MENDing the Niger Delta

MEND, or the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, is a fascinating terrorist group. It is not separatist or religious, but has the seemingly altruistic demand that the notoriously corrupt Nigerian government reinvest revenues from the significant amounts of oil extracted from the region for development as well as cleaning up the environmental damaged caused by oil spills and the work around oil infrastructure.

The exact origins of the group are not well understood. They emerged in force in 2006 and have shown an enormous capacity to learn and conduct highly effective attacks, even on maritime facilities at least 75 miles out to sea.

As far as I'm aware, only Iraq has suffered a more severe disruption of oil extraction and transport, and the situation there is improving. Nigeria's coast is also now the second most dangerous after Somalia's.

MEND has managed to reduce Nigerian oil output by more than 25% - and the organization is conducting more daring attacks all the time.

In general, though security around hydrocarbon infrastructure is generally high, there is not a significant risk of disruption. Attacking these facilities takes a high degree of planning, organization and skill. Attacking maritime oil platforms in particular takes a specific skill set. Al Qaeda has not developed these skils among its fighters to date, and therefore has been trying to co-opt Somali pirates, though they do not seem to have yet been successful in this regard. It is worth noting though that Al Qaeda justifies attempts to damage energy infrastructure simply to force hydrocarbon firms and governments to spend enormous amounts of money on security measures. This is one of their forms of 'economic jihad'.

MEND however has continued improving its skills. Attacks thought to be linked to Niger Delta militants are occurring in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. Security in the Gulf of Guinea is compromised, and this is a major source of oil supplies for the global market.

Deputy oil minister Odein Ajumogobia told VOA, "Nigeria has a production capacity of 3.2 million barrels a day. Today, we are down to about less than half of that in terms of production. Over one million barrels are shut in as a direct result of security issues in the Niger Delta. That is something that should concern all of us."

MEND eschews any religious or other motivation, and recently informed the US, after apparently false claims by the government, that it faces no danger from MEND.

Oil workers however have been warned to leave or be subject to attack.

Industry and security sources told Reuters that "it is virtually impossible to fully protect hundreds of kilometers of pipeline running through remote and largely unpopulated areas."

MEND has also been known to hire members of organized crime for their skills.

Oil firms may not be swayed by the concerns of human rights activists or environmentalists, but working to ensure security and environmental protection around project areas helps everyone's security. It can even improve the overall security for local communities and encourage development, as road development for the BTC crews the Turkish jandarma guarding the pipeline meant village roads were paved and kept passable year round, when previously they had been impassable in the winter.

When oil firms stop claiming they have no responsibility for the actions of government personal that kill, extort and otherwise exploit local populations, they ultimately reduce the security of their investments, as no one has any incentive to keep it safe. In the case of Nigeria, organized criminals steal oil, which funds other criminal activity, and lines the pockets of particular figures in the government. They have no incentive to pursue meaningful change.

When oil firms step up to meet this challenge, they won't find themselves practically at war just to extract a fraction of the oil they would be able to in a truly secure environment, and they would even save on lawsuits, and particularly on the smaller need for security measures.