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Port
Harcourt Ranked Most Dangerous City In The
World
February 19th, 2009 |
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By
Ese Awhotu, Abuja |
It sounds pretty surprising but not unexpected that
the city of Port Harcourt, a once very glamorous
city, has been ranked among the three most dangerous
cities in the world.
The human resources unit of New York-based Marsh &
McLennan Cos. has ranked Port Harcourt with Baghdad,
Yemen's capital of Sana'a and Khartoum in Sudan, as
the world's most dangerous cities.
Going by the ranking published by Bloomberg, Port
Harcourt ranks with Baghdad as one of the world's
most dangerous cities for foreign workers as
criminal gangs and guerillas seeking greater control
of energy revenue step up attacks.
Port Harcourt, a city of 1.6 million was once the
home of nightclubs crowded night and day with
well-paid petroleum workers. Now dotted with heavily
armed checkpoints, Port Harcourt's transformation
from a city that offered round-the- clock-fun to one
offering round-the-clock fear. Security has
deteriorated as the region moved from agitation to
rebellion.
But a prominent leader from Ogoni land, the external
visitors’ coordinator,Ogoni council of traditional
rulers, chief Sunday Kotes has described the ranking
of Port Harcourt as one of world's dangerous city as
baseless and a calculated attempt to dent the image
of the city.
In an interview with the LEADERSHIP yesterday, Kotes
stated that Port Harcourt currently has over sixty
oil companies which are operating peacefully and
comfortably. "Port Harcourt is a peace loving home,
nobody should dent its image, the report is baseless
and it is an economic sabotage .I stand against the
report", he declared.
The Ogoni leader described those behind the report
as shortsighted and did not make proper
investigation into Port Harcourt before arriving at
that conclusion.
"Port Harcourt is not a dangerous city; it is the
most beautiful city in the world as far as I know.
Presently in Nigeria, Port Harcourt is the treasure
beat of the country and they deserve the best
rating" he added, observing that the leaders of Port
Harcourt are intact and currently craving for
investment.
Kotes disclosed that the people of Ogoni have
declared their support for President Umaru Yar'Adua
whose 7- point agenda includes the development of
the Niger-Delta and who is currently building the
roads in Ogoni land.
"We stand by President Yar’Adua and we have declared
our support for him and we are working very hard to
see that the 7-point agenda as it concerns Ogoniland
is fully and successfully implemented", he said.
He blamed the current crisis in the region on
corruption and enemies of progress saying that "Ogoni
started the struggle perfectly well and stand by
what it started. What is happening in Ogoni now is
not from Ogoni people and if any Ogoni person is
involved it is from somewhere else.
Also speaking during the interview the President of
Ogoni Youth Assembly, comrade Saturday Opoga
protested the ranking describing it as a mere
propaganda play.
The high wave of crime involving kidnappings,
robbery and attacks on oil facilities started way
back in 2006 and has continued unabated. The
government put the blame on the activities of oil
thieves and unemployed youths, the youths and
traditional rulers of communities in the region have
put the blame on politicians, government and the oil
companies for their selfish approach to the
development of the area. According to expatriate
report more than 300 oil industry employees, or two
a week, have been kidnapped in the Niger River Delta
since a surge in violence began in 2006.
Majority of the militant groups fighting in the
Niger-Delta have claimed that they are fighting for
the poor masses of the region but this claim has
been debunked by high ranking indigenes of the
region among whom is the Governor of Rivers
state,Rotimi Amaechi who described the militants as
armed bandits who are fighting for their selfish
economic gains to the detriment of the poor.
According to Amaechi at an oil and gas forum in
Abuja, no body who is fighting for his people will
kidnap them for ransom and destroy facilities put in
place in the region, however the governor admits
that the Niger Delta is one of the most neglected
regions in the world and a positive struggle towards
its development is justified.
The militant groups have often targeted the
facilities and staff of the major oil companies
operating in the region such as Shell and Chevron.
Bloomberg reported Tola Adeogba, Shell's exploration
manager in Nigeria as saying that the security
situation in Port Harcourt is taking a huge toll.
Most oil companies have either evacuated expatriates
or kept them hunkered down in guarded compounds. The
metal gates outside Shell's offices in the city are
flanked by two sandbagged positions manned by guards
with automatic weapons. Last week, irate youths
attacked guards protecting three oil flow stations
operated by Royal Dutch Shell to push demands for
more funds for the local community, security sources
said. A military spokesman said the attackers
delivered a letter to security guards threatening
further raids if Shell did not provide more funds to
the local community.
The attacks in the Niger-Delta region has cut
exports from Nigeria, Africa's largest producer by
more than 20 percent, and last month the Delta's
main guerrilla group said it was resuming a campaign
against the industry after a four-month ceasefire. A
union representing office workers said it may pull
members out of the region after gunmen killed the
11-year-old daughter of a Royal Dutch Shell Plc
employee and abducted her 9-year-old brother in Port
Harcourt.
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