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Warri Refinery Md, 2 Others Abducted, Released

This Day (Lagos)
NEWS
August 15, 2003
Posted to the web August 15, 2003

By Onwuka Nzeshi
Warri
Three principal officials of the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company
(WRPC) including its Managing Director, Engineer Wilfred Ayangbile, were
yesterday abducted and held hostage while the company's petroleum product jetty
was forcibly shut down by angry residents of Ijalla Village in the Warri area
of Delta State security operatives later secured their release.
The Ijalla village was attacked during Wednesday's renewed clashes between the
Itsekiri and Ijaw ethnic groups.
Two ships hitherto off loading premium motor spirit (petrol) were forced to
halt the discharge of their cargoes as the mob descended on any personnel of
WRPC or its agents found in the vicinity.
The angry villagers, THISDAY checks reveal, were protesting the inability of
the WRPC to protect them from the attack launched by Ijaw militants.
Ijalla is one of the immediate community neighbours of the Warri Refinery. The
125,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery had been out of production since last
April when suspected Ijaw youths blew up the Escravos crude pipeline that
supplied crude to the plant.
The WRPC boss, its Executive Director Services (EDS), Mrs. Stella Kragha and
the Public Affairs Manager, Mr. Ogbolu Onwuka, had gone to pacify the angry mob
who had overrun the facility when they were taken hostage.
An eye witness account had it that the trio had thought that the people of the
community had merely encamped at the company's facility for safety after their
homes were razed by ethnic militants the previous day.
But as the company officials alighted from their vehicles to address the crowd,
their peace entreaties were rebuffed as some yet to be identified persons
emerged from the crowd and promptly abducted the three officials.
THISDAY gathered that the trio were whisked away and detained at an unknown
location for about an hour before the timely arrival of armed security
operatives who frantically combed the area and set free the detainees.
Narrating the events leading to yesterday's mob action, a source told THISDAY
at Ijalla that the Ijaw militants who attacked the village arrived at the local
harbour in four speed boats and immediately opened five on the community.
About eight houses were completely burnt down while several others were
partially vandalised. Residents of the village claimed that several of their
relatives were still missing as at yesterday afternoon, following the raid.
In recent weeks no fewer than six villages had been attacked by ethnic
militants. One attack from one ethnic group on the other had predictably
resulted in a reprisal a few days later.
Yesterday's incident hightened the growing concern over safety of oil workers
in the Niger Delta region, especially in the wake of the ethnic clashes in
Warri.
Three Elf workers were killed in communal clashes last March. Before the
abduction of the Warri refinery officials, over 100 oil workers including
expatriates, were held hostage last April offshore Rivers State. Four others
were kidnapped last July and released after almost two weeks.
The PENGASSAN oil workers' union said it would call off its members from work
if there was no end to the crisis by end of this year.
Meanwhile, the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) yesterday
threatened to pull out of the peace process engineered by the Delta State
governor, Chief James Ibori.
The group in a statement signed by Comrade Kingsley Otuaro said that though it
was committed to peace, it may be forced to declare war on their Itsekiri
neighbours if the State Government failed to prevail on the Itsekiris to
ceasefire permanently.

   

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