AI
Dozens killed in military offensive in Nigeria's restive oil region
Every step Bush takes, China is there. The United States depends heavily on Nigerian sweet crude and China plans to increase their influence in Nigeria.
#msg-3143912
As China begins to revamp Nigeria’s oil sector a US defence official says the US navy is planning an unusual task force deployment off Nigeria and the West African coast.
It's all about oil.
-Am
Dozens killed in military offensive in Nigeria's restive oil region
10:26 PM EDT Jun 04
GLENN MCKENZIE AND DULUE MBACHU
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Soldiers in gunboats clashed with ethnic militants in the rivers of Nigeria's oil delta Friday, and militants and villagers claimed that dozens of fighters and civilians were killed. A navy spokesman denied there were casualties.
Nigeria's military regularly plays down ethnic, political and religious violence in an effort to stem retaliatory attacks. On two occasions - in 1999 and 2001 - authorities denied army massacres of hundreds of civilians until witness accounts made them indisputable.
Political, religious and ethnic unrest has killed more than 10,000 since President Olusegun Obasanjo was first elected in 1999, ending 15 years of brutal military rule.
On Friday, residents of Port Harcourt, the oil-rich Niger Delta's main city, reported hearing pre-dawn gunfire at the time of the attack. Port Harcourt is several kilometres from where the clashes occurred.
Hundreds of soldiers and police have deployed to the nearby villages of Ogbakiri, Buguma and Tombia since last week, apparently to stem months of fighting between two rival ethnic Ijaw militant factions.
Villagers in Oduoha said they woke to gunfire before dawn.
Community leader Lloyd Eyime said he went outside his house and saw soldiers in gun-mounted speedboats firing upon his riverside community.
"They have been burning houses and shooting at people, both young and elderly," Eyime said.
Residents fled into mangrove swamps and dense bush, he said.
When Eyime returned, he said, he found about 30 bodies lying about the otherwise abandoned village.
"Right now where I'm hiding I can see flames from one of my cars that was set ablaze by the soldiers. As I'm talking to you I don't even know the whereabouts of my wife and children," he told The Associated Press by phone.
Kenneth Etu, a village elder from Ogbakiri, said he saw 15 bodies.
"We were sleeping and we heard shooting," he said. "Everyone was running."
Dokubo Asari, one of the two feuding ethnic Ijaw commanders involved, said his men were fighting back.
"We shot at them and one of their gunboats sank," Asari said.
A senior navy official in Port Harcourt denied anyone had been killed or injured. Most villagers deserted their communities during fighting before security force members began arriving, he said.
"We've been sending troops there since last week. They heard we were coming and they deserted towns and villages. There has been no killings. Everything is quiet," the navy officer said, speaking on condition he not be identified.
A government spokesman for the area's River state said he knew nothing of the killings, but defended the soldiers' deployment.
"The military have had to come in because of the escalating nature of the violence by the cultists," spokesman Emma Okah said. Factions in southeastern Nigeria are often called "cults."
The clash on the eastern side of the oil-rich Niger Delta appeared unrelated to ethnic bloodshed pitting ethnic Ijaw and Itsekiri militants in the western delta. Since last year, that fighting has killed hundreds and shut wells accounting for between seven and 25 per cent of Nigeria's daily production.
Ijaws and Itsekiris pledged peace Tuesday although tensions remain high and oil companies have been hesitant to return to facilities abandoned since last year.
Nigeria is the world's seventh-largest oil exporter and the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/040604/w060492.html
US navy 'plans W Africa exercise'
By Nick Childs
BBC Pentagon correspondent
A US defence official says the US navy is planning an unusual task force deployment off the West African coast.
Local reports quoting diplomats say an aircraft carrier will deploy to the waters off Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the strategic Gulf of Guinea.
Pentagon officials will not confirm specific plans but one official acknowledged that the US navy is planning an unusual exercise off the West African coast.
There has been talk for some time from senior US commanders in Europe of the need to focus more attention on Africa, including periodic deployments by aircraft carriers.
Oil-rich zone
There is particular concern about emerging terror threats in what have been called "ungoverned areas" in the region.
The Gulf of Guinea represents an area of growing strategic importance because of an increasing number of offshore oil operations.
A senior navy official said recently that a deployment to the Gulf would send a message.
More broadly, this is linked to a US navy plan to deploy seven aircraft carriers around the world in the coming months in a surge operation to demonstrate that it can still respond to different crises, despite the US military's preoccupations in Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3778479.stm
Chinese Govt to help revamp Nigeria’s oil sector
BY GBENGA OGUNTIMEHIN, Abuja
THE Chinese Government has promised to assist Nigeria with a grant of $30 million (about N4 billion) for the development of necessary economic infrastructure and manpower for the country’s downstream oil sector.
Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce, Mr. Wei Jianguo, who made this known in Abuja at the weekend said his country would provide technical training in oil exploration and technology on yearly basis to further improve Nigeria’s revenue from oil sector.
He, however, expressed concern about Federal Government’s ban on importation of 41 products, which he said, were mostly from China.
Speaking with Commerce Minister, Alhaji Idris Waziri, during a courtesy call, Jianguo observed that both countries being members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the rule of the organisation should be followed even as he advised Nigeria to open up her market so that its action would not violate WTO regulations.
Jianguo said he had met the Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Funso Kupolokun, on the need for a long-term oil co-operation between Nigeria and China, pointing out that his country was ready to transfer its oil exploration technology to boost Nigeria’s oil sector.
He commended Nigeria’s efforts in the health sector, saying that a large consignment of malaria drugs would arrive the country by the end of June.
The Chinese minister said trade volume between his country and Nigeria stood at $1.86 billion as at the end of 2003, while there were 52 Chinese enterprises investing in the country.
He said his country was contemplating investing in such projects as electronics, textile, household utensils and other goods.
Welcoming the delegation, Waziri commended China’s achievement in economic development, assuring that the Federal Government would step up efforts to ensure co-operation between the two countries.
He said government had given priority to economic development in order to eradicate socio-economic problems like poverty, unemployment, HIV/AIDS and under-development.
He explained the ban on 41 products was not to break any trade relations with developing or developed countries of the world like China but to avoid a situation whereby Nigeria was being used as dumping ground for products which could be produced internally.
“No responsible government will put its people in squalor” Waziri remarked, stressing that the rule of WTO people through the NEEDS programme.
He said the market oriented and private sector led economy was actually aimed at improving living standard of the people, and urged the Italian government to use the opportunity to improve her trade relations with Nigeria.
According to Waziri, Nigeria has tremendous natural resources and manpower but needed support from the external world like Italy to be able to further enhance and actualise various economic measures.
He told Ricoveri that Nigeria was not begging for charity but wanted co-operation to move forward and develop at a rapid stage.
Earlier, Ricoveri said Italy realised the various potentials available in the Nigerian economy and was pursuing the needed strategy to establish a long-term economic co-operation with it.
He assured that his country would put in place tangible investment in manufacturing to strengthen the trade relationships.
Monday, May 24, 2004
http://www.dailytimesofnigeria.com/DailyTimes/2004/May/24/ChineseGovt.asp
Every step Bush takes, China is there. The United States depends heavily on Nigerian sweet crude and China plans to increase their influence in Nigeria.
#msg-3143912
As China begins to revamp Nigeria’s oil sector a US defence official says the US navy is planning an unusual task force deployment off Nigeria and the West African coast.
It's all about oil.
-Am
Dozens killed in military offensive in Nigeria's restive oil region
10:26 PM EDT Jun 04
GLENN MCKENZIE AND DULUE MBACHU
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Soldiers in gunboats clashed with ethnic militants in the rivers of Nigeria's oil delta Friday, and militants and villagers claimed that dozens of fighters and civilians were killed. A navy spokesman denied there were casualties.
Nigeria's military regularly plays down ethnic, political and religious violence in an effort to stem retaliatory attacks. On two occasions - in 1999 and 2001 - authorities denied army massacres of hundreds of civilians until witness accounts made them indisputable.
Political, religious and ethnic unrest has killed more than 10,000 since President Olusegun Obasanjo was first elected in 1999, ending 15 years of brutal military rule.
On Friday, residents of Port Harcourt, the oil-rich Niger Delta's main city, reported hearing pre-dawn gunfire at the time of the attack. Port Harcourt is several kilometres from where the clashes occurred.
Hundreds of soldiers and police have deployed to the nearby villages of Ogbakiri, Buguma and Tombia since last week, apparently to stem months of fighting between two rival ethnic Ijaw militant factions.
Villagers in Oduoha said they woke to gunfire before dawn.
Community leader Lloyd Eyime said he went outside his house and saw soldiers in gun-mounted speedboats firing upon his riverside community.
"They have been burning houses and shooting at people, both young and elderly," Eyime said.
Residents fled into mangrove swamps and dense bush, he said.
When Eyime returned, he said, he found about 30 bodies lying about the otherwise abandoned village.
"Right now where I'm hiding I can see flames from one of my cars that was set ablaze by the soldiers. As I'm talking to you I don't even know the whereabouts of my wife and children," he told The Associated Press by phone.
Kenneth Etu, a village elder from Ogbakiri, said he saw 15 bodies.
"We were sleeping and we heard shooting," he said. "Everyone was running."
Dokubo Asari, one of the two feuding ethnic Ijaw commanders involved, said his men were fighting back.
"We shot at them and one of their gunboats sank," Asari said.
A senior navy official in Port Harcourt denied anyone had been killed or injured. Most villagers deserted their communities during fighting before security force members began arriving, he said.
"We've been sending troops there since last week. They heard we were coming and they deserted towns and villages. There has been no killings. Everything is quiet," the navy officer said, speaking on condition he not be identified.
A government spokesman for the area's River state said he knew nothing of the killings, but defended the soldiers' deployment.
"The military have had to come in because of the escalating nature of the violence by the cultists," spokesman Emma Okah said. Factions in southeastern Nigeria are often called "cults."
The clash on the eastern side of the oil-rich Niger Delta appeared unrelated to ethnic bloodshed pitting ethnic Ijaw and Itsekiri militants in the western delta. Since last year, that fighting has killed hundreds and shut wells accounting for between seven and 25 per cent of Nigeria's daily production.
Ijaws and Itsekiris pledged peace Tuesday although tensions remain high and oil companies have been hesitant to return to facilities abandoned since last year.
Nigeria is the world's seventh-largest oil exporter and the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/040604/w060492.html
US navy 'plans W Africa exercise'
By Nick Childs
BBC Pentagon correspondent
A US defence official says the US navy is planning an unusual task force deployment off the West African coast.
Local reports quoting diplomats say an aircraft carrier will deploy to the waters off Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the strategic Gulf of Guinea.
Pentagon officials will not confirm specific plans but one official acknowledged that the US navy is planning an unusual exercise off the West African coast.
There has been talk for some time from senior US commanders in Europe of the need to focus more attention on Africa, including periodic deployments by aircraft carriers.
Oil-rich zone
There is particular concern about emerging terror threats in what have been called "ungoverned areas" in the region.
The Gulf of Guinea represents an area of growing strategic importance because of an increasing number of offshore oil operations.
A senior navy official said recently that a deployment to the Gulf would send a message.
More broadly, this is linked to a US navy plan to deploy seven aircraft carriers around the world in the coming months in a surge operation to demonstrate that it can still respond to different crises, despite the US military's preoccupations in Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3778479.stm
Chinese Govt to help revamp Nigeria’s oil sector
BY GBENGA OGUNTIMEHIN, Abuja
THE Chinese Government has promised to assist Nigeria with a grant of $30 million (about N4 billion) for the development of necessary economic infrastructure and manpower for the country’s downstream oil sector.
Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce, Mr. Wei Jianguo, who made this known in Abuja at the weekend said his country would provide technical training in oil exploration and technology on yearly basis to further improve Nigeria’s revenue from oil sector.
He, however, expressed concern about Federal Government’s ban on importation of 41 products, which he said, were mostly from China.
Speaking with Commerce Minister, Alhaji Idris Waziri, during a courtesy call, Jianguo observed that both countries being members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the rule of the organisation should be followed even as he advised Nigeria to open up her market so that its action would not violate WTO regulations.
Jianguo said he had met the Economic Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Funso Kupolokun, on the need for a long-term oil co-operation between Nigeria and China, pointing out that his country was ready to transfer its oil exploration technology to boost Nigeria’s oil sector.
He commended Nigeria’s efforts in the health sector, saying that a large consignment of malaria drugs would arrive the country by the end of June.
The Chinese minister said trade volume between his country and Nigeria stood at $1.86 billion as at the end of 2003, while there were 52 Chinese enterprises investing in the country.
He said his country was contemplating investing in such projects as electronics, textile, household utensils and other goods.
Welcoming the delegation, Waziri commended China’s achievement in economic development, assuring that the Federal Government would step up efforts to ensure co-operation between the two countries.
He said government had given priority to economic development in order to eradicate socio-economic problems like poverty, unemployment, HIV/AIDS and under-development.
He explained the ban on 41 products was not to break any trade relations with developing or developed countries of the world like China but to avoid a situation whereby Nigeria was being used as dumping ground for products which could be produced internally.
“No responsible government will put its people in squalor” Waziri remarked, stressing that the rule of WTO people through the NEEDS programme.
He said the market oriented and private sector led economy was actually aimed at improving living standard of the people, and urged the Italian government to use the opportunity to improve her trade relations with Nigeria.
According to Waziri, Nigeria has tremendous natural resources and manpower but needed support from the external world like Italy to be able to further enhance and actualise various economic measures.
He told Ricoveri that Nigeria was not begging for charity but wanted co-operation to move forward and develop at a rapid stage.
Earlier, Ricoveri said Italy realised the various potentials available in the Nigerian economy and was pursuing the needed strategy to establish a long-term economic co-operation with it.
He assured that his country would put in place tangible investment in manufacturing to strengthen the trade relationships.
Monday, May 24, 2004
http://www.dailytimesofnigeria.com/DailyTimes/2004/May/24/ChineseGovt.asp
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