Newsletter
December 2008

          It would seem the ‘security circuit' is busier than ever these days. My phone has been ringing regularly the last few months, mostly with ‘standbys'. But it is still an indicator of the amount of work out there for security risk consultants. There are, of course, many levels of security risk consultant. The ones with a broad experience base obviously get the most attention. If you are knowledgeable in handling the media – taking crews into life-threatening locations - Kidnap and Ransom, Crisis Management and, more recently, Maritime Security, you will more than likely be kept very busy. In the last couple of months I have been involved in all of the aforementioned fields.

          I began October with a most pleasant week in Paris conducting a Crisis Management seminar. It's not often I get a call to go to a civilised locale so Paris was a real treat. I am a huge fan of France and thoroughly enjoy the country therefore when I was asked if I was interested in a teaching job in that famous city I accepted without hesitation.

          I was home from France for only a few days before I was asked to go into Kabul to assist in the local management of a high-profile kidnap and ransom case. The story had been kept out of the press for several weeks, which is always helpful, but it was threatening to break any day. My first task was to single-handedly smuggle a vast amount of money in US$ bills into Afghanistan . That was not without its problems. I have smuggled money into countries before but never such a large amount. But within a week of my arrival the operation had taken a positive turn (I can't take any credit for it but I was considered favourably jinxed). I cannot reveal any details but none of the money was required in the end after the kidnappers were ‘influenced' by the Afghan special services to release their high-profile victim.

          I was relaxing in a Dubai hotel on my way back from Kabul when I was called and asked if I could take a trip into the Nigerian Delta. I should mention that experienced security risk advisors always ensure they have ways of acquiring difficult visas at short notice. This usually requires having several passports. I had my Nigerian visa within 24 hours and was soon on my way to Lagos and into the Delta. I am not a great fan of Nigeria , mainly because it is far too crowded. I don't like crowded places of any kind but hot, humid and filthy do not help. My task was to take a media crew into the creeks off Warri and Port Harcourt in order to investigate the consequences of the oil extraction and its effects on the communities. The investigation would not be complete without a visit to MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) – known as terrorists by the government and oil companies and activists by the locals. This letter is not meant to be a news report but I must say, having seen the situation for myself, shame on the oil companies, shame on Nigerian politicians who pocket the oil revenues and success to the activists who try and bring the world's attention to the plight of those suffering as a result.

          I have met a lot of activists or ‘terrorist' groups face-to-face in my time but MEND are in a league of their own (unless you include the Bloods and the Cripps). I spent a day with them at their encampment where I was treated to a display of their military might. They have a handful of European trainers paid to hone their fighting skills. The demonstration began with target shooting – a line of freshly emptied beer bottles stuck in the sand no more than twenty feet from several ‘sharp-shooters' wielding AK47 assault rifles. It took seven shots to hit all three bottles! That's barely acceptable with a pistol but embarrassing with a rifle. Next was a whiskey bottle, the contents of which had just been drunk, hung in a tree only a few feet further back. That took three shots to smash. What followed was an array of wild charges along the river, the soldiers firing their rifles while holding them above their heads. The significance of this was lost on me since it had no strategic value as far as I could tell. The climax of the land demo was a soldier charging towards the water firing an M60 on full automatic (at this point I had to pull my group back out of the way). Sitting in boats the other side of the river was MEND's maritime department waiting for the signal to commence their part of the demonstration. The soldier with the M60 lost complete control of his weapon and strafed the boats. I saw at least one man go down. He apparently died a few hours later. The incident caused only a minor argument that was quickly forgotten and the demo proceeded without further ado. The boat show was as ludicrous as the land demo. I asked one of the European trainers, who was hooded to preserve his identity, how long he had been training MEND. Five years was his reply. I hope they didn't pay him much. I was told the Nigerian army were afraid to attack the location that was well publicised as MEND's base, which doesn't say much for their skills either.

          At the end of the demo we were invited to a newly built air-conditioned room in the jungle with polished marble floors, an ornate bar, an expensive pool table and a glass fronted fridge packed with Moet et Chandon. The senior MEND officers stylishly drank theirs directly from the bottle.

          The half dozen calls I have had this week so far have been requests by shipping companies on how to protect their vessels against piracy while sailing past Somalia . I hope I have Christmas off this year.