the situation was under control and that there was no reason for people to panic, because the situation was not beyond what it could handle. As calls for emergency rule to be declared in the state following the seeming inability of the state government to curtail the situation heightened, Okiro, who was in Port Harcourt yesterday in company of the chief of the defense staff, General Andrew Owoye Azazi, for a top security meeting on how to curtail the killings, said the situation had not degenerated to a level where emergency rule should be enforced.
He said the Joint Task Force, made of the police, army, navy, had been strengthened to address the situation. 'Lawlessness will no longer be allowed in Port Harcourt. I don't agree that an emergency rule be declared. It is an internal cult war. And the JTF is confronting them. The Federal Government is taking action", the inspector-general of police stated.
Meanwhile, the State Security Service, SSS, in the state, yesterday, shut down a private radio station for some hours for airing a programme 'View Point" where some guests called for emergency rule to be declared in the state. Also arrested was the news editor of the station, Mr. Segun Owolabi, after SSS operatives stormed the station and stopped transmission. At press time, Owolabi had not been released while the station was back on air.
The Action Congress, AC, in Rivers State condemned the SSS action, describing it as "a misapplication of force"
Despite having resident security advisers, most Bristow staff in Port Harcourt have yet to receive a security briefing on the current situation or be advised as to why it's still a good idea to be driving to work when the army is unable to control the situation. Bristow seem to be good at keeping quiet about most things from pay to security, whilst CHC still live in a world of their own and believe everything they hear - but at least they seem to be committed to staying.