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Navy to Intervene in Oil Rig Hostage Crisis

Daily Trust (Abuja)
NEWS
May 1, 2003
Posted to the web May 1, 2003

By Hameed Bello

The Nigerian Navy is poised to intervene in the more than one-week-old oil rig
hostage crisis in Nigeria's waters.
The Director of Information at Naval Headquarters, Captain Senibi Hungiapuko,
said yesterday that the Navy had drafted men to bring the situation under
control.
Ninety-seven British, American and European oil workers have been trapped on
four oil rigs by their Nigerian colleagues after a strike which broke out on
April 19.
The strikers, numbering about 100 have blocked helicopter access to the
platforms which are anchored in deep water in the Niger Delta.
The navy spokesman while attributing the strike to management problems on the
rigs operated by Transocean of Houston, USA, said initial moves by the navy to
intervene in the crisis at its early stage were objected to by the expatriate
workers on the rigs.
Navy's intervention, however, became inevitable as the crisis worsened, he
said, warranting directives by naval top command for quick intervention to
restore normalcy.
According to the naval spokesman, although minimum force is to be used by the
armed forces in intervening in civil strife it would be used if need be to
restore normalcy on the rigs.
"Since the navy is there, the problem will be over soon," he said.
Negotiations to free the oil workers did not seem to have made headway
yesterday.
Local employees took control of the platform after some of their colleagues
were sacked, but their specific demands remain unclear.
The siege has been going on for more than a week but has only recently come to
public attention.
The nationalities of those being held have not been officially released, but it
is believed there are at least 50 Britons and 20 Americans among them.
The US firm operating the rigs, Transocean, is giving away few details and the
first indications that any worker was being held at all only emerged following
telephone conversations between the hostages and their families.
This is not unusual as the oil industry tries to keep these situations quiet
for as long as possible, hoping to resolve them without too much publicity.
But when approached, Transocean said it was holding discussions with the
hostage-takers, and that no one had been harmed.
However, conditions on board the rig are clearly not good. One hostage has
spoken to his wife in Britain by satellite phone describing hot, cramped
conditions with little food and limited water.
Another has expressed the fear that the Nigerian Navy might use force to end
the siege.
It is the first time this year that the occupation of oil rigs off the Nigerian
coast has been brought to public attention, but such situations are not
uncommon and usually end peacefully after a protracted period of negotiation.

   

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