Is This A Joke? Nigeria Will Be History If I am Arrested - Asari Dokubo

Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has dared the House of Representatives and leaders of northern Nigeria to arrest him if they can.

Dokubo-Asari, who spoke with journalists on Wednesday evening in Abuja, said he stood by his words that there would be no peace if Jonathan is not reelected in 2015.

He was responding to calls by members of the House, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and northern leaders, saying the leaders were cowards if he was not arrested.

The former President of Ijaw Youth Council also added that any attempt to arrest him would make Nigeria “a history”, asking why those calling for his arrest turned deaf ears when some northern leaders like former Military Head of State Maj.-Gen Mohamadu Buhari, Alhaji Lawal Kaita and a former member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Aliyu, among others.

He said, “I stand by my statement which I made in my early press conference. There will be no peace, not only in the Niger Delta, but everywhere, if Goodluck Jonathan is not president by 2015.

Okah: MEND vows to launch new series of attacks!

IN response to the imprisonment of Henry Okah in South Africa, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) says it would commence coordinated attacks from Friday morning.
MEND, in a statement sent out to the media on Wednesday by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, said the coming attacks, which it code-named ‘Hurricane Exodus’ would be in response to a false testimony employed in convicting Okah.

No Oil Without Alams - FG

The Presidency, desperate, to justify the pardon it granted, Mr. Diepriye Alamieseigha, the convicted former Governor of Bayelsa State, said, yesterday that Alamieseigha is crucial to Nigeria’s economy and credited him for the  increase in the barrels of oil Nigeria now sells on the international market.

Doyin Okupe, senior special assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs at a press briefing in Abuja praised Alamieseigha whom he described as “repentant”

A visibly angry reporter at the briefing said “I thought he (Okupe) was going to say the man has refunded millions of dollars he stole when he was in office.”

Not deterred, Okupe, said that  “In truth, Alamieseigha since he left prison has been working strenuously and silently to assist the President stabilize the amnesty in the Niger Delta region.

“Alamieseigha is a foremost leader of the Ijaw Nation, and his political and stabilizing influence in that region has impacted positively on the overall economy of the nation, bringing crude oil exports from the abysmally low level of 700,000bpd to over 2.4million bpd.”

According to him, Alamieseigha, who is still wanted by British authorities, can be credited with ensuring that the blood running through Nigeria's economic artery is not cut off.

Oil thieves now Robin Hood in the Niger Delta...

An interesting dimension to the problem of oil theft in the Niger Delta Area, it has been revealed, is that oil thieves now embark on corporate social responsibilities, by building roads, hospitals, schools and engaging in other community development projects.

However, beginning from today, the Niger Delta will witness a massive military operation as the Nigerian Navy deploys eight warships, six gunboats and three halicopters, including aircraft used for maritime patrol by the Nigerian Air Force, to engage oil thieves who are bleeding the nation’s economy through illegal bunkering and flush them out of the region.

This development is coming on the heels of the criminal activities of oil thieves and the brazen manner they operate in the Niger Delta on a daily basis, which are already creating grave concern for stakeholders in the oil sector. Besides, official sources said the Federal Government was losing over $5 billion to the thieves annually.

Four Nigerian farmers sue Shell for damaged land caused by oil spills

The Nigerian farmers and their legal team argue that Shell could have prevented the spills.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has rejected claims by four Nigerian farmers that it should pay compensation for damage to their land.





The farmers are suing the company in a civil court in The Hague, claiming oil spills ruined their livelihoods.

Shell's lawyers told the court it could not be held liable because most spills were caused by criminal damage.

They said repairs were hard to carry out because of insecurity in the Niger Delta.

Shell lawyer Jan de Bie Leuveling Tjeenk told the court that sabotage and oil theft were widespread in the region.

The case is being brought against Shell by the farmers and the Dutch arm of the environmental group Friends of the Earth.


Shell's Allard Castelein blamed "sabotage and oil theft" for the spills
If their case is successful it could pave the way for thousands of other compensation claims, says the BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague.

It is the first time a Dutch multinational has been taken to a civil court in the Netherlands in connection with damage caused abroad.

The case is linked to spills in Goi, Ogoniland; Oruma in Bayelsa State and a third in Ikot Ada Udo, Akwa Ibom State.

'Sabotage'
Earlier, Channa Samkalden, lawyer for the Nigerians, told the court that Shell had failed to maintain its pipelines, clean up leaks and prevent pollution.

"Shell knew for a long time that the pipeline was damaged but didn't do anything. They could have stopped the leaks," she said.

Judges are now considering the evidence and a ruling is expected early next year.

Continue reading the main story
Ogoni Oil: Troubled History


1958: Oil struck in Ogoniland. It lies in what is now one of Nigeria's wealthiest states. Most Nigerians live on less than $2 a day
1993: Large-scale protests by Ogoni people over neglect by government and Shell, led by Mosop group co-founded by activist Ken Saro-Wiwa
1993: Shell pulls out of Ogoniland
1994: Four community leaders killed. Mosop leaders including Ken Saro-Wiwa arrested
1995: Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others executed by military government, sparking international outrage
2009: Shell reaches $15.5m (£9.7m) settlement with families to stop case accusing it of complicity in Saro-Wiwa's death and other human rights abuses
2008-09: Shell accepts liability for two spills in Ogoniland
2011: UN report says it could take Ogoniland 30 years to recover fully from damage caused by years of oil spills
Speaking to the BBC before the hearing, one of the plaintiffs, Friday Alfred Akpan from the village of Ikot Ada Udo, said the oil leaks in his village had badly damaged his 47 fish ponds.

"Fish died as a result of the oil spill, making it difficult for me to live and put my children through school."

He told the BBC's Newsday programme he wanted compensation for the loss, and for Shell to clean up the spill.

Shell official Allard Castelein told the BBC the spills in question "were all caused by sabotage".

"I mean, there's video evidence. There's signed testimonies by joint investigation teams that are constituted of the local municipality, the company, the government."

In a statement, the company said: "The real tragedy of the Niger Delta is the widespread and continual criminal activity, including sabotage, theft and illegal refining, that causes the vast majority of oil spills.

"It is this criminality which all organisations with an interest in Nigeria's future should focus their efforts on highlighting and addressing."

Shell says it has cleaned up pollution at the three locations in question and this has been certified by relevant Nigerian authorities.

Militant groups have for years waged a violent campaign in the Niger Delta, demanding that local people see more of the benefits of the region's oil wealth - there is also a huge problem of oil theft in the area.

Last year, a report by the United Nations Environment Programme said that over half a century of oil operation in the region, by firms including Shell, had caused deeper damage to the Ogoniland area of the Niger Delta than earlier estimated.

The company has accepted responsibility for two specific spills in the region in 2008, saying it would settle the case under Nigerian law.

bbc exposè on the booming business of illegal refineries in Nigeria!!

This is a must read!!!
My question now is that if the science of refining crude oil is actually this easy then why in God's name is the Nigerian Government finding it difficult to do it?!