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### Viewing cable 09LAGOS14, NIGERIA: NIGER DELTA TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBER

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09LAGOS14 | 2009-01-12 06:06 | 2011-04-06 00:12 | CONFIDENTIAL | Consulate Lagos

`

    VZCZCXRO4296
    OO RUEHPA
    DE RUEHOS #0014/01 0120608
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    O 120608Z JAN 09
    FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0422
    INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
    RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0057
    RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH AFB UK
    RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
    RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
    RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
    RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
    RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
    RUEWMFD/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

` `

    O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LAGOS 000014

    SIPDIS

    STATE PASS NSC FOR BOBBY PITTMAN

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2016
    TAGS: PGOV PREL PM EPET ECON KDEM NI
    SUBJECT: NIGERIA: NIGER DELTA TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBER
    DETAILS CONTENTS OF REPORT

    Classified By: Consul General Donna M. Blair, Reasons 1.4 (B,D)

    ¶1. (U) Summary: Acting Consul General met on December 23 with
    Tony Uranta (protect throughout), a member of the Niger Delta
    Technical Committee and campaign manager for the 2007
    presidential campaign of Patrick Utomi, Dean of the Lagos
    Business School.  According to Uranta, the Technical
    Committee's subcommittee on illegal bunkering identified the
    late Shehu Yar'Adua as the biggest illegal bunkerer whose
    interests were inherited by his brothers, and managed by his
    friend former Vice President Atiku Abubakar with the
    complicity of the Intels Nigeria Limited oil services
    company.  This large scale bunkering is tied to arms dealing,
    Uranta said.  Most of the kidnapping that has been done in
    the Niger Delta has not been done by Niger Deltans but by
    individuals from outside the region.  The Technical Committee
    recommended that the Federal Government grant amnesty to any
    Niger Deltan who turns in his weapons, leaves the camps and
    reenters civil society within six months; anyone found with a
    weapon after that time should be treated as a criminal,
    Uranta said the Committee recommended.  The Technical
    Committee also called for a fair and open trial for Henry
    Okah. Uranta's appointment to the Niger Delta Technical
    Committee is testimony to his stature as someone
    knowledgeable about the region and its problems. Independent
    of the Technical Committee, Uranta has succeeded in pulling
    together respected people into new groups to advocate for the
    Niger Delta, and despite his disclaimers, all have achieved
    some modest success in getting their views into the local
    press.  Whether or not the result of Uranta's efforts, since
    the Niger Delta Technical Committee's report was presented to
    the President, a steady stream of voices has been heard
    calling for the President to implement the Technical
    Committee's recommendation. It remains to be seen what
    response the President will make to the report. End Summary.

    ¶2. (C) Acting Consul General met on December 23 with Tony
    Uranta, a member of the Niger Delta Technical Committee and
    campaign manager for the 2007 presidential campaign of
    Patrick Utomi, Dean of the Lagos Business School. Uranta said
    that when the Technical Committee presented the President
    with its report, it asked him to put out a white paper
    responding to the recommendations so as to give the Niger
    Delta a message of hope.  They told the President that if the
    government did not make the report public by January 1, the
    Technical Committee would feel at liberty to release it
    themselves. (Note:  Although there have been numerous
    newspaper articles about the report, it has not yet been
    released publicly. End Note) The President told them that he
    would act on the report "if he finds it acceptable". The
    members of the Technical Committee know that the President's
    style is slow, but they also anticipate that the President
    will not do what has been requested; Uranta himself is "under
    no illusions that the government will lift a finger to help
    the Niger Delta."  Uranta said that a reappraisal of the
    situation would begin if no white paper issues by January 1.

    ¶3. (C) To that end, Uranta said, a Niger Delta roundtable
    would be held on January 2 in Port Harcourt.  Uranta told
    Acting CG on January 5 that the conference actually was held.
     In attendance was a broad range of influential Nigerians,
    including Alhaji Maro Shinkafe (sic), a member of the
    Northern establishment, former chief intelligence officer and
    presidential candidate; Joseph Wayas (sic), Governor of the
    Southern District during the Second Republic; Nobel Laureate
    Wole Soyinka, and Patrick Utomi.  Some militants were also be
    at the event; they attended because Uranta was "the voice of
    the communities", including the restive and armed youths, on
    the Technical Committee, arranging for the Committee to visit
    Camp 5 to talk to Tom Polo, and for Asari, Fara, Boyloaf and
    others not only to meet but to submit memoranda.  However,
    the event had to be held behind closed doors because PDP
    Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the roundtable's sponsor, was told
    by Abuja that his sponsorship of a public event would not be
    welcome.

    Subcommittee Submits Report on Illegal Bunkering
    --------------------------------------------- ---

    LAGOS 00000014  002 OF 004

    ¶4. (C) A subcommittee of the Niger Delta Technical Committee
    looked at the question of illegal bunkering and created its
    own subcommittee report, which was tendered to the President
    with the full report.  The Technical Committee concluded that
    militants conduct no more than 15 percent of all illegal
    bunkering.  To come to that conclusion, the Subcommittee
    members met with former Bayelsa Governor Dipreye Alamaseigha,
    with major bunkerers who have "fallen out" with powerful
    interests, and with retired admirals and generals.  Uranta
    claimed that the late Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, the President's
    brother, had been the "biggest" bunkerer; when he died, his
    holdings were taken over by his brothers but managed on their
    behalf by his close personal friend, former Vice President
    Atiku Abubakar, through the Intels group. (Note: Intels
    Nigeria Limited, run by Italian nationals, in 1982 began the
    development of the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone's Federal Ocean
    Terminal in Rivers State.  The company subsequently developed
    the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone's Federal Lighter Terminal, as
    well as facilities at Warri Port in Delta State and the
    Calabar New Port in Cross Rivers State. End Note)

    ¶5. (C) Large scale bunkering is tied to arms dealing, as is
    the Federal Government's enormous security budget for the
    Niger Delta, Uranta said.  The crisis in the Niger Delta is a
    purposeful crisis that benefits the politicians, those
    engaged in oil theft, and Nigeria's own "military-industrial
    complex" which includes arms dealers, Uranta said.  It is in
    the interests of these people to make it appear that the
    Niger Delta problem is intractable.  As a result, they prop
    up the militants, including some who have an ideological
    basis for their actions.

    Technical Committee on Amnesty, Kidnappings
    -------------------------------------------

    ¶6. (C) The Technical Committee also looked at the issues of
    amnesty and kidnapping. The Technical Committee's idea of
    amnesty would require that the militants hand in their
    weapons within three to six months of the announcement of the
    plan, leave the camps and re-enter society; if they do so,
    they will get amnesty.  However, if after six months they are
    caught with weapons, they will be treated as criminals.  With
    regard to the kidnappings that have occurred in the Niger
    Delta, most has not been by Niger Deltans but by individuals
    from other parts of the country. The Committee put this in
    their report, and also made the information available to Mike
    Okiro, Inspector General of Police.  Okiro, Uranta said, was
    shocked when he received the information; but Technical
    Committee members realized that their findings would not be
    entirely welcome in government circles, Uranta said.
    Although it is true that the majority of youths in the Niger
    Delta who are armed are of the Ijaw ethnicity, they do not
    get involved in kidnapping; most of the kidnappers are from
    outlying states, Uranta claimed.  For example, in a recent
    kidnapping of twins, the kidnappers came from Kwara, Oyo and
    Abia States, he said.  The Niger Delta youths who are
    involved in criminal activities have gravitated to Rivers
    State.  Following the 2007 clampdown in Port Harcourt, the
    criminal militants fled the urban areas of the state.
    Governor Amaechi, who Uranta called his friend, is pressing
    on Ateke Tom and has succeeded in pushing him out of the
    areas he once dominated.

    Disciplined Militants Get Foreign Training
    ------------------------------------------

    ¶7.  (C) According to Uranta, disciplined Niger Delta
    militants have had foreign technicians teaching them the use
    of plastique, and training them to upgrade their skills;
    while the undisciplined militants are the ones who allow
    themselves to be filmed by CNN, Uranta said.  "Large
    conglomerates" are sponsoring the training, and the trainers
    are ex-military people, Uranta said the Technical Committee
    found.  Asked whether the committee's report will name the
    arms dealers and sponsors of the trainings, Uranta demurred;
    the Technical Committee had access only to Nigerians, so was
    unable to get the names.  However, Uranta said, there are
    people from Asia and the Middle East involved.

    LAGOS 00000014  003 OF 004

    MEND: "With or Without Okah, We Will Continue"
    --------------------------------------------- -

    ¶8. (C) Acting Consul General asked where Henry Okah fits into
    the picture. Henry started as a  small time person, Uranta
    said, but he created a mystique about himself.  When Asari
    was put in prison, what had formerly been a single chain of
    command turned into a scramble for power.  As people sought
    to impress on the government the need to release Asari, they
    turned to Henry Okah who acted as spokesperson.  Henry had
    always been involved in arms, and used the information he
    gained to break ranks. He began to supply arms to all the
    militant leaders, cultivating their loyalty by allowing them
    to buy arms without putting up front money.  Henry taught the
    boys to make money in new ways.  In the past, they had been
    the pilots and guards for the bunkering barges, but Henry
    told them they could be barge owners, be their own bosses.
    As the foot soldiers saw their leaders become generals, they
    broke away, until now there are 300 camps, each doing what it
    can to survive.  Currently, major leaders are Asari and Tom
    Polo; the rest are small, in control of only a single camp,
    Uranta said.

    ¶9. (C) There are people loyal to Henry in Bayelsa, Rivers and
    Akwa Ibom, but the people of Delta, Edo and Ondo States are
    loyal to Tom Polo. Former Delta State Governor James Ibori
    and current Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan use government funds
    to pay off the boys by allowing them to guard the waterways.
    But the problems have been exported to Bakassi, Akwa Ibom and
    even found their way back to Delta State, where the MT Akua
    was recently highjacked, Uranta said.  (Note: Uranta seems to
    imply that some of the Delta State youths engaged in guarding
    the waterways are also engaged in criminal activities in
    other states. End Note)

    ¶10. (C) The military are also major players in the bunkering
    because without their acquiescence nothing could go through
    the creeks.  Three retired admirals are bunkerers, Uranta
    claimed, and Henry's brother witnessed the purchase of arms
    from top military personnel; an open trial for Henry Okah
    would bring those names into the open.  The Technical
    Committee recommended that Okah, who has been accused of
    treason, recommended that the trial be open, free and fair.
    moreover, Okah should be out on bail; Asari Dokubo, Gani
    Adams (Note: Coordinator of the Odua People's Congress. End
    Note) and Ralph Uwazuruike (Note: Leader of the Movement for
    the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB.
    End Note) have all been accused of treason, yet all are out
    on bail.  According to Uranta, MEND recently announced that
    "with or without Henry Okah, we will continue the
    revolution."  This shows, Uranta said, that MEND has moved
    beyond Okah.  (Note:  Post can find no indication that MEND
    made such a statement publicly. End Note)

    thnicities, Professionals, Nobel Laureates
    Band Together for the Niger Delta
    --------------------------------------------

    ¶11. (C) Uranta noted that he originated the United Niger
    Delta Energy, Development, Security Strategy (UNDEDSS).
    Uranta said UNDEDSS is an organization made up of all
    ethnicities in the Niger Delta region.  Unlike the Southwest
    geopolitical zone, dominated by the Yoruba ethnicity, or the
    Southeast, dominated by the Igbo ethnicity, the South-South
    is home to numerous ethnicities, including the Ijaw, Urhobo,
    Itsekiri, Ogoni, Ebibio, Efik and others.  He envisioned
    UNDEDSS as a counterpart to the Afenefere socio-cultural
    group that speaks for the Yoruba, the Ohanaeze socio-cultural
    group that speaks for the Igbo ethnicity, and the Arewa
    socio-cultural group that speaks for the Northern
    ethnicities.  2007 Presidential candidate and Dean of the
    Lagos Business School Patrick Utomi is President of UNEDEDSS,
    and Uranta is Secretary General. The group has established an
    Elders Council which includes Chief E.K. Clark, Michael Ibo
    (phon), and Joseph Wayas (phon).

    ¶12. (C) Prior to founding UNDEDSS, Uranta pulled together a
    group called South-South Professionals, whose members include
    George Etomi, Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association;
     Bismarck Rewane (Note: Managing Director of Financial

    LAGOS 00000014  004 OF 004

    Derivatives, Limited. End Note); Charles Okah, Henry's
    brother;  Tony Ani, Finance Minister under military President
    Sani Abacha; Harcourt Aduki (sic), Honorary Consul for
    Canada; Ann-Kio Briggs (Note: former spokesperson, Niger
    Delta People's Volunteer Force and now head of an NGO. End
    Note); Ebiba DonPedro (Note: who won a 2003 CNN award for a
    story on the Niger Delta. End Note); Ebim Semintary (sic),
    Publisher of BusinessEye.  Adams Oshiomhole, before he was
    sworn in as Governor, was Secretary of the organization,
    Uranta said.  Only a few of these people are independently
    wealthy;  UNDEDSS survives from the contributions of these
    working professionals.
    ¶13. (C) Uranta said he also originated the group Nobel
    Laureates for the Niger Delta, the first of several groups of
    Nobel laureates focused on conflicts around the world.
    Uranta is aware that the various groups he has organized have
    limited media reach.  Nonetheless he is trying to build
    institutions that help the fragmented Niger Delta speak with
    one voice, and that are capable of monitoring the process of
    governance as a check on corruption.  UNDEDSS and South-South
    Professionals share an office in Port Harcourt with
    Environmental Rights Action.  Uranta shares the group's
    concern, as do many Niger Deltans, about climate change.  His
    home village has lost 300 meters to the sea in the last few
    years.

    ¶14. (C) Comment: Uranta's appointment to the Niger Delta
    Technical Committee is testimony to his stature as someone
    knowledgeable about the region and its problems.  Uranta has
    succeeded in pulling together respected people into new
    groups to advocate for the Niger Delta, and despite his
    disclaimers, all have achieved some modest success in getting
    their views into the local press.  Whether or not the result
    of Uranta's efforts, since the Niger Delta Technical
    Committee's report was presented to the President, a steady
    stream of voices has been heard calling for the President to
    implement the Technical Committee's recommendation.  It
    remains to be seen what response the President will make to
    the report.

    BLAIR

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