Is it possible that Oil is Thicker than Blood ?

apparently so in Nigeria, where it has destroyed the nation. a brutal civil war is being waged over oil in the Nigerian Delta. it’s gone on so long no one really remembers when it started.  The Infamous “Well Number One“ opened in the 1953; so that’s where we mark the beginning. before Nigerias’ Independence.

Mariana from Vanguard Televison gives us a full view from her camera lens into the reality of the civil war that has torn Nigeria apart for more than 50 years.

Port Harcourt is where Mariana begins her journey

This is the most recent update on the situation in Nigerias’ Delta Oil Wars. no bbc or other coorespondants have dared be kidnapped to get the story. but this daring and smart woman puts her mind to getting the story; and she does it.

Just watching this piece on Current.com television made us find it online. We had to make sure that you all get to see, what we are funding eachtime we fuel up our vehicles with petrol.

Nigerias’ Oil Boom is long over but the bust is about to split Nigeria’s seams

it seems so unbelievable that in a country that is a major player in OPEC, people would be queueing in their vehicles to get petrol – as though there is a shortage. even worse,that they would be poor and dying from the effects of the very oil that is the source of all this money, anger, pain and grief.

Actually there is a shortage of Petrol In Nigeria

you see the raw crude is exported; and the two refineries are not able to process enough petrol to meet the domestic need.

it’s not because there are so many oil consumers in Nigeria – it’s due to antiquated and unusable petrol refineries. yes the refineries are basically falling apart. there has been no plan put in place by the government of Nigeria to do anything with the oil profits except allow them to be pilfered like a petty cash drawer.

The Ogoni People are the main players in the oil problems

You see it was their land that oil was discovered on, and is being pumped from. they have no treaty with any oil company – and they have no agreements with the Nigerian Government for revenue return. Thus a brutal civil was has been raging in the Nigerian delta for almost 25 years.

We Remember the Murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Ken Was An Educated Man, He Was An Organizer. He Was A Freedom Fighter.  He was hanged By The Military for standing up for his Ogoni Peoples.

Kens’ organization MOSOP was pushed to organize and stand up, against the government and the oil barons. They are still united and standing up for what is theirs. eventually the government and oil barons will have to pay them.

Now the rebels have formed their own posse’ called MEND, which is basicallly a mafia of assorted gangs under one unbrella – attempting to force the government to relinquish power and control over the region to them. they remind me more of the Somali Pirates than freedom fighters. either way they are not working with the Ogoni People or MOSOP.

Unbelievable..

To Us they represent such a “Stupid Wildcard”,  so late in the game. they have nothing to contribute except more drama. as you will see in the video.

Please watch the video and leave a comment if you think this story is important. we spend alot of time pointing to important issues in the news, that seem to receive little to no notice.

wonder if we named this post See Serena Williams Ass would you be more interested ? regardless This is what it is, and we are all a part of the reality.

Own Your Part and Speak Your Mind – trust me, people are listening. this blog is closely monitored by several large news services and many human rights organizations.

Does The Oil In Your Car Matter As Much as the Blood In Your Heart ? It does to the Ogoni Peoples, and we should remember them, each time we fill up our tanks with their blood.

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Have you thought about the Oil Price Rise, and Why it’s happening ? Anybody knows never to trust anyone with the first name “Government“.. Damn

WE Have – and this is what we discovered this week, that apparently we are supposedly not going to hear about  from the National News Media..

This First story alone merits a full day of discussion. the price of oil in the us has been steadily creeping back up; and this could end up being one reason why.

On the national news at 11pm Who’s Talking about Why the price of Oil is again Rising ? NO – ONE, and we call it the News.. Why ?

Mend has issued a Sunday deadline for oil firm to pull out of the Niger Delta

The main militant group in Nigeria’s southern Niger Delta region has destroyed a major oil pipeline.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said it had attacked pipes for a Chevron facility in response to a military offensive.

The 10-day army assault has forced thousands of people from their homes in the remote region where militants say they want a greater share of resources.

Chevron said it had shut down part of its output in response.

It is thought that five flow stations feeding oil to a major plant are now out of action.

“To protect the environment, the incident has led to the shut in of approximately 100,000 BOPD (barrels of oil per day) production from its swamp operations in Delta State,” the oil firm said in a statement.

Nigeria is one of the world’s major oil exporters but in recent years, militant attacks have cut production by about 20%.

‘Cat and mouse’

The offensive is the longest sustained military action the region has seen since the armed conflict between the government and militant groups began in 2006.

Thousands flee Delta fighting Is democracy in Nigeria working?

Restricted access to the region means journalists have been unable to verify militant claims of military brutality against civilians.

The military say they have rebel leaders on the run and have seized caches of arms and “financial information”.

But security sources have told the BBC the Chevron attacks cast doubt on the claimed success of the campaign.

The oil business has until now escaped the current unrest without having to shut down the flow of oil.

Mend said it had made sure of “huge collateral damage” as it carried out the attack.

“We will continue our cat-and-mouse tactics with the Nigerian military until oil export ceases completely,” it added.

Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, a former governor from the Niger Delta and head of the presidency’s attempt to find a resolution to the conflict, told journalists the military offensive in Delta State would end “within days”.

But human rights activists in the region believe the military could expand the operation to neighbouring states.

The military has not commented on its plans.

Militant groups in the Niger Delta have flourished amid a lack of governance and rule of law.

They claim to be fighting to help local people benefit from the region’s oil wealth but fund their activities with oil theft, extortion and kidnapping.

The Joint Task Force, charged with bringing security to the Delta, has been accused of brutality and corruption.

For the past 13 days the Nigerian military has been mounting an offensive in the swampy creeks of the Niger Delta, pursuing oil militants who kidnapped 15 sailors, 18 soldiers and hijacked a petrol tanker belonging to the national oil company.

They say the continuing military action is an attempt to rescue their men or confirm if they are dead.

The militants started it, they say, and the military is just reacting, according to commander Gen Sarkin Yakin Bello, whose name means “lord of fighting” in the northern Hausa language.

Tompolo is not a monster, but if he came to me I’d hand him in to the authorities Ijaw leader Edwin Clark Profile: Oil militant kingpin

But security and diplomatic sources have told the BBC the military action in Delta State is part of a new “get tough” approach which has been on the army’s drawing board for months in an attempt to deal with key militant leaders from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend).

The clock is ticking on the offensive, as it is disrupting business, and may begin to have a bad effect on Nigeria’s already depressed oil industry.

The military action could backfire and stir up militancy in the western Niger Delta, observers say.

It could also spark ethnic conflict in a race to secure lucrative patronage from government and business in the Delta.

Alarming numbers

Stories are emerging from the area of military brutality against civilians, as soldiers move through villages looking for guns and weapons.

The biggest problem they are facing is a lack of food, as no supplies have been able to get up there for some time now Red Cross’s Ovocity Egboworo Thousands flee Delta fighting

Groups representing the Ijaw people who live in the area have issued alarming numbers for those killed or chased from their homes.

The military has denied access to journalists so far.

But the Nigerian Red Cross has told the BBC they went to several villages in the creeks and saw a few burned houses, but not the total destruction those fleeing described.

Those who fled into the bush have been creeping back to their homes at night and then leaving again at first light, the Red Cross’s Ovocity Egboworo said.

“The biggest problem they are facing is a lack of food, as no supplies have been able to get up there for some time now,” he said.

Other international aid agencies have decided not to travel to the region for the time being, unconvinced that the humanitarian need outweighs the risk of going into the active conflict zone.

Tompolo’s boys

It is certain that this is the largest military operation against the militants since the rise of the armed conflict in 2006.

Mend leader Government Tompolo is now on the run

They are attacking fighters loyal to the man known to be the regional commander, and suspected to be the overall military leader of Mend, Government Tompolo.

Mr Tompolo has in recent years established himself as the major powerbroker in the area.

Local businessmen say he is the point man for the leaders of the Ijaw community, funnelling money from government patronage and lucrative contracts and members of his family and close circle hold key government positions.

If a company wants to move anything in the oil creeks of Escravos and Forcados, home to a great deal of Nigeria’s oil industry, they must pay Mr Tompolo’s “boys” for protection.

The militants also make money stealing crude and selling it through bunkering syndicates, an organised crime operation that has links to Nigerian politicians, military figures, and connections to drug and gun runners, analysts say.

Before the recent offensive violence against oil infrastructure was actually down, as the militants had reached terms with the state government and the oil companies.

The military action seems aimed at dislodging Mr Tompolo from this powerful position.

Support?

Mr Tompolo is on the run from his base, rumoured to be either in Cameroon, the Nigerian state of Akwa Ibom, or lying low in the Delta State city of Warri, depending on who you talk to.

Removing Tompolo will not be the end of it, he’s just the toll-gate keeper Analyst Stephen Davis

But leaders from his Ijaw ethnic community have apparently withdrawn their support for him.

Ijaw elder Chief Edwin Clark, 76, told the BBC he would not shelter Mr Tompolo.

“He is not a monster, but if he came to me I would hand him over to the authorities,” said Mr Clark, who has decided to get out of the region for a couple of weeks.

Mr Tompolo still commands large military resources, and while it remains to be seen if he can return to his plum position, it is clear he is not prepared to go without a fight.

But Mr Clark says it seems like the government is serious about tackling the militants this time.

Big push

Last year the military was given millions of dollars to spend on equipment for fighting in the Niger Delta.

Soldiers of the JTF review weapons allegedly seized from a Mend camp

A report leaked outlined possible military scenarios, including the one currently unfolding.

There was also a large military exercise several months ago in Ondo State where the military Joint Task Force (JTF) practised the tactics it would need to fight militants.

Following a briefing by Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe, diplomatic sources told the BBC they came away with the impression the militant attack that triggered the current operation had simply put in motion an existing plan.

But security sources say the military will have to capture large amounts of weapons for this offensive to be a success, as there is no way they can kill all the militants.

Nothing is moving on the creeks now, and militants have continued to attack pipelines shutting in 100,000 barrels per day.

So far the military has shown journalists a heap of rusted antique shotguns and a few buckets of bullets.

‘Not the end’

A former adviser to both ex-Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his successor Umaru Yar’Adua on the Niger Delta told the BBC he was afraid the military action would make the situation worse in the long run.

“Removing Tompolo will not be the end of it,” said Rev Stephen Davis, Canon Emeritus at Coventry Cathedral’s reconciliation ministry, who recently wrote a report on the possibilities of peace in the Niger Delta.

This would open a position other leaders would be prepared to fight over, he argued, raising the spectre of gang warfare in Delta State.

It also risked inflaming ethnic tensions between Ijaw and another Delta State ethnic group, the Itsekiri.

The two fought a war between 1997 and 2002, and Mr Tompolo’s hold on government patronage came as a direct result of the Ijaw victory.

According to Rev Davis, the Mend leader is not the root of the problem, but a symptom of the lack of governance in the Niger Delta.

“Tompolo is a toll-gate keeper,” he says.

“The real ones driving this conflict are the ones who built the road.”

Nigerian military frees hostages in oil-rich region

The first group — nine Filipinos and five Nigerians — were released on Saturday, while four Ukrainians were released on Sunday, according to Col. Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the Nigerian military’s joint task force.

Nigeria’s military began clearing the western Niger Delta region last week, its first major operation against the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, an armed militant group that demands a better distribution of the country’s oil wealth.

Both the Nigerian military and the militants have said the ongoing fighting has resulted in a high number of casualties. As many as 1,000 have been killed, according to Victor Burubo, a spokesman for the Ijaw National Council which represents the region’s largest ethnic group. However, aid groups and journalists have been unable to verify that figure.

“We want the international community to know that we are getting rid of criminals and terrorists in our communities so foreigners who come here to work and invest are safe,” Abubakar said.

Four villages near the militants’ camps have been destroyed in the fighting, Burubo said. However, the military spokesman stressed that Nigerian forces are not targeting civilians, blaming such attacks on the militants.

“We are not attacking villages — just (militant) camps,” Abubakar said.

On Friday, MEND declared “an all-out war” on the government after what it said was a deadly bombing raid on civilians.

It is not the first declaration of war by MEND, which demands that more of Nigeria’s oil wealth be reinvested in the region instead of enriching those the militants consider corrupt politicians.

The militant group declared war against the government in September for what it said were unprovoked attacks. At that time, MEND destroyed several oil facilities, forcing Nigeria to cut its oil exports by as many as 1 million barrels of oil per day, or 40 percent.

The recent violence — which has included attacks on pipelines and hostage-taking — has limited shipment of crude oil supplies out of Nigeria, Africa’s largest producer.

MEND has threatened to blockade oil vessels, and has warned oil companies in the region to leave and “cease oil production until further notice.”

The militant group said Friday the country’s armed forces conducted “indiscriminate aerial bombardment on the defenseless civilians in the Gbaramatu area of Delta state.” It said the strikes were punishment “for the humiliating defeat” of the army in raids on two militant camps Wednesday.

“Casualties are mostly women, children and the elderly who could not get away quickly into the bush or high sea,” the militant group said.

The military says it is responding to the militants’ attacks on troops, hijackings of vessels, and threats to innocents, such as the “expatriates who were given ultimatum to leave the region by the militants.” It characterized the various claims by the militants as “propaganda.”

“We are not at war with any individuals or groups in the region,” Abubakar said. “Ours is to protect lives and property and also to rid the region of criminals who hide under the guise of struggle agenda to perpetrate crime.”

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