Nigeria: Bayelsa - Militants Kidnap Lebanese
Napoleon Ehiremen
6 March 2009

Warri — Some militants yesterday in Sagbagria, Kologuma/Opokuma local Government Area of Bayelsa State, kidnapped an expatriate construction worker with Elite Construction Company.<
The hostage, who was taken to an unknown destination by the gunmen, is a Lebanese simply identified as Mr. David.

The incident, according to source took place at about 4:30pm on Wednesday at his company's construction site of Polaku/Sabagria road project executed by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

When contacted, the Joint Task Force (JTF) through its spokesman Col. Rabe Abubakar confirmed the incident, saying that "it was the work of some criminal elements who are trying to portray the region as hostile and unsecured for human living and investment".

He, however, assured the family of the kidnapped Lebanese and the general public that the JTF would secure the release of the hostage within the shortest possible time and bring the collaborators to book.

In a related development, the JTF has raised alarm over the heavy pollution occasioned by deliberate sabotage of Chevron crude oil pipeline between Opia and Tambolo community in Bayelsa State.

Meanwhile, the coordinator, Joint media campaign of the JTF Col. Rabe Abubakar, said the spillage in these communities was the handiwork of illegal oil bunkerers.

Abubakar said the situation was worrisome especially as it affects the source of livelihood of the communities near the site.

He added that with this kind of damage to environment, these illegal bunkerers should be seen as enemies of the people that do not mean well for the emancipation of the locals in the Niger Delta.
"The situation is worrisome, especially as it affects the source of livelihood of the communities around the sites and it further shows that the illegal oil bunkerers do not mean well for the emancipation of the locals in the Niger Delta region," he said.

Abubakar further said that the contamination and pollution of water and soil which affect the survival of water animals and soil bareness are consequence of spillage into water and land.

He urged all well meaning Nigerians to "condemn the negative activities of the illegal bunkerers instead of pointing accusing fingers on the oil companies who are here to boost our economy".

Condoms by Bayelsa



The Nigerian state government of Bayelsa is partnering with a U.S. company to produce condoms for the local population to combat the state’s high rate of HIV infection. The Bayelsa Condom factory will also mean lots of new jobs in an area where work is scarce.

Nigeria;Militants insist on monthly allowance

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The government of Bayelsa state in Niger Delta,Nigeria has cried out that Militants in the area have threatened to blow up oil facilities and wreck unnamed havoc if it keeps faith with the promise to rescind payment of the regular monthly allowance to them.

The Bayelsa government pays about one hundred million naira as servicing allowance to seven militant’s camps spread out in the state. But since the world financial crisis began to take a hard toll on Nigeria, the monthly allocation for the constitute states and local governments have dropped making the payment of salaries as well as make the execution of capital projects difficult.
With the threat from the militants the Bayelsa government has requested for more troupes of the joint military task force to be dispatched to the state.

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Nigeria: Abducted Editor Surfaces in Bayelsa
Segun James
19 March 2009

Yenagoa — Abuja Bureau Chief of a Lagos-based newspaper, Mr. Akin Orimolade, who disappeared from his base in Abuja mysteriously surfaced before a Yenagoa Magistrate Court 4 in Bayelsa State yesterday. He was accused of fabricating a report against the state Governor Timipre Sylva.

There was a twist to the case, however, as journalists led by the Chairman of the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Siyefa Uzaka, stormed the court premises in solidarity with Orimolade, even as the court session could not hold as scheduled.

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Narrating his ordeal, Orimolade said he was lured into a trap when an advert was used as bait to abduct him. He said upon realising the trick used on him, he demanded for the warrant of arrest on him but he was ignored and shipped from Abuja to Yenagoa.

Reacting to the accusation that the Bayelsa State Government forcefully and illegally kidnapped a journalist, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Doifie Ola, in an email to journalists said neither the governor nor any of his security aides had a hand in the kidnapping.

Ola said in the statement: "About 14:10 hours on Tuesday, 17 March, 2008, I saw a missed call on my mobile. It happened to be that of an Editor-in-Chief of a newspaper. I immediately returned the call only to be told that security aides attached to Governor Timipre Sylva had earlier in the day "abducted" the Abuja Bureau Chief of the newspaper. I immediately ruled out the possibility of the governor's involvement in the alleged "abduction", and promised to investigate the matter.

"This is what happened: On Saturday, 31 January 2009, the newspaper published a news story in which Governor Timipre Sylva was alleged to have engaged in physical combat with a certain Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) mandarin. In support of the story, the newspaper published a purported picture of the governor in boxing gloves and shorts. They never had the courtesy to tell the world that the photo was computer-generated.

"As a law-abiding citizen, the governor sought legal advice, and his lawyers were of the opinion that the said publication which was circulated all over the country, including Bayelsa State, amounts to criminal defamation punishable under Section 302 of the Criminal Code Law of Bayelsa State. On this basis, a criminal complaint on oath was filed on behalf of the governor at a Yenagoa Magistrate Court.

"The magistrate upon hearing the exparte motion issued a warrant of arrest against the reporter and two others now at large. On receiving the warrant, the Bayelsa State Police Command detailed its men to Abuja to execute the warrant on the reporter who is resident in Abuja. Upon reaching Abuja, the Policemen from Yenagoa reported themselves to the Police authorities in Abuja.

"In compliance with the rules of the court, the warrant of arrest was taken to a magistrate in Abuja who endorsed it. Thereafter, the policemen from Yenagoa in company with their colleagues in Abuja jointly executed the warrant. The reporter was then taken to the Abuja magistrate who had endorsed the warrant. The magistrate subsequently ordered that the reporter be produced before the magistrate in Yenagoa who issued the warrant of arrest."

"Clearly, Governor Timipre Sylva is not a party to the "abduction" of any reporter. His security aides are not a party to the arrest of any reporter. No official of the Bayelsa State Government was at the scene of the arrest."

Orimolade was still in the clothes with which he was kidnapped was brought to the court premises around 11:45 am in a Mercedes Benz 190 model accompanied by two security operatives.

He insisted he was abducted and not arrested as being alleged.

According to him, the kidnappers in uniform used advert material as bait to get at him.

"I was somewhere in Abuja when I received a phone call that I should come and pick a copy of an advert to be published in my paper.

"Not sensing any danger, I headed for the place only to discover that they only used the advert as bait to arrest me as I was surrounded by two heavily armed security operatives.

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"My request for the warrant of arrest was rebuffed. I was later taken to one of the police stations in Abuja where I was told that I would soon be on my way to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. I was locked together in the same cell with hardened criminals. I did not appear before any Magistrate Court as being rumoured."

Orimolade alongside two other persons said to be at large were alleged to have published a defamatory story against the person of Governor Sylva in the newspaper's edition of Saturday, January 31, 2009.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the state council of the NUJ, Uzaka, has waded into the crisis, insisting that the case be settled out of court by all parties.

Gunmen attack Nigeria oil flow station 16 Mar 2009 17:48:46 GMT
Source: Reuters
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, March 16 (Reuters) - Suspected armed militants in gunboats attacked an oil flow station in the southern Niger Delta early on Monday, a military spokesman said.
Colonel Rabe Abubakar, spokesman for the military taskforce in the western Niger Delta, said the facility was attacked by gunmen in five speedboats at Nembe in Bayelsa state. It was not clear if any oil production was affected by the incident.

"The facilities remain intact, there were no casualties to our troops," he said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear which company owned the facilities. This was the second attack on an oil facility in the Niger Delta, the heart of Nigeria's oil and gas sector, in the last four days.

Chevron <CVX.N> confirmed on Monday an attack by suspected militants on its oil pipeline in Delta state on Friday, shutting down around 11,500 barrels per day of production.

Attacks on pipelines and industry installations are common in the Niger Delta. The unrest has shut down more than a fifth of Nigerian oil output over the past three years. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Austine Ekeinde; Writing by Randy Fabi)

**osisi, what are you 12 or something? If you aren't, it's time for you to grow the hell up.

This thread is a waste of space, immaturity is something showcased much too often on nairaland. . .

Sorry, but I'm locking this thread.