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Nigeria: Julius Berger Protest Insecurity, Halts Operations in Bayelsa
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Vanguard (Lagos)
17 July 2008
Posted to the web 17 July 2008
Samuel Oyadongha
CONSTRUCTION giant, Julius Berger has halts its operations in Bayelsa and Rivers states in protest over the deteriorating security situation in the Niger Delta thereby stalling work on the dualisation of the ailing East-West road and other major projects in the two sister states being handled by the company.
This is the second time the company will be pulling out from the Niger Delta in the last three years. The first time was during the former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration following the violent upsurge in youth militancy, stalling the early take off of the dualisation of the East-West which links the oil and gas rich Niger Delta states of Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom.
The withdrawal of the company from the troubled region is coming on the heels of weekend abduction in Rivers State of two Germans working for the Nigerian unit of German builder, Bilfinger Berger by unknown gunmen.
A soldier escorting the expatriates was killed during the attack when the gunmen blew their armoured vehicle off the road with dynamite.
Vanguard investigation however revealed that the gradual withdrawal of the company personnel and equipments from projects sites in the state two states started about three days ago as the kidnappers of the two expatriates were said to be demanding N32m ransom before they would release their captives.
This reporter who visited the company project site at the Ikoli creek in Yenagoa where a bridge and a road is being constructed to link the hinterland of the Southern Ijaw close to the Atlantic fringe as well as the Bayelsa stretch of the East-West road observed that the number of personnel at these project sites has thinned down.
On the other side of the Ikoli Bridge the company site the usually busy yard was a shadow of its old self while a haulage truck was sighted loading one of the caterpillars for onward transfer to the company main yard (Berger Yard) along from the Azikoro road where one of the several heavily fortified military checkpoints is located.
Also, the company site between Zarama and Mbiama junction along the East-West road was equally deserted when Vanguard visited the area yesterday.
An official of the company who spoke anonymously blamed the pull out from the two states on what he described as the scary incident of last Friday in which three senior employees, who were travelling in armoured jeeps accompanied by armed soldiers, were ambushed by gunmen killing a solider in the process.
"We have no alternative but to suspend operations as the current security environment makes it impossible for us to continue operations in the Niger Delta," the official said adding that because of the heightened tension the expatriates" staff have restricted their movement to their highly fortified camp in the heart of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
He also confirmed that the kidnappers of the two expatriates are demanding N32m before they would be release.
Friday's attack was the latest on expatriates working in the Niger Delta, which has become notorious for kidnappings and raids on oil sites since militants launched a campaign of sabotage two years ago.
The decision by Julius Berger which is listed in Nigeria and 49 per cent owned by Bilfinger Berger is seen by observers as an embarrassment for the government of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who is under international pressure to end insecurity in the delta.
Meanwhile, some concerned stakeholders have condemned the action of the kidnappers of the expatriates stressing that it is high time they differentiate between construction workers who are in the region to help in tackling the developmental challenges of the region.
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They therefore called on the kidnappers of the expatriates to let go their captives so that the company return to sites and continue with the construction of infrastructures which the people of the region have been yearning for.
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