Attacks on Shell installations continue as oil output recovers in Nigeria

Nigeria’s oil wells may be flowing again, but the country’s largest operator says attacks continue to put a brake on output.

“Security in parts of the Niger delta remains a major concern with persisting incidents of criminality, kidnapping and vandalism as well as onshore and offshore piracy,” said Igo Weli, general manager for external relations at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s local unit. The warning underlines the enduring threat of attacks even as production recovers from a major militant campaign in 2016.

Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light crude shipments last month following pipeline leaks, while loadings of Forcados exports were also delayed. Weli didn’t specifically link those incidents to his comments on vandalism.

Militant assaults on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure in 2016 cut the country’s output to less than 1.4 million barrels a day, the lowest in 27 years. While there hasn’t been a major attack since, the security situation in the oil region remains fluid, according to Weli. Brent crude, which compares with Nigeria oil grades, has rallied almost 50 percent in the past year, trading at $74.35 a barrel as of 12.07 p.m. in London.

Crude Theft

“Facilities operated by both indigenous and international oil companies continue to be vandalized by attacks and other illegal activities such as crude-oil theft,” he said by email. “We are continuing to monitor the situation to mitigate any exposure and minimize risks faced by our personnel.”

Shell pumped an average of 631,000 barrels a day in Nigeria last year, about a third of the nation’s production. Despite the rally in output, the company still counted 60 cases of sabotage and theft, compared with 49 the year before. There were 10 such incidents recorded in the first two months of 2018, according to Weli.

Shell and its Nigerian partners are “currently evaluating opportunities to further increase production of the Bonga field,” a deep-water project which started production in 2005, Weli said, without providing further details.

Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, is scheduled to load at least 1.8 million barrels a day next month. That equals the production cap it agreed on with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which took effect in January.

Bloomberg

148 Boko Haram hostages including children freed by Nigerian Army

Nigeria's army rescued 148 hostages, most of them women and children, from Boko Haram militants, the army said Monday. 

Soldiers rescued the hostages during an operation Sunday as members of the terror group fled "troops' onslaught in the Lake Chad Islands and fringes of the northern borders of Borno state," according to a statement. 

The captives were freed in the large but remote town of Bama, about 45 miles southeast of Maiduguri. Borno state in northeast Nigeria borders Niger, Chad and Cameroon, all of which have experienced violent incidents with Boko Haram.

Seventy-five children, 58 women and 15 men comprised the rescued group, the army said. There were two pregnant teenagers among the hostages. 

The women told their rescuers they were "sexually violated and used as sex slaves," while the men were forced to carry out labor, the army statement said. 

The freed hostages will be transported to a Bama camp for internally displaced people, the army said.
Last month, the army freed 1,000 hostages after a weeklong battle with Boko Haram that left 50 militants dead, according to an army spokesman. That battle also unfolded in Borno state.

Boko Haram militants mainly inhabit areas in the northern states of Nigeria, specifically Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna. The group has kidnapped more than 1,000 children in Nigeria since 2013, according to a recent report. 

The group sparked global outrage after militants seized 276 girls from a boarding school in Borno's Chibok town in 2014. Some of the girls were freed last year following negotiations between the government and Boko Haram. 

In April, the Nigerian government said a disagreement between members of the terror group had caused a breakdown in negotiations for the release of the remaining schoolgirls.

CNN

Senate president of Nigeria linked to heist that left 33 people dead

Nigeria's Senate President is linked to suspects involved in a notorious bank heist where 33 people died, Nigerian police has said. 

Police say the robbers attacked six banks in the remote town of Offa in Kwara State and fired at a police station, killing nine police officers and passersby including some pregnant women on April 5 this year. 

Five members of the criminal gang arrested after the robbery in central Nigeria allege the operation was financed by Bukola Saraki, Nigeria police said in a statement.

"Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is being invited to report to the police to answer allegations indicting him from confessions of five gang leaders arrested for active participation in Offa bank robbery and killings of 33 innocent persons," said Nigeria police spokesman Jimoh Moshood in a statement.

Saraki later sent a tweet saying that Nigeria police no longer required him to attend the station but had asked him to respond to the allegations in writing instead.

According to the police, the five suspects arrested in the robbery confessed they had been "sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles" by the lawmaker to carry out the bank robberies.
However, the leader of Nigeria's Upper Chamber released a statement Monday saying the allegations were "baseless." 

"Let it be known that there is no way I could have been associated with armed robbery against my people. I hereby state categorically that I have no link with any band of criminals. As a person who has utmost respect for the rule of law... when the invitation from the police is formally extended to me, I will be ready to honor it without any delay," Saraki said in a statement. 

A commentator online, Reno Omokri questioned why Saraki, who controls Senate's annual budget of around $300 million, would rob a bank.

"But why will politicians who can rob the treasury prefer to rob a bank? Which is easier and more profitable?" asked Omokri, a former aide to ex-Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan. 

The Offa bank robbery is one of the most audacious heists carried out in the country in recent years, police say.

 
The thieves got away with millions of naira in local currency after using dynamite to blow up a vault in one bank.

CNN

180 prisoners break out of Nigerian prison, 30 recaptured

Following combined efforts of the Nigerian Prisons Service and other security agencies in Niger state, 30 inmates who escaped from the Minna Medium Security Prison on Sunday night have been recaptured.

The Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Danbazau disclosed this after an on-the-spot assessment of the prison.

Mr Jibrin Ndace, spokesman to Niger Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani-Bello, in a statement on Monday, added that about 180 inmates escaped during the jailbreak.

The Minister, who revealed that Federal Government is building 3000 capacity prison in each geopolitical zone and will recruit 6000 personnel, admitted that there were security lapses at Minna Prison.

“There are security gaps to be addressed in the prisons such as manpower, de-congestion,” he said.

Also speaking, the Niger state governor, Sani-Bello called for more commitment to duties, adding that Niger State Government would work with Federal Government on Prison reforms.

“I will like to appeal to public servants generally to take their jobs seriously. Niger State Government collaborate with the Federal Government to improve infrastructure of prisons across the state.”

In his comment, the Comptroller-General of Prisons, Jaafaru Ahmed said an investigative panel has been set up to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the jailbreak.

Daily Post

Video - Anti-tobacco campaigners look to tighten anti-smoking regulations in Nigeria

A new tariff hike to limit tobacco consumption takes effect from today amidst calls for stricter anti smoking laws. Nigeria has already banned smoking in public places but enforcement of the ban has hardly taken effect and its health ministry says tobacco consumption remains as high as 20 billion cigarettes per year.