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Nigeria: Reports of a 3 May 2006 kidnapping of six oil workers by an Ijaw militant youth group; whether one of the oil workers was killed a few days later

Reports of a 3 May 2006 kidnapping of six oil workers by an Ijaw militant youth group could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, the following paragraphs provide a summary of certain events that occurred in May 2006 in the Niger Delta region.

According to a news article that appeared in the Lagos-based This Day, on 2 May 2006, youths from Ibeno [southern Akwa Ibom] held a violent protest at the Qua Iboe terminal of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) in Akwa Ibom State (This Day 3 May 2006). The protest resulted in one death, several injuries and the kidnapping of two expatriate workers (ibid.). Information on whether any Nigerian oil workers were also kidnapped during the protest could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. On 3 May 2006, the Nigerian authorities arrested six of fifteen youths believed to be involved in the incident (This Day 4 May 2006).

Various news sources reported that on 10 May 2006, a United States (US) expatriate oil worker was shot and killed by a gunman on a motorcycle in Port Harcourt, Rivers State (Dow Jones International News 10 May 2006; Daily Champion 11 May 2006; Platts Oilgram News 12 May 2006; Daily Trust 11 May 2006). The employee of the American oil services company, Baker Hughes, was shot in his car on his morning commute to work (Platts Oilgram News 12 May 2006; Dow Jones International News 10 May 2006). He was reportedly the first expatriate oil worker to have been killed since the "latest wave of militant unrest" began six months earlier (ibid.). Information on the individual(s) responsible for the attack could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

On 11 May 2006, three expatriate oil workers of Saipem Contracting, a subsidiary of an Italian oil company, were abducted on their way to work in Port Harcourt, Rivers State (Platts Oilgram News 12 May 2006; UN 12 May 2006). Youths from the state's Bukuma community were said to be responsible for the abductions (This Day 13 May 2006). The oil workers were released one day later (ibid.; UN 12 May 2006).

A 16 May 2006 article in the Financial Times indicates that "militancy" in the Niger Delta region has been on the rise since 2003. Cited in the article, a senior Shell security official said that "at least" 50 of the company's employees had been kidnapped in the last year (Financial Times 16 May 2006).

Several sources consulted by the Research Directorate indicate that the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), established to defend the rights of the ethnic Ijaw (SAS Dec. 2007, 123), has been a leading militant group involved in kidnappings of expatriate oil workers and attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta region (Daily Champion 11 May 2006; Dow Jones International News 10 May 2006; SAS Dec. 2007, 69, 125; UN 12 May 2006).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Daily Champion [Lagos]. 11 May 2006. Okey Onwuchekwa. "Militants Kill US Oil Worker." (Legal Oil) <http://www.legaloil.com/NewsItem.asp?DocumentIDX=1147590950&Category=news> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2008]

Daily Trust [Abuja]. 11 May 2006. Abubakar Haruna and Mohammad Ajah. ", Nigeria: American Shot Dead in Port Harcourt." (AllAfrica) <http://allafrica.com/stories/200605110612.html> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2008]

Dow Jones International News. 10 May 2006. "Update: Baker Hughes Confirms Employee Killed in Nigeria." (Factiva)

Financial Times [London]. 16 May 2006. Dino Mahtani. "Delta Militants Cause Oil Jitters." (Factiva)

Platts Oilgram News [New York]. 12 May 2006. Jacinta Morin with Richard Rubin. "Eni Awaits Word on Nigeria Kidnapping; Reports Say 3 From Saipem Unit Grabbed in Port Harcourt." (Factiva)

Small Arms Survey (SAS). December 2007. Jennifer M. Hazen with Jonas Horner. Small Arms, Armed Violence, and Insecurity in Nigeria: The Niger Delta in Perspective. <http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWFiles2007.nsf/FilesByRWDocUnidFilename/EMAE-79LMPY-Full_Report.pdf/$File/Full_Report.pdf> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2008]

This Day [Lagos]. 13 May 2006. John Iwori. ", Nigeria: Kidnapped Foreign Oil Workers Regain Freedom." (AllAfrica) <http://allafrica.com/stories/200605130008.html> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2008]
_____. 4 May 2006. Amby Uneze. ", Nigeria- Mobil Terminal: 6 Militant Youths Arrested." (AllAfrica) <http://allafrica.com/stories/200605040258.html> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2008]
_____. 3 May 2006. Efem Nkanga. "Youths Invade Mobil Terminal." (Legal Oil) <http://www.legaloil.com/NewsItem.asp?DocumentIDX=1147156315&Category=news> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2008]

United Nations (UN). 12 May 2006. Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN). ", Nigeria: Oil Workers Released Unharmed." <http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=59013> [Accessed 7 Mar. 2008]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International (AI), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), European Country of Origin Information Network (ecoi.net), The Guardian, International Crisis Group (ICG), LegalOil.com, Oil and Gas International, Shell Nigeria.