Nigeria dismisses U.S. Warning of possible attack
Nigeria on Monday dismissed a U.S. Embassy warning of a possible attack on diplomatic missions in Lagos, saying there was no proof of any “terrorist activities” in the country. The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria said on Sunday it had received reports of a
possible strike against missions located close to the U.S. Consulate general in Lagos, the commercial capital of Africa’s biggest oil producer. “The release by the U.S. Embassy gives a false picture of the security situation in Nigeria,” said Information Minister Dora Akunyili.
“I, therefore, call on Nigerians, expatriates and tourists to go about their plans and businesses as there is no critical threat in the form of any immediate terrorist attack at this time,” she added. Nigeria, the world’s eighth biggest crude oil exporter, supplying the United States and China, has never been the victim of a major terrorist attack. But militants in the southern Niger Delta, the heartland of its oil industry, have regularly attacked installations belonging to U.S. And other oil giants. The U.S. Embassy gave no details of the reports about a possible attack in Nigeria, divided roughly equally between Christians and Muslims. But it said that U.S. Government facilities worldwide remained in a state of heightened alert because of the threat of violence against Americans and U.S. Interests.
Nigerian gunmen kill Policeman, kidnap Briton
Nigerian gunmen kidnapped a British oil services worker and shot dead one of his police escorts in Port Harcourt late on Sunday, one of a spate of weekend attacks in the oil hub of Africa’s biggest producer. The British man was thought to be working for Adamac Industries Ltd, a Nigerian supplier of engineering and construction services to foreign oil firms, when he was abducted in the oil hub Port Harcourt, private security sources said. A police source said two officers had been shot during the kidnapping, one of whom died from his injuries. Police spokeswoman Rita Inoma-Abbey said she was checking the details.In separate incidents, a security consultant whose nationality was not immediately known was shot dead in Port Harcourt on Sunday while a Nigerian manager from a local aluminium company was abducted, the sources said. Gunmen also attacked and destroyed a houseboat belonging to South Korean engineering firm Daewoo (047040.KS) near Igbomotoru in neighbouring Bayelsa state on Sunday, military spokesman Colonel Rabe Abubakar said.
“The Daewoo house boat was in Igbomotoru (for workers) to lay pipelines belonging to the Italian oil giant Agip (ENI.MI) when it was attacked and destroyed by the suspected militants,” he said. The attacks come days after President Umaru Yar’Adua said he was ready to grant amnesty to any gunmen in the Niger Delta who agreed to lay down their weapons. Bombings of oil pipelines, attacks by gunmen on oil facilities and kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs in the creeks of the delta have cut Nigeria’s oil output sharply over the past three years and hindered the industry’s development. Insecurity has forced oil giants such as Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron to move all but their most essential foreign staff out of the region, while the reduced oil output has eaten into Nigeria’s foreign earnings, exacerbating the effects of the global economic downturn. More than 200 foreign workers have been abducted in the past three years alone although most have been released after payment of a ransom. The armed groups have increasingly also targeted wealthy Nigerians living in and around Port Harcourt. The main militant group in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has been holding two British oil workers hostage for more than six months. MEND is demanding the release of its leader, Henry Okah, who is on trial for gun-running and treason.
GraphOn Partners with ISSL To Market GO-Global in Nigeria
GraphOn Corporation, a leading worldwide developer of thin-client application publishing and Web-enabling software solutions, continues to expand its worldwide channel with the signing of a reseller partnership agreement with Integrated Software Services Ltd. (ISSL) to market the GO-Global for Windows Web-enabling solution in Nigeria. GO-Global for Windows is a fast, simple, and affordable application delivery solution that provides instant Web-enabled access to centrally-running Windows applications from any platform and operating system, including UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, Windows Mobile, and Pocket PC. GO-Global eliminates the need to rewrite or modify applications for the Web or deploy complex, costly infrastructure such as Microsoft Windows Terminal Server or Citrix XenApp.
“This agreement is significant to ISSL because it allows us to immediately offer Web-enabled solutions to our customers,” said Yinka Oluwasanmi, CEO of ISSL. “We selected GO-Global after a careful evaluation of application publishing solutions such as Citrix and Windows Terminal Server. We found GO-Global to be the most effective solution.” “A key target for ISSL is the Nigerian banking and finance sector, where they offer a range of Windows-based banking and stockbroker applications,” said Tom Castanzo, GraphOn Regional Manager – EMEA/Australasia. “In addition to using GO-Global to instantly Web-enable existing applications, ISSL will resell GO-Global to the enterprise community in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.” Integrated Software Services Ltd. Is an IT solutions and consulting company providing technology solutions, products and services to business enterprises in Africa, with an emphasis on the banking and finance sector. ISSL is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.
Shell shuts Soku Gas plant in Nigeria again
Shell has again shut down gas production from one of its feeder plants in southern Nigeria, a spokesman said on Monday, just three days after operations resumed at the facility. Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo said the Anglo-Dutch firm halted operations at its Soku gas plant last Thursday for “operational reasons.” The plant, which sends gas supplies to Nigeria LNG on Bonny Island, was forced to halt operations in November to repair pipelines that were illegally tapped into by thieves. About 100 of these connections were discovered in December alone.
“They shut it again after they realized there were more leaks and the job was not finished,” said an industry source, who wished not to be named. The closure of Soku has cut production at Nigeria LNG, which supplies 10 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas, the source said. LNG is gas cooled into liquid form and shipped in special tankers to markets in the developed world — particularly Europe and the United States — where it can be used for power generation or for making chemicals. Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil and gas producer but thieves take a sizeable proportion of its output by drilling into pipelines or hijacking barges loaded with oil, a type of theft known locally as “bunkering.” Shell earlier on Monday said it had resumed operations at its Utorogu gas plant in Nigeria’s Delta state, three days after it was closed to repair a pipeline that was tapped by thieves.
Four convicted of murdering Nigeria orphan in drug gangs turf war
Four thugs were convicted at the Old Bailey yesterday of stabbing a 15-year-old Nigerian orphan to death as he begged for mercy. Sunday Essiet was knifed nine times in the back and kicked “like a football” in February last year. His mother had died soon after he was brought to Britain for a better life following the death of his father in Nigeria. Sunday was killed after being chased until cornered near a wall on the Glyndon Estate in Plumstead. He appears to have been the victim of a turf war between a Somali gang dealing crack cocaine and heroin in the area and the T-Block gang from Thamesmead. Adeniyi Oloyede — known as Knifer — and Miles Maddy, both 19 of Thamesmead, Sikiru Doherty, 20, of Woolwich, and Ifedotun Gbadebo-Araoye, 19, of Charlton, all pleaded not guilty but were convicted of murder by a jury.
Oloyede and Maddy were both under community and supervision orders at the time of the murder, having been convicted of affray. Gbadebo-Araoye was also found guilty of robbery. They will be sentenced later by Judge Timothy Pontius. During the trial witnesses described how Sunday screamed in terror and pleaded to be spared. Resident Mark Gilbery, who gave evidence from behind a screen so he could not be seen from the dock, told the court: “The man who got stabbed kind of slipped down the wall to his knees and they started to kick him and that.” Mr Gilbery said he went to help Sunday but added: “Then I saw the man with the green jacket pull out a knife so I just froze where I was. He pulled out this knife and just started stabbing him in the back. I just really couldn’t believe what I was seeing.” Mr Gilbery said: “He was begging them to stop but they were having none of it.” Another resident, Daniel Desouza, was out walking when he saw four youths following another four across the green of the estate. Suddenly one of the following group told the others: “Go, get him.”
Mr Desouza said Sunday began running and tried to follow his friend over some railings, but “he just couldn’t get himself over those railings. Just as he got himself on to the floor, three of the four that had been following chased up behind him.” He saw Sunday being struck in both shoulders and the stomach and “that’s when I realised they weren’t punching him — that’s when I realised he was being stabbed — they gave him no time, no chance to defend himself.” Sunday was studying for his GCSEs at a technology college in Southwark. His friend Abu Mansaray, 18, said: “He was struggling, struggling all his life — coming here from Nigeria at primary school age for a better life. “But he was a happy boy and loved football. When he was around everyone was happy.” All the defendants have previous convictions, cautions or reprimands for violence, including possession of a bladed article, robbery and affray.
Ambassador to Nigeria stresses Importance of peace for Angolans
The Angolan ambassador to Nigeria, Evaristo Domingos “Kimba”, yesterday stressed that peace enabled stability and free circulation of the population and goods, as well as the achievement of goals set for the reconstruction of basic social infrastructures. ANGOP learnt from a communiqué that the diplomat was speaking during a socialisation lunch with the staff of the Angolan diplomatic mission to Nigeria.
April 04, 2002, Peace and National Reconciliation Day resulted from the signing of the memorandum of understanding of Luena (eastern Moxico province, which is complementary to the Lusaka Protocol that was signed by the Angolan government and UNITA. The national main event happened in Dundo city, north-eastern Lunda Norte province, under the guidance of the minister of Economy, Manuel Nunes Junior, in representation of the Head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos.