1000

Protestors rally against Bush, Wilson Source: KRQE News 13
Watch Video

ALBUQUERQUE -- While President Bush had plenty of supporters at a campaign reception for Rep. Heather Wilson, there were hundreds of protestors across the street in Civic Plaza.
One Bush defender braved the crowd to support the president’s policies.
While the protestors brought different issues with them, they agreed on wanting Bush and his supporters, including Wilson, out of office.
Some were dressed in pink slips expressing their desire to give Bush and Wilson pink unemployment slips. Others carried black balloons and told KRQE News 13 the country is doomed as long as Bush remains in office.
“Heather has to go,” one protestor said. “She's too embedded with Bush.
“She votes for him down the line all the time. That has to end.”
Albuquerque police along with Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies guarded the front of the Hyatt Regency while Bush and Wilson attended a fundraising reception inside and protestors chanted outside. That didn’t stop the lone Bush supporter from challenging his critics.
“Everybody here is against bush so I just thought I had to say something for him,” Daniel Worley said.
One of the protestors apparently was arrested for not moving back after he was told to by police.
Otherwise the several hundred protestors were peaceful, and no violence was reported.

http://www.krqe.com/expanded.asp?RECORD_KEY%5BNews%5D=ID&ID%5BNews%5D=15778

1004

I think the 'dual' identity of Bush Republicans is hideous.

A House Republican whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency broke ranks with the White House on Tuesday and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration’s domestic eavesdropping program.
The lawmaker, Representative Heather A. Wilson of New Mexico, chairwoman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, said in an interview that she had “serious concerns” about the surveillance program.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/08/bush-on-heather-wilson/



Poll: Madrid, Wilson in Dead Heat
Poll: Madrid, Wilson in Dead HeatNew Mexico's First Congressional District Definitely in Play
2/7/06
ALBUQUERQUE -- A recent poll by D.C.-based Lake Research Partners showed that Attorney General Patricia Madrid and Rep. Heather Wilson are in a statistical dead heat in the race to represent New Mexico's First Congressional District, according to an internal memo released Tuesday.
Specifically, the poll found that of the 400 district voters sampled 43 percent would vote for Madrid, 44 percent would vote for Wilson. Factoring in the margin of error, the two candidates are tied with the election nine months away.
Lake Research Partners' poll also found that Madrid's strong showing so early in the race was based on voters' positive feelings toward her performance as attorney general.
". . . fully 62 percent of voters are positive about the job that Madrid is doing as Attorney General," Lake Research Partners found.

http://www.madridforcongress.com/node/513


1009

Conozca a Patricia Madrid
Patricia Madrid ganó su primera campaña en 1978 cuando llegó a ser la primera mujer elegida como juez de juzgado de distrito en Nuevo México. En 1998, llegó a ser la primera mujer elegida fiscal del estado de Nuevo México y en 2002 continuó en el puesto cuando fue elegida de nuevo en una victoria arrolladora. Hace más de treinta años que está casada con un abogado de Albuquerque, L. Michael Messina, y tiene un hijo, Giancarlo, que se recibió de la Universidad de Nuevo México y ahora trabaja en Washington DC.

http://www.madridforcongress.com/enespanol/conozca

1014

This is from a Middle East newspaper. It's important to realize the 'approach.'

War crimes court finds multiple Darfur massacres

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Wednesday his office had documented massacres with hundreds of victims in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region as well as hundreds of rape cases.
In a report to the UN Security Council, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the office had documented "thousands of alleged direct killings of civilians by parties to the conflict," including "a significant number of large-scale massacres, with hundreds of victims in each incident." Ocampo told the council that his office was investigating allegations that some of the groups implicated in the Darfur crimes "did so with specific genocidal intent."
He said identifying those with the greatest responsibility for the most serious crimes in Darfur was a key challenge for his probe but said he would not draw any conclusions pending the completion of a "full and impartial investigation."

http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/news/news6.htm

1017

This is a vital aspect to seeking Iran's cooperation. Iran is convinced they are the ONLY Islamic nation capable of standing up to the West. If the West proves there is no reason to stand upto them it gives Iran no reason to resist peace over war.


EU approves mechanism for Palestinian aid
Agencies
Brussels: The European Union on Friday agreed on an aid scheme for Palestinians bypassing the Hamas-led government and said it was close to winning the backing of the United States and other peace brokers.
"The European Council has endorsed our proposal for a temporary international mechanism," European Commission spokeswoman Emma Udwin told a news briefing in Brussels.

http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10047570.html


1023

No. This is not from a New York Newspaper. It's from "The Arab News." I thought the Republicans during their rhetoric yesterday stated their debate narcisstically would be all over the Arab newspapers. It would not seem to be the case.

Govt Officials and FBI Agents Go Unpunished for Stealing

Once secret FBI documents obtained by The Associated Press show the FBI investigated how a company, Kieger Enterprises, KEI, of Lino Lakes, Minnesota, went unpublished for the Sept. 11, 2001 theft of 45 tons of donated water, clothing, tools and generators. The case was dropped after investigators also found that an FBI agent and other government officials had pilfered artifacts from Ground Zero.
As a result, most Americans were kept in the dark about a major fraud involving their donated goods even as new requests for charity emerged with disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
The government ultimately gave the whistle-blowers $30,000 each after expenses, their share in a civil settlement against KEI. They say the sum was hardly worth their trouble.
Federal prosecutors eventually charged KEI and some executives with fraud, including overbilling the government in several disasters, but excluded the Sept. 11 thefts.
AP reports that KEI worked for the government for years, providing disaster relief services during tornadoes, floods and other catastrophes. It was picked to manage the New York warehouse for the government’s main Sept. 11 relief contractor.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=83918&d=17&m=6&y=2006

It would seem the show that stated the Republicans were so concerned about their 'debate' causing problems doesn't care to follow up on it. Hm.

1030

commercials

1034

The Republicans. The Elitiists. The Party of Corruption.

GOP candidate McGavick got millions leaving Safeco
By CURT WOODWARDASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick collected more than $28 million upon leaving his post as an insurance executive earlier this year, financial disclosures showed Friday.
Most of that 2006 compensation from Safeco Insurance Co. was stock and options, his campaign said. McGavick had served as the firm's chief executive since 2001, leaving early this year after a two-month transition period.
Washington state Democrats pounced on the tally, calling it proof their federal complaint about McGavick's "golden parachute" was on the mark.
McGavick's campaign dismissed that allegation as baseless: "They see the race getting close and these are very typical tactics, so we're not surprised," spokeswoman Julie Sund said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_McGavick_Money.html

Hm? Why would a well paid executive leave his employer to enter government?

Global warming could burn insurersActivists call on industry to act
By JOHN IWASAKIP-I REPORTER
The alarm sounded by scientists about global warming has deep implications for the insurance industry and consumers, participants said Thursday at a climate change summit in Seattle.
Businesses and governments can do more to reduce carbon dioxide, promote renewable resources and take other environmentally friendly actions that would benefit the world as well as their bottom line, corporate executives and politicians said.
Dramatic climate changes have the potential to affect nearly all segments of insurance coverage, including agricultural, health, life and business, said Andrew Logan, program manager of CERES, a Boston-based national network of investment funds, environmental organizations and other public interest groups.
Natural and manmade catastrophic events have steadily increased since 1970, with eight of the 10 most expensive disasters in U.S. history occurring in the past four years, he said.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/274169_climate16.html?source=mypi

1039

commercials

WHOM are you keeping honest, Anderson? The ACTION in Seattle today was downtown.

Hundreds turn out to call for higher pay
By BRAD WONGP-I REPORTER
Wearing red T-shirts and blowing high-pitched whistles, hundreds of hotel workers rallied on Fifth Avenue in downtown Seattle on Thursday to call for better wages and benefits.

Karen Ducey / P-I

A rally for hotel workers in Seattle on Thursday attracts members of other unions, including Jonetta Green, left, Jackie Keen and DeAnna Botello, all of SEIU 775.
UNITE-HERE Local 8 organized the rally in front of the Westin Hotel, as part of a national "Hotel Workers Rising" campaign.
At least 300 people, including Mayor Greg Nickels, filled the sidewalk and street.
Richard Sawyer, Local 8 secretary treasurer, had pointed comments for the hotel industry, which he said pulls in billions of dollars each year. But, he added, many industry workers do not share in that prosperity.
"It's low pay, hard work and has a high rate of injuries," he said. "A large sector of this industry is below the poverty line."
In the Seattle area, he estimates there are about 10,000 hotel workers -- and many earn only $8.50 an hour. The federal poverty level for a family of four is $18,850.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/274177_hotelrally16.html

1042

Dead whale found in river, 1,000 miles inland
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The carcass of a young beluga whale was found Thursday by canoeists on the Tanana River about 40 miles southwest of Fairbanks -- or nearly 1,000 river miles from the Bering Sea, the closest beluga habitat.
Sylvia Brunner, a marine mammals researcher at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks, identified the decomposing carcass and oversaw its recovery Wednesday.
What the 8-foot-long whale was doing that far inland on a freshwater river, part of a system that drains much of the vast interior of Alaska, remains a mystery. But Link Olson, curator of marine mammals at the museum, said he was confident the animal swam from the ocean.
"What are the alternatives?" he said. Perpetrating a hoax along a remote section of river with a whale carcass was highly unlikely, he said: "If you were ever close to a dead marine mammal, even for a few hours, you would know why no one in their right mind would do that."
It could have died in the river last fall and frozen, Brunner said, or it could have entered the river this spring seeking fish.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/274171_whale16.html

1044

Greater Seattle area, state plans reviewed by feds
By PEGGY ANDERSENASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SEATTLE -- The Department of Homeland Security on Friday rated Washington state and the Greater Seattle area sufficient or partly sufficient in all categories of catastrophic disaster planning except one: evacuation from Seattle.
Evacuation is a good strategy for an impending storm, which can be seen approaching for days, said Barb Graff, Seattle's emergency planning director.
But in this city, a catastrophic disaster would likely involve a major earthquake. "Our challenge would be getting resources to the area after," using a relatively fragile transportation system, Graff said.
Planners around the country were asked about preparedness for a catastrophic, Katrina-level disaster, which in the Northwest would likely be an earthquake far stronger than those that rattled the area in 1949, 1965 and 2001.
"What prompted all this was Katrina, and of course evacuation was a big issue on Katrina and then Rita," said Eric Holdeman, King County's emergency services director, of the Gulf Coast devastation. "They were asking hurricane questions in earthquake territory."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Disaster_Plans_Wash.html

ANDERSON is surprised there is a horse patrol on the USA/Canadian Border. It's not a new concept !

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/news/newsroom_e.htm

1054

Western Water Supple Forecasts

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cbrfc/westernwater/map.php?map=wsup

I don't like the way this looks. Early signs of drought, both short term with cummer coming and a longer term trend.

1056

commercials

1059

Explosion fatalities first of kind for oil companyBy Nikki Davis Maute

Three employees who died in an explosion near Raleigh on Monday were the first fatalities reported by the Columbia oil field services company where the men worked.

“We’ve never had this happen before, and we opened in 1980,” said Horace English, manager of Stringer’s Oilfield Service Inc. “It was just a freak accident. We’ve done that kind of job a million times.”

The three workers were preparing an empty petroleum tank to hold oil from an adjacent well. Two other nearby tanks that were thought to be empty exploded after apparently being ignited by a spark from a welding machine.

Killed in the accident were Nicholas Wayne Pounds, 23, of Foxworth; Kody Scarborough, 18, of Foxworth; and George B. Jefferson, 53, of Columbia.

The surviving crew member, Huey Duncan, 72, of Columbia, was listed in stable condition at Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg on Tuesday.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Web site says that the oil services industry in Mississippi has had eight fatalities in the last 10 years. Stringer’s was not among the companies that had fatalities.

Nationwide during the same time period, OSHA said, 404 fatal accidents were reported.

Several state and federal agencies – including OSHA, the Mississippi Oil and Gas Board, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board and the state Fire Marshal’s Office – are investigating the explosion.

John Parker, a board member with the state Oil and Gas Board, expects a report at the board’s June 21 meeting. But federal investigations are expected to take longer.

Clyde Payne, who heads Jackson’s OSHA office, said it could take up to six months to complete the agency’s investigation. OSHA can and does issue civil citations and fines if a company involved in an investigation violates OSHA rules.

In the eight fatal accidents OSHA reported since 1996, six of the companies were cited for OSHA violations.

Mississippi companies listed by OSHA included T.K. Stanley Inc., two deaths; Rapad Oil Field Services, one death; Rapad Drilling & Well Services Inc., one death; D&D Drilling and Exploration Inc., one death; Coastal Petroleum Services Inc., one death; Well Data Services, one death; and Triple S Well Service Inc., one death.

A spokesman for the federal Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said a decision will be made after a preliminary review of the Raleigh explosion to determine if the agency will investigate further

.Among the factors that will determine whether the agency does a full investigation, spokesman Sandy Gilmore said, is whether there are lessons to be learned and if the results could have a relevance to the rest of the industry.

Originally published June 7, 2006

1105

The Republicans have no RESOLVE to their RESOLVE. There is no remorse about the deaths of soldiers after a huge mistake of the invasion in the first place. The only people whom observed the 2500th death in Iraq were Democrats. The only Federal legislators that spoke out regarding the deaths of our soldiers yesterday were Democrats.

The Bush Economy is based on spending the USA treasury dry.

1111

BP faces criminal inquiry in Alaska

PRUDHOE BAY DISASTER: The probe into the spill of 1.2 million liters of crude oil could lead to company officials facing criminal charges, prison terms and fines

THE GUARDIAN , LONDON
Saturday, Jun 10, 2006,Page 10

The reputation of oil giant BP -- and its share price -- took a beating on Thursday when it admitted it was facing a criminal inquiry into a massive oil spill in Alaska.

BP received a subpoena on April 26 from a US federal grand jury in Alaska but only revealed the investigation -- which could lead to prison sentences -- after an internal e-mail was leaked to journalists.

Shares in Britain's biggest company slumped 3 percent in early trading on Thursday on the back of the latest safety problem, which threatens to undermine its carefully crafted image as an environmentally responsible operator.

Revelations about the investigation into the spill of 1.2 million liters of crude into the Prudhoe Bay area follows a fire and 15 deaths at its Texas City refinery and a rig capsizing in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is already another US grand jury investigation into the refinery blast, which injured an estimated 500 staff, and the company has already been fined US$21 million for 300 violations uncovered by the UD Department of Labor.

Environmentalists called the Alaskan spill in March -- the largest ever in the North Slope region -- a "catastrophe."

BP blamed it on internal corrosion creating a 65mm hole.

A BP spokesman said in London on Thursday: "We are fully cooperating with the investigation and we are carrying out our own investigation into what caused the corrosion. We believe that our actions were at all times proper."

Initial news of the subpoena came after Steve Marshall, BP's head of exploration in Alaska, sent an e-mail to staff saying he had been asked for "a variety of documents and data from BP Alaska concerning the transit line and certain other operational areas."

Marshall urged his staff to treat the matter as confidential and added: "I believe that the information we provide will show that the actions of BP Alaska were, at all times, proper."

The pipeline problems were relatively small compared with Alaska's worst oil spill on March 24, 1989 when the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, near Anchorage.

About 2,092km of coastline were contaminated by the spill, killing hundreds of thousands of fish, seabirds, otters, seals and whales.

Exxon has always had a troubled relationship with environmental activists but BP has worked hard to cultivate a different one, emphasizing actions to help tackle climate change and promising to go "beyond petroleum."

Allegations of poor safety or maintenance systems are particularly sensitive issues for oil companies at a time when they are making record profits and facing criticism from politicians.

Problems in Alaska will not help oil companies such as BP in their attempts to fight off the threat of higher taxes in the state.

Nor will it help the oil company, led by the chief executive, Lord Browne, win a contract for a ?20 billion (US$37 billion) planned gas link in Alaska.

Fadel Gheit, an analyst with the New York brokerage firm Oppenheimer & Co, said the wave of problems threatened to damage the good standing that BP had developed in the US.

"A company this size with operations all over the world is always vulnerable to things going wrong but a lot seems to have gone wrong in this case and its [good] public image is being eroded," Gheit said.

"BP has sowed seeds of goodwill by bringing in a respected politicians like James Baker at Texas City and has been bombarding the public with green messages through advertising," he said.
"Without this, things could have been much worse but it needs to stop shooting itself in the
foot," he said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2006/06/10/2003312739

The Third Person Omnipotent

1122

Oil worker deaths ‘could have been avoided’

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/64042.html


AT NO TIME does this 'Risk Assessment' ever value the lives of citizens of Nigeria. Never once are the oil personnel at fault. There is no accountability for the deaths the oil companies caused in slaughtering villiages of Nigerians. This discussion is REMOVED from anything except 'cautioning' the dangers of the Nigerian oil supply. It is cold and produced to be calculating AGAINST the citizenry of Nigeria. Amnesty International also makes an example of some of the severe laws of the government. That severity 'lends' to the conflict between business and citizens. That severity enables the government to oppress and victimize people against their will. These are simple people. They seek nothing from oil. They want to live in peace on their land.

The situation in the oil-producing Delta region deteriorated; women seized several oil flow stations to demand jobs and proper compensation for land acquisition and for environmental damage caused by oil companies.

http://web.amnesty.org/report2003/nga-summary-eng

June 14, 2006]
Nigeria risk: Security risk
(RiskWire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)

COUNTRY BRIEFING

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

RISK RATINGS

SUMMARY

Nigeria is an insecure environment for commercial operations. Security risk arises on three levels. The first comes from the high level of violent crime. This can be simple armed robbery (especially of mobile phones), but can also involve car jacking and violent attacks. The risk is especially common when travelling between major cities. Second, companies can be subjected to direct attack or blackmail. This occurs overwhelmingly in the oil producing states and is directed at multinational oil companies, where facilities can be vandalised and staff kidnapped. Third, incidences of inter-communal violence have risen since the return to civilian rule. While foreigners are not usually the direct object of attack in such cases, incidents can quickly spiral out of control and engulf bystanders. In a recent government survey, 80% of companies cited the lack of security for their staff and property as a serious constraint on business.

SCENARIOS

Oil firms suffer kidnapping of staff and vandalism against premises (High Risk)
Kidnapping of staff and vandalism against premises and oil producing infrastructure is commonplace in Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states (the heart of so-called Delta region), which are the centre of Nigerias onshore oil industry. Shell estimates that around 50-70 members of staff are kidnapped every year. Although most are usually released unharmed once a ransom is paid or concessions agreed with the local community, the experience may be traumatic and employers should consider training staff on how best to cope with being abducted. Although expatriates in Nigeria have traditionally only been the target of kidnappings in the Niger Delta, and to date have been released without harm, the shooting dead of two US citizens working for ChevronTexaco in an ambush in the Delta in April 2004 was a worrying development. Since then, the incident has not been repeated (bar what seems to be an isolated shooting of an expatriate worker in Port Harcourt in May 2006 which seems to have been a personal vendetta), and it seems increasingly likely that it was just a one-off, but if tensions were to rise markedly a repeat cannot be ruled out. Vandalism of company equipment and infrastructure is also common which can have important safety implications.

Unrest in the Delta region persists (High Risk)

There has been a major upsurge in clashes between various gangs and ethnic groups in the crucial oil producing Delta region following the disputed April 2003 elections and this now seems set to increase sharply in the run up to the April 2007 elections. Although many gangs claim to be fighting for the rights of the poor and indigenous inhabitants in the region, many are little more than criminal groups. Inter-gang fighting has led to an increase in violent clashes, which often spill over into wider violence. The situation has been compounded by the high global oil price which has made stealing oil more lucrative and because the government has increased its battle against corruption in the Delta region which has raised the political stakes. The situation has also become more worrying in the last year with the recent emergence of a new group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). This seems to be more organised than many previous groups, as shown by its ability to detonate a number of car bombs and the kidnapping of larger groups of expatriate workers. Shell, one of the leading oil companies working in the region, has already announced plans to significantly step up security provision to its workers in the region for the coming year and any company operating in the region, or in Port Harcourt would be well advised to think carefully about security issues. Another side of the growing lawlessness is the problem of piracy in Nigerian waters. Most attacks on vessels are in the area around the mouth of the Niger river and are related to the illegal trade in oil. Any firm working in the region, or just offshore, is strongly advised to ensure that its security policy assumes the worst if a boat is missing for a prolonged period.

Firms see premises and equipment stolen or vandalised (High Risk)

Vandalism of company equipment and infrastructure is common throughout the country and will continue to have an adverse impact on the cost of operations. Most business premises are heavily fenced (with considerable barbed wire at a minimum on high fences) and most companies either employ a security company to guard premises, or directly employ their own security guards. They also carry high stock levels of equipment to ensure that damaged equipment can be quickly repaired and operations re-started (this is especially the case if the goods need to be imported, with all the associated delays at the ports).

Individuals are victims of armed robbery (High Risk)

Although the government has increased spending on the police in recent years, the police force is still very poorly paid, inefficient and highly corrupt. Meanwhile, armed robbery is a problem, especially on most major roads in the country (some roads are more notorious than others). Cars are either stopped by measures which cause a tyre puncture (nails in orange skins left in the road, for example) or by roadblocks (criminal groups often wear official police or army uniforms to dupe drivers into stopping). Employing an experienced driver able to spot suspicious roadblocks and able to tell whether a puncture is likely to have been caused by sabotage is advisable. Mobile phone theft is widespread and you are advised to simply give over the phone if confronted. Being caught in the police crossfire at an incident is also a concern. A recent Human Rights Watch report estimated that 3,100 people where killed in gunfights with the police in 2003. As if to emphasise the potential dangers, a dispute between a police and army officer in Lagos in October 2005, led to a running gunfight and three civilian deaths.

BACKGROUND

(Background material is updated twice yearly. Last update: June 12th, 2006)
Armed conflict

It is estimated that at least 50,000 people have been killed in various incidents of ethnic, religious and communal violence since the return to civilian rule in May 1999. This gives Nigeria a casualty rate from internal conflict that is one of the highest in the world--and the country is not fighting a civil war. Although most of the conflicts have been between civilians, there have also been some serious clashes between security forces and civilians and militants.

Unrest and kidnapping

Probably the most serious challenge to the governments authority has come from rebellious groups in the oil-producing Niger Delta. Since the mid-1990s a number of militant groups, angry at their peoples political alienation and economic exploitation, have waged an increasingly violent struggle against the state and multinational oil companies operating in the area. The most high profile of these is probably the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force. Fighting between the various groups and with the Nigerian military has led to the deaths of thousands of people. In 2004, with the fighting between various gangs escalating, the government substantially increased its military presence in the region. In addition, it has sought to agree ceasefires between the various groups and with the government itself. Whether these will hold for a prolonged period remains unclear, given the complex nature of conflict in the region and the lack of progress with promoting economic development. To date, none of the groups organising the protests have coalesced into a coherent political force.

In addition to the fighting between groups, oil facilities and their personnel have been targeted by militant youths from disgruntled communities trying to squeeze money, jobs and social amenities from wealthy, though vulnerable, oil multi-nationals. An increasing number of oil workers have been kidnapped, including foreigners who work in isolated areas in the difficult-to-police swampy terrain of the Niger Delta. Oil workers are usually seized in large groups from isolated locations, held for short periods and freed unharmed. In the case of Shell, the number of community-related disruptions (which include the closure of production facilities, seizure of assets, blockade of access and disruption of drilling activities) increased by 10% to 176 in 2004, compared with 2003. Armed gangs also stole crude oil from the company, although the number of such incidents fell by 20%, to 71, in 2004.

In other parts of the south, ethnic nationalist groups have sprung up in recent years, reflecting a growing feeling of frustration with central government and the political domination of the numerically superior north. The authorities have been unable to contain militant nationalist groups, such as the Yoruba separatist movement, the Oodua Peoples Congress, the Ijaw Egbesu in the Niger Delta, the Bakassi Boys in the south-east and the Arewa Peoples Congress in the north, all of whom are linked to ethnic disturbances and anti-government activities. Many of these groups are well armed. Although the aggression of Nigerias militant groups is usually directed at the failures of post-independence nation-building, outbreaks of ethnic-religious fighting, particularly in cities, could increase the sense of insecurity for foreign residents.

The worst fighting of ethno-religious origin, that between mainly Christian local farmers and predominantly Muslim settler herdsmen, has taken place in the middle-belt Plateau State, where, according to an official report, nearly 54,000 people died in sectarian clashes between September 2001 and May 2004. Acts of violence involving Christians and Muslims also followed the introduction of Sharia (Islamic law) in 12 predominantly Muslim states in the north. In February and May 2000 more than 2,000 people were reported killed in clashes in Kaduna over plans to introduce Sharia in a state with a large Christian minority. This was the worst incident of religious violence since more than 4,000 people were killed in the uprising of the Maitatsine cult in Kano in 1980. In November 2002 more than 200 people died in religious riots in Kaduna sparked by the aborted Miss World contest in the capital, Abuja. In May 2004, a state of emergency was imposed in Plateau State to quell ethnic-religious fighting that had caused the deaths of at least 1,000 people. In December 2003 and September 2004 security forces clashed with self-styled Taliban Islamic militants who attacked police stations in the northern states of Borno and Yobe; these groups have sought to exploit local grassroots discontent with the perceived failings of the secular federal government.

Violent crime

Violent robbery has been a major problem in Nigeria since the emerging oil boom of the 1970s raised expectations of quick wealth among different classes of the population. Over the years the criminals have become increasingly brutal, better armed, audacious and contemptuous of Nigerias ill-equipped police force, which has been ineffective in stemming the crime wave. Rich and poor communities in urban areas have been terrorised by armed robbers, and households and companies have had to install elaborate security systems to protect themselves against attacks. The police have intensified their campaign against violent crime. According to the crime statistics of the Lagos State Police Command, 287 armed robbers were killed in 2002 in Nigerias commercial capital, compared with 257 in 2001. The statistics showed that 34 civilians were killed in 2002 compared with 70 in 2001, whereas 45policemen died in shoot-outs with armed bandits, up from 16 in 2001. There is roughly one policeman to every 1,300 citizens in Nigeria, compared with the UN-recommended ratio of 1:400. However, the shortage of resources has not been the only constraint on the fight against crime: some police and soldiers have participated in crime themselves, including setting up illegal roadblocks.

Organised crime

Nigeria has in recent years become synonymous with organised drug-trafficking groups, international prostitution networks, money-laundering and 419 scams. (419 scams involve unsolicited letters being sent to individuals to ask for the use of a bank account and for money to be sent to Nigeria to help to release funds, of which a percentage will then be paid to the person who has helped to release the funds. The person receives nothing. The swindle is named after the relevant section of the Nigerian penal code.) Although each is a problem in its own right, together they do not pose a specific threat to conducting business in Nigeria. The civilian government is committed to tackling all these problems--in November 2003 the president, Olusegun Obasanjo, inaugurated a committee headed by his national security adviser to fight 419 internet fraud--but it is constrained by lack of resources and other more pressing problems. Progress is likely to be slow.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/06/14/1683314.htm

enough