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O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LAGOS 000014 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS NSC FOR BOBBY PITTMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PM EPET ECON KDEM NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: NIGER DELTA TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBER 
DETAILS CONTENTS OF REPORT 
 
Classified By: Consul General Donna M. Blair, Reasons 1.4 (B,D) 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Acting Consul General met on December 23 with 
Tony Uranta (protect throughout), a member of the Niger Delta 
Technical Committee and campaign manager for the 2007 
presidential campaign of Patrick Utomi, Dean of the Lagos 
Business School.  According to Uranta, the Technical 
Committee's subcommittee on illegal bunkering identified the 
late Shehu Yar'Adua as the biggest illegal bunkerer whose 
interests were inherited by his brothers, and managed by his 
friend former Vice President Atiku Abubakar with the 
complicity of the Intels Nigeria Limited oil services 
company.  This large scale bunkering is tied to arms dealing, 
Uranta said.  Most of the kidnapping that has been done in 
the Niger Delta has not been done by Niger Deltans but by 
individuals from outside the region.  The Technical Committee 
recommended that the Federal Government grant amnesty to any 
Niger Deltan who turns in his weapons, leaves the camps and 
reenters civil society within six months; anyone found with a 
weapon after that time should be treated as a criminal, 
Uranta said the Committee recommended.  The Technical 
Committee also called for a fair and open trial for Henry 
Okah. Uranta's appointment to the Niger Delta Technical 
Committee is testimony to his stature as someone 
knowledgeable about the region and its problems. Independent 
of the Technical Committee, Uranta has succeeded in pulling 
together respected people into new groups to advocate for the 
Niger Delta, and despite his disclaimers, all have achieved 
some modest success in getting their views into the local 
press.  Whether or not the result of Uranta's efforts, since 
the Niger Delta Technical Committee's report was presented to 
the President, a steady stream of voices has been heard 
calling for the President to implement the Technical 
Committee's recommendation. It remains to be seen what 
response the President will make to the report. End Summary. 
 
 
¶2. (C) Acting Consul General met on December 23 with Tony 
Uranta, a member of the Niger Delta Technical Committee and 
campaign manager for the 2007 presidential campaign of 
Patrick Utomi, Dean of the Lagos Business School. Uranta said 
that when the Technical Committee presented the President 
with its report, it asked him to put out a white paper 
responding to the recommendations so as to give the Niger 
Delta a message of hope.  They told the President that if the 
government did not make the report public by January 1, the 
Technical Committee would feel at liberty to release it 
themselves. (Note:  Although there have been numerous 
newspaper articles about the report, it has not yet been 
released publicly. End Note) The President told them that he 
would act on the report "if he finds it acceptable". The 
members of the Technical Committee know that the President's 
style is slow, but they also anticipate that the President 
will not do what has been requested; Uranta himself is "under 
no illusions that the government will lift a finger to help 
the Niger Delta."  Uranta said that a reappraisal of the 
situation would begin if no white paper issues by January 1. 
 
 
¶3. (C) To that end, Uranta said, a Niger Delta roundtable 
would be held on January 2 in Port Harcourt.  Uranta told 
Acting CG on January 5 that the conference actually was held. 
 In attendance was a broad range of influential Nigerians, 
including Alhaji Maro Shinkafe (sic), a member of the 
Northern establishment, former chief intelligence officer and 
presidential candidate; Joseph Wayas (sic), Governor of the 
Southern District during the Second Republic; Nobel Laureate 
Wole Soyinka, and Patrick Utomi.  Some militants were also be 
at the event; they attended because Uranta was "the voice of 
the communities", including the restive and armed youths, on 
the Technical Committee, arranging for the Committee to visit 
Camp 5 to talk to Tom Polo, and for Asari, Fara, Boyloaf and 
others not only to meet but to submit memoranda.  However, 
the event had to be held behind closed doors because PDP 
Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the roundtable's sponsor, was told 
by Abuja that his sponsorship of a public event would not be 
welcome. 
 
Subcommittee Submits Report on Illegal Bunkering 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
LAGOS 00000014  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶4. (C) A subcommittee of the Niger Delta Technical Committee 
looked at the question of illegal bunkering and created its 
own subcommittee report, which was tendered to the President 
with the full report.  The Technical Committee concluded that 
militants conduct no more than 15 percent of all illegal 
bunkering.  To come to that conclusion, the Subcommittee 
members met with former Bayelsa Governor Dipreye Alamaseigha, 
with major bunkerers who have "fallen out" with powerful 
interests, and with retired admirals and generals.  Uranta 
claimed that the late Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, the President's 
brother, had been the "biggest" bunkerer; when he died, his 
holdings were taken over by his brothers but managed on their 
behalf by his close personal friend, former Vice President 
Atiku Abubakar, through the Intels group. (Note: Intels 
Nigeria Limited, run by Italian nationals, in 1982 began the 
development of the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone's Federal Ocean 
Terminal in Rivers State.  The company subsequently developed 
the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone's Federal Lighter Terminal, as 
well as facilities at Warri Port in Delta State and the 
Calabar New Port in Cross Rivers State. End Note) 
 
¶5. (C) Large scale bunkering is tied to arms dealing, as is 
the Federal Government's enormous security budget for the 
Niger Delta, Uranta said.  The crisis in the Niger Delta is a 
purposeful crisis that benefits the politicians, those 
engaged in oil theft, and Nigeria's own "military-industrial 
complex" which includes arms dealers, Uranta said.  It is in 
the interests of these people to make it appear that the 
Niger Delta problem is intractable.  As a result, they prop 
up the militants, including some who have an ideological 
basis for their actions. 
 
Technical Committee on Amnesty, Kidnappings 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) The Technical Committee also looked at the issues of 
amnesty and kidnapping. The Technical Committee's idea of 
amnesty would require that the militants hand in their 
weapons within three to six months of the announcement of the 
plan, leave the camps and re-enter society; if they do so, 
they will get amnesty.  However, if after six months they are 
caught with weapons, they will be treated as criminals.  With 
regard to the kidnappings that have occurred in the Niger 
Delta, most has not been by Niger Deltans but by individuals 
from other parts of the country. The Committee put this in 
their report, and also made the information available to Mike 
Okiro, Inspector General of Police.  Okiro, Uranta said, was 
shocked when he received the information; but Technical 
Committee members realized that their findings would not be 
entirely welcome in government circles, Uranta said. 
Although it is true that the majority of youths in the Niger 
Delta who are armed are of the Ijaw ethnicity, they do not 
get involved in kidnapping; most of the kidnappers are from 
outlying states, Uranta claimed.  For example, in a recent 
kidnapping of twins, the kidnappers came from Kwara, Oyo and 
Abia States, he said.  The Niger Delta youths who are 
involved in criminal activities have gravitated to Rivers 
State.  Following the 2007 clampdown in Port Harcourt, the 
criminal militants fled the urban areas of the state. 
Governor Amaechi, who Uranta called his friend, is pressing 
on Ateke Tom and has succeeded in pushing him out of the 
areas he once dominated. 
 
Disciplined Militants Get Foreign Training 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (C) According to Uranta, disciplined Niger Delta 
militants have had foreign technicians teaching them the use 
of plastique, and training them to upgrade their skills; 
while the undisciplined militants are the ones who allow 
themselves to be filmed by CNN, Uranta said.  "Large 
conglomerates" are sponsoring the training, and the trainers 
are ex-military people, Uranta said the Technical Committee 
found.  Asked whether the committee's report will name the 
arms dealers and sponsors of the trainings, Uranta demurred; 
the Technical Committee had access only to Nigerians, so was 
unable to get the names.  However, Uranta said, there are 
people from Asia and the Middle East involved. 
 
 
LAGOS 00000014  003 OF 004 
 
 
MEND: "With or Without Okah, We Will Continue" 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8. (C) Acting Consul General asked where Henry Okah fits into 
the picture. Henry started as a  small time person, Uranta 
said, but he created a mystique about himself.  When Asari 
was put in prison, what had formerly been a single chain of 
command turned into a scramble for power.  As people sought 
to impress on the government the need to release Asari, they 
turned to Henry Okah who acted as spokesperson.  Henry had 
always been involved in arms, and used the information he 
gained to break ranks. He began to supply arms to all the 
militant leaders, cultivating their loyalty by allowing them 
to buy arms without putting up front money.  Henry taught the 
boys to make money in new ways.  In the past, they had been 
the pilots and guards for the bunkering barges, but Henry 
told them they could be barge owners, be their own bosses. 
As the foot soldiers saw their leaders become generals, they 
broke away, until now there are 300 camps, each doing what it 
can to survive.  Currently, major leaders are Asari and Tom 
Polo; the rest are small, in control of only a single camp, 
Uranta said. 
 
¶9. (C) There are people loyal to Henry in Bayelsa, Rivers and 
Akwa Ibom, but the people of Delta, Edo and Ondo States are 
loyal to Tom Polo. Former Delta State Governor James Ibori 
and current Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan use government funds 
to pay off the boys by allowing them to guard the waterways. 
But the problems have been exported to Bakassi, Akwa Ibom and 
even found their way back to Delta State, where the MT Akua 
was recently highjacked, Uranta said.  (Note: Uranta seems to 
imply that some of the Delta State youths engaged in guarding 
the waterways are also engaged in criminal activities in 
other states. End Note) 
 
¶10. (C) The military are also major players in the bunkering 
because without their acquiescence nothing could go through 
the creeks.  Three retired admirals are bunkerers, Uranta 
claimed, and Henry's brother witnessed the purchase of arms 
from top military personnel; an open trial for Henry Okah 
would bring those names into the open.  The Technical 
Committee recommended that Okah, who has been accused of 
treason, recommended that the trial be open, free and fair. 
moreover, Okah should be out on bail; Asari Dokubo, Gani 
Adams (Note: Coordinator of the Odua People's Congress. End 
Note) and Ralph Uwazuruike (Note: Leader of the Movement for 
the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB. 
End Note) have all been accused of treason, yet all are out 
on bail.  According to Uranta, MEND recently announced that 
"with or without Henry Okah, we will continue the 
revolution."  This shows, Uranta said, that MEND has moved 
beyond Okah.  (Note:  Post can find no indication that MEND 
made such a statement publicly. End Note) 
 
thnicities, Professionals, Nobel Laureates 
Band Together for the Niger Delta 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) Uranta noted that he originated the United Niger 
Delta Energy, Development, Security Strategy (UNDEDSS). 
Uranta said UNDEDSS is an organization made up of all 
ethnicities in the Niger Delta region.  Unlike the Southwest 
geopolitical zone, dominated by the Yoruba ethnicity, or the 
Southeast, dominated by the Igbo ethnicity, the South-South 
is home to numerous ethnicities, including the Ijaw, Urhobo, 
Itsekiri, Ogoni, Ebibio, Efik and others.  He envisioned 
UNDEDSS as a counterpart to the Afenefere socio-cultural 
group that speaks for the Yoruba, the Ohanaeze socio-cultural 
group that speaks for the Igbo ethnicity, and the Arewa 
socio-cultural group that speaks for the Northern 
ethnicities.  2007 Presidential candidate and Dean of the 
Lagos Business School Patrick Utomi is President of UNEDEDSS, 
and Uranta is Secretary General. The group has established an 
Elders Council which includes Chief E.K. Clark, Michael Ibo 
(phon), and Joseph Wayas (phon). 
 
¶12. (C) Prior to founding UNDEDSS, Uranta pulled together a 
group called South-South Professionals, whose members include 
George Etomi, Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association; 
 Bismarck Rewane (Note: Managing Director of Financial 
 
LAGOS 00000014  004 OF 004 
 
 
Derivatives, Limited. End Note); Charles Okah, Henry's 
brother;  Tony Ani, Finance Minister under military President 
Sani Abacha; Harcourt Aduki (sic), Honorary Consul for 
Canada; Ann-Kio Briggs (Note: former spokesperson, Niger 
Delta People's Volunteer Force and now head of an NGO. End 
Note); Ebiba DonPedro (Note: who won a 2003 CNN award for a 
story on the Niger Delta. End Note); Ebim Semintary (sic), 
Publisher of BusinessEye.  Adams Oshiomhole, before he was 
sworn in as Governor, was Secretary of the organization, 
Uranta said.  Only a few of these people are independently 
wealthy;  UNDEDSS survives from the contributions of these 
working professionals. 
¶13. (C) Uranta said he also originated the group Nobel 
Laureates for the Niger Delta, the first of several groups of 
Nobel laureates focused on conflicts around the world. 
Uranta is aware that the various groups he has organized have 
limited media reach.  Nonetheless he is trying to build 
institutions that help the fragmented Niger Delta speak with 
one voice, and that are capable of monitoring the process of 
governance as a check on corruption.  UNDEDSS and South-South 
Professionals share an office in Port Harcourt with 
Environmental Rights Action.  Uranta shares the group's 
concern, as do many Niger Deltans, about climate change.  His 
home village has lost 300 meters to the sea in the last few 
years. 
 
¶14. (C) Comment: Uranta's appointment to the Niger Delta 
Technical Committee is testimony to his stature as someone 
knowledgeable about the region and its problems.  Uranta has 
succeeded in pulling together respected people into new 
groups to advocate for the Niger Delta, and despite his 
disclaimers, all have achieved some modest success in getting 
their views into the local press.  Whether or not the result 
of Uranta's efforts, since the Niger Delta Technical 
Committee's report was presented to the President, a steady 
stream of voices has been heard calling for the President to 
implement the Technical Committee's recommendation.  It 
remains to be seen what response the President will make to 
the report. 
 
 
 
BLAIR