…Shell resumes exports of 400,000bpd
The expectation of a dialogue between the Federal Government and
stakeholders in the Niger Delta region to resolve the bombing campaign of
oil and gas facilities by militants maybe far fetched as the President
Mohammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is looking in a different
direction with the contracting of the dreaded United States security
outfit, Blackwater Securities.
In 2015, Four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards were handed
decades-long sentences by a U.S Court, ending a case stemming from the
deadly shootings of dozens of Iraqi civilians in 2007.
This is coming as American oil giants, Chevron Nigeria Limited(CNL),
suffered another major loss as its three manifolds at Digbolo in Warri
North Council Area of Delta State have been blown up by suspected
militants. The manifolds are RMP 22, 23 and 24 respectively.
Pointblanknews.com learnt that the incident happened at about 11.00 pm on
Wednesday.
The rampaging Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, has claimed responsibility for
the deadly attacks.
The group has stated repeatedly that it would ensure that the company
would no longer do business in the oil rich but crisis-scarred state.
The group in a statement signed by its spokesperson, ‘’Brigadier
General’Mudoch Agbinibo said: “Between the hours of 10:50pm to 11:10 pm,
our (Niger Delta Avengers) strike team blew up Chevron manifolds. The
manifolds are RMP 22, 23 and 24.”
But Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian division said it has lifted a force
majeure on exports of Bonny Light crude oil on Thursday. The Bonny Light
export terminal began the export of 400,000 barrels per day Bonny Light
oil from Nigeria.
The force majeure was lifted from 09:00 a.m. Nigerian time (0800 GMT) on
Thursday, the company said in a statement following restoration of
production into Bonny Terminal.
Pointblanknews.com gathered that President Buhari and the oil companies,
in a mutual agreement to secure oil and gas assets, contracted Black
Water security to tackle Niger Delta militants and provide security to oil
assets in the region.
Operatives of the outfit are believed to have already deployed to the
region in the guise of oil and construction workers necessitating the
resumption of activities by Shell and other companies in spite of the
threats posed by the militants.
Further investigations showed that the Saudi Blackwater Securities which
the Buhari government engaged for a fee of $285 million following a pact
reached between Buhari and some Islamic nations on the fight against
terrorism, is the same Blackwater security facing trial in United States
over the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians and other human rights abuses.
The company owned by Erik Prince, a retired US military officer has
subsidiaries in different countries notably United Arab Emirates,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen among others where mercenaries are trained to
provide alternative security in countries where there are security
threats.
While the Buhari government wants Nigerians to believe that the security
outfit is owned by Anwar Eshki, a retired Major General in the Saudi Armed
Forces, Blackwater Security, has used subsidiaries in different countries
to evade litigations trailing the outfit everywhere it goes.
Pointblanknews.com investigations gathered that oil companies operating in
the region were concerned about the poor funding and lack of amphibian
training on the part of Nigerian security agents in reaching the decision
to partner with the Nigerian government in hiring Blackwater Securities.
But some stakeholders in the Niger Delta pooh-poohed the deployment saying
it would not be a solution to the crisis.
“This is not the solution. Dialogue remains the only viable option.
Government should engage the governors and leaders of thought in the area.
The people they are deploying are they not foreigners? They would be easy
pickings for the militants who are familiar with the terrain”, an
environmental activist, Harriman Mudock, said.
There are also concerns that the US government, being the owners of
Chevron, view the deployment as development that is in their national
interest.
Writing for New York Times under the title “These Guns for Hire”, Managing
Editor of Discovery Channel,Ted Koppelmay, said:
‘So, what about the inevitable next step — a defensive military force paid
for directly by the corporations that would most benefit from its
protection? If, for example, an insurrection in Nigeria threatens that
nation’s ability to export oil (and it does), why not have Chevron or
Exxon Mobil underwrite the dispatch of a battalion or two of mercenaries?
‘Chris Taylor, the vice president for strategic initiatives and corporate
strategy for Blackwater USA, wanted to be sure I understood that such a
thing could only happen with the approval of the Nigerian government and
at least the tacit understanding of Washington. But could Blackwater
provide a couple of battalions under those circumstances? “600 people in a
battalion,” he answered.
“I could source 1,200 people, yes. There are people all over the world who
have honorably served in their military or police organizations. I can go
find honorable, vetted people, recruit them, train them to the standard we
require.
“It could have the merit of stabilizing oil prices, thereby serving the
American national interest, without even tapping into the federal budget.
Meanwhile, oil companies could protect some of their more vulnerable
overseas interests without the need to embroil Congress in the tiresome
question of whether Americans should be militarily engaged in a sovereign
third world nation”, he said.
He said the owner of Blackwater Securities is moving far away from
investigative authorities in the US and constantly changing his company
name.
“For Mr. Prince, the foreign battalion is a bold attempt at reinvention.
He is hoping to build an empire in the desert, far from the trial lawyers,
Congressional investigators and Justice Department officials he is
convinced worked in league to portray Blackwater as reckless.
“He sold the company last year, but in April, a federal appeals court
reopened the case against four Blackwater guards accused of killing 17
Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007. To help fulfill his ambitions, Mr.
Prince’s new company, Reflex Responses, obtained another
multimillion-dollar contract to protect a string of planned nuclear power
plants and to provide cybersecurity. He hopes to earn billions more, the
former employees said, by assembling additional battalions of Latin
American troops for the Emiratis and opening a giant complex where his
company can train troops for other governments.
“Knowing that his ventures are magnets for controversy, Mr. Prince has
masked his involvement with the mercenary battalion. His name is not
included on contracts and most other corporate documents, and company
insiders have at times tried to hide his identity by referring to him by
the code name “Kingfish.” But three former employees, speaking on the
condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements, and two
people involved in security contracting described Mr. Prince’s central
role’, he penned.