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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000239 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOE FOR GPERSON, CHAYLOCK 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PINS MOPS EPET NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: JTF, MILITANTS BELIEVED PREPARING FOR 
WIDER CONFLICT 
 
REF: LAGOS 230 
 
Classified By: Consul General Donna M. Blair for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D 
) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Industry and security contacts operating in 
the Niger Delta report that the JTF may be preparing to 
expand its campaign against militants, while militants are 
leaving their camps and taking refuge in more populated 
villages and cities to avoid being targeted.  A oil company 
security contact reports that JTF is planning to move against 
a militant leader in Bayelsa State.  A Chevron oil pipeline 
in the Warri South Local Government Area (LGA), Delta State 
was attacked on the evening of May 24 disrupting oil flow to 
the Escravos export facility.  Chevron says 100,000 barrels 
of oil will be shut-in as a result of the attack, but Chevron 
Managing Director (MD) told the Ambassador on May 26 that 
they are able to fix the pipeline and it could be back up in 
12 days, stressing this timeline was close hold because a 
leak could give militants information about where to attack 
next.  The MD also told the Ambassador that 300 expatriate 
staff in Escravos are safe and are in a "stand fast" mode 
until further notice.  Some civil society contacts continue 
to report a significant humanitarian crisis in the Gbaramutu 
kingdom as a result of the JTF attack on Tompolo, but 
credible verification of actual civilian casualties has been 
difficult to obtain.  Other civil society contacts claim that 
the JTF had cordoned off the area, barred the use of 
speedboats in the creeks, and is not permitting humanitarian 
supplies, aid workers or journalists to enter the kingdom of 
Gbaramutu.  One contact reports the GON may be seeking a 
dialogue with Ijaw leaders.  The Mission is seeking to verify 
humanitarian issues and IDP numbers through both our 
international and local partners and the Nigerian Emergency 
Management Agency, which is the only entity the GON is 
allowing into the affected area.  End Summary. 
 
JTF and Militant Actions 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (C)  Chevron confirms that the Abiteye pipeline in the 
Warri South LGA, Delta State was attacked on the evening of 
May 24.  As a result, the 12-inch trunk pipeline that leads 
from Chevron's oil fields to the Escravos oil export terminal 
was taken off-line.  In a public statement Chevron said it 
will shut in 100,000 barrels of oil.  Chevron Managing 
Director told the Ambassador on May 26 that they are able to 
fix the pipeline and it could be back up in 12 days, but he 
stressed that this timeline was close hold because a leak 
could give militants information about where to attack next. 
He also told the Ambassador that 300 expatriate staff in 
Escravos are safe and are in a "stand fast" mode until 
further notice.  Executives with US company Hercules Offshore 
that provides lift boat support to Chevron's operations 
throughout the Niger Delta report that Chevron has ordered a 
halt to all movement in and around the oil and gas facility 
and associated oil fields.  River-borne supply convoys from 
Warri to Escravos have been suspended.  Warri-based oil field 
service companies as well as Chevron's MD report however, 
that the city of Warri is largely quiet and there is no 
evidence of ongoing military operations.  Ambassador and 
Mission team just returned from Port Harcourt, Rivers State 
and all was quiet (septel).  Oil service contractors based in 
Port Harcourt report the same. 
 
¶3. (C) RSO OSAC and Pol/Econ contacts say that militants 
across the Niger Delta are leaving their camps to avoid 
becoming the target of further JTF attacks.  RSO OSAC sources 
believe militants are moving to cities and other populated 
areas in an effort to escape the JTF.  ExxonMobil's security 
officer told Econoff on May 24 that he had indications the 
JTF was preparing to expand its operations to other militant 
groups and other areas of the Niger Delta.  On May 26, the 
same contact reported that his JTF contacts say Bayelsa State 
will be the next area of concentration, with the JTF planning 
to attack militant leader Boyloaf's "camp three."  Also, he 
said that on May 25 a Total near offshore oil platform near 
Akwa Ibom State was briefly fired upon by unknown assailants. 
 No one was injured in the incident and it was unclear 
 
LAGOS 00000239  002 OF 002 
 
 
whether it was related to the situation in Delta State or the 
result of criminal-pirate activity common to the area. 
ExxonMobil's Managing Director has said his company's 
operations continue as normal. 
 
Humanitarian Situation in Gbaramutu 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Anniko O. Briggs, AKA Cynthia White, told Lagos CG, 
RSO, and Econoff on May 24 that 50,000 people in the 
Gbaramutu kingdom (located between Warri and Escravos in 
Delta State and the base of operations for militant leader 
Tompolo's as well as significant oil and gas activity) have 
been affected by the JTF attack on Tompolo.  Briggs, using 
the name Cynthia White, had been a self-declared MEND 
spokesperson frequently quoted in the local press, although 
she had been inactive for some time before the latest 
outbreak of violence.  (Comment: Briggs was referred to RSO 
by a Bayelsa-based, Canadian citizen contact with extensive 
experience working with NGOs in the state.  Although the 
Canadian contact is considered very credible, Mission 
officers had never met Briggs prior to this encounter and 
cannot confirm her bona fides.  Given that Briggs may be 
associated with MEND, we need to view her comments in that 
light as it would be to the benefit of MEND elements to have 
highly exaggerated reports of civilian casualties.  End 
Comment.)  She claimed JTF boats are blocking the rivers and 
creeks leading from Warri to Gbaramutu, preventing 
humanitarian supplies, aid workers as well as journalists 
from entering the area.  Briggs says thousands of residents 
are without food, clean water, and medical supplies and many 
have fled their homes and hidden in nearby mangrove swamps. 
She alleged that the JTF soldiers are burning people in their 
homes as they go through the villages searching for Tompolo. 
She claimed to have been in direct contact with people in 
Gbaramutu over the past few days, but that contact had been 
cutoff as presumably residents' mobile phones ran out of 
battery power.  When asked about the specific causes of the 
JTF assault on Tompolo, Briggs denied that the hijacking of 
two ships on May 13 was the primary motive.  Rather she 
believed it was an operation the JTF had been planning to 
execute for months.  According to Briggs, details of the 
GON's intention to attack were leaked to the Nigeria 
political website Saharareporters.com weeks before the actual 
attack on Tompolo took place. 
 
¶5. (C) Some Nigerian press accounts put the number of 
civilian casualties in Gbaramutu at 3,000, however a team 
from the International Committee of the Red Cross sent to 
Delta State to investigate reported largely empty hospitals 
and limited destruction of noncombatant's property.  The 
Mission has been unable to independently confirm the number 
of civilian casualties in Gbaramutu, but believes the press 
reports to be highly exaggerated.  In a May 22 conversation 
with the Ambassador, Rivers State Governor said that if 
casualties and IDP numbers were as high as the press claimed, 
he would be making a lot more public noise about the JTF 
attacks. 
 
¶6. (C) Mulade Sheriff a former IVLP participant and President 
of the Gbaramutu Youth Council told Polspec on May 22 that 
thousands have fled their villages as the JTF goes house to 
house searching for Tompolo.  In a follow up conversation on 
May 26, Sheriff said the JTF had barred speedboats from 
operating on the waterways in Gbaramutu, nominally to prevent 
the movement of militants.  In practice, Sheriff said, this 
would have a devastating impact on local residents, as much 
of the civilian movement in the area is done using speedboats 
donated to local communities by oil companies and state 
governments.  Sheriff also reported that GON is now seeking a 
dialogue with Ijaw leaders, although he did not offer any 
specifics on time, location, or with whom exactly the GON 
sought to meet. (Note: Well-known Ijaw leader Chief Edwin 
Clark is traveling out of Nigeria.  End Note.) 
BLAIR