“We’ll Blow Up More Pipelines,” Militants Threaten Buhari

Militants threaten to blow up more pipelines. (Vanguard)

The group took responsibility for February’s attack on an underwater pipeline that forced Shell to shut down its export terminal for weeks.

By Pulse NG

In Niger Delta:

A new militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, has sprung up and is threatening to launch attacks on oil pipelines over the alleged neglect of local communities by the government.

The group said in a statement on Monday, April 18, that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration places more importance on the oil resources of the region than human lives..

The group took responsibility for February’s attack on an underwater pipeline that forced Shell to shut down its export terminal for weeks.

While speaking in China last week, the President had said the government would treat oil vandals like Boko Haram terrorists.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, last Sunday, also said the government would establish a permanent pipeline security force.

“The presidency can go ahead and set up a permanent security force, as stated by the vice president when he visited the SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company) Forcados Terminal,”the militant group said in a statement.

“We are not deterred by such threats as we are highly spirited and shall continue blowing up pipelines until the Niger Delta people are no longer marginalized by the Nigerian actors.”

READ: Militants bomb pipeline in sophisticated under water attack

The group also called warned the international community, especially China, from where Buhari has just returned, not loan Nigeria any money as “there will be no liters of crude oil to service the loan deal”.

Oil pipeline vandalism seemed to have stepped up in the country since ex-militant leader, Tompolo, was declared wanted in January by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over corruption charges.

http://pulse.ng/local/in-niger-delta-well-blow-up-more-pipelines-militants-threaten-buhari-id4938048.html

New War In The Woods?

Camp ‘checkpoint’ in the Bulkley Valley; Freda Huson

Vancouver Observer

An escalating conflict in traditional wilderness territory is unfolding in near real time through YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, culminating this week in a July 30 rally in downtown Vancouver.

The powder keg that is the Unist’ot’en camp in the Bulkley Valley of B.C.’s Central Interior is the top issue behind a rally tonight (July 30) CBC Plaza, 700 Hamilton St., 5:30-7:30 p.m.

The event, organized by Rising Tide, will be in support for Unist’ot’en camp’s continued effort to turn away RCMP, security contractors and pipeline employees attempting to enter unceded territory, access necessary to connect oil to tankers on the West Coast near Prince Rupert.

“This event hopes to confront the police violence brought to people all over the world. This is not an isolated issue,” a press release from the Unist’ot’en camp states. “Join us to hear from those who have been to the camp and learn about how powerful life on the land has been.”

Freda Huson, spokesperson for the Unist’ot’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, has maintained a checkpoint at the bridge into her territory for the last six years.

“I am not demonstrating. I am not protesting,” she is quoted as saying in the Rising Tide call to action. “I am occupying our traditional homelands.”

Above, a video posted on YouTube by the Unist’ot’en Camp gives a summary of recent events leading up to this week’s rally.

The community is calling on the RCMP to hold police officers accountable for the violence they commit against frontline communities such as Unist’ot’en, and on the provincial and federal governments to respect indigenous sovereignty, states Rising Tide.

Speakers include: Vancouver artist/activist Audrey Siegl who recently joined a Greenpeace initiatve to intercept a Shell drilling rig on its way to its Alaska; Harsha Walia, and author of Undoing Border Imperialism; Neelam Khare, an emerging artist, community organizer, film-maker and student who has visited the camp; and Rita Wong, author of three books of poetry who recently visited the Unis’ot’en camp and wrote an article about the Unist’ot’en camp.

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/new-war-woods

Five ‘Raging Grannies’ Arrested In Anti-Shell Protest At Terminal 5

Image via Twitter/@DJackQ13FOX

Five members of the Seattle activist group the “Raging Grannies” were arrested by police Tuesday morning during a protest outside Terminal 5.

But it wasn’t easy.

The women, dressed in long skirts and sun hats and sipping from porcelain teacups, were bound together by so-called “sleeping dragons,” makeshift sleeves constructed with materials designed to make their removal difficult and time-consuming.

The “grannies” were part of two simultaneous protests against Shell’s offshore oil rig, which is at the terminal being prepared for Arctic drilling this summer.

While a group of younger protesters camped out on an overpass above, with two heavy oil drums and signs, the grannies chained their wooden rocking chairs together on the BNSF Railway tracks below. The women were also bound together by the homemade arm sleeves.

Seattle police Lt. Jim Arata warned the younger protesters that they had to move their oil drums and get off the overpass above Terminal 5, or face arrest. When the department’s Apparatus Response Team (ART) pulled up with a truck full of saws, jackhammers and other heavy-duty tools in case the protesters were chained to the oil drums, the protesters got up and walked away.

The five grannies, on the other hand, stayed put when the team arrived.

The department formed ART during Seattle’s 1999 WTO riots as a specialty team trained to safely remove protesters who chain themselves to objects or each other, Arata said.

Related: More Arctic drilling protests planned in Seattle

ART members spent about 10 minutes sawing and cutting into two separate “sleeping dragons,” which linked the four “grannies” together by the arms.

Arata said that when police sawed through the duct tape-covered arm sleeves they found rope, rebar, metal and burlap. He said that police covered the grannies in fireproof blankets while they cut through the sleeves to protect them from flying debris.

Seattle Police cut through chains that two women protestors left, Cynthia Linet, right, and Annette Klapstein, right, use to bind themselves together, at Terminal 5, in protest of the Shell Oil rig.

“They’re meant to slow us down and defeat us,” Arata said about the sleeves.

While ART members worked, a nearby crowd of about 30 protesters chanted “rock on, grannies” and sang songs in support.

The five women — the oldest was 92 — were arrested for investigation of obstruction and pedestrian interference. They were processed and released from the department’s Southwest Precinct in West Seattle.

BNSF spokesman Gun Melonas said trains going through the area were held from 6:30 a.m. until around 10 a.m. because of the protest.

Southwest Precinct Capt. Pierre Davis the arrests “gave them [the grannies] a visual victory.” He said police were prepared for the two protests at Terminal 5 and had medics on scene in case there were any injuries.

Stina Janssen, a spokeswoman for the ShellNo! Action Council, which opposes Shell’s offshore Arctic oil-drilling fleet, said the protesters were trying to “block work Tuesday in order to stop Shell drilling’s oil rig from going out on time.”

Janssen said the grannies want to prevent Arctic drilling and keep “our planet inhabitable for future generations.”

By Jennifer Sullivan and Evan Bush in Seattle Times

[SOURCE]

Seattle ‘Kayaktivists’ Protest Shell’s Arctic Drilling Endeavor

Activists in kayaks form a flotilla in Elliott Bay to protest Shell’s oil rig, the Polar Pioneer, moored at the Port of Seattle.

(Reuters) – Hundreds of activists in kayaks and small boats fanned out on a Seattle bay on Saturday to protest plans by Royal Dutch Shell to resume oil exploration in the Arctic and keep two of its drilling rigs stored in the city’s port.

Environmental groups have vowed to disrupt the Anglo-Dutch oil company’s efforts to use the Seattle as a home base as it outfits the rigs to return to the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, saying drilling in the remote Arctic waters could lead to an ecological catastrophe.

Protesters convene for #Seattle kayak demonstration against Shell rig Polar Pioneer: ktuu.tv/1RV2afp #ktuu http://t.co/pu34xcTaOW—
KTUU.com (@Ch2KTUU) May 16, 2015

Demonstrators have planned days of protests, both on land and in Elliott Bay, home to the Port of Seattle, where the first of the two rigs docked on Thursday.

Kayakers on Saturday paddled around the rig yelling “Shell No.” Others unfurled a large banner that read “Climate Justice.”

Environmental groups contend harsh and shifting weather conditions make it impossible to drill in the Arctic, a region with a fragile environment that helps regulate the global climate because of its vast layers of sea ice.

Allison Warden, 42, said she traveled from Alaska to represent her native Inupiaq tribe, which makes its home in the Arctic. She said whales central to the tribe’s culture are particularly vulnerable to oil spills.

Yeah, hard to guess, but by volume of the chants, I'd hazard there are hundreds here. "SEATTLE SAYS: SHELL NO!" http://t.co/l3lgyRQ7k7—
Sydney Brownstone (@sydbrownstone) May 16, 2015

“I don’t know what our culture would be without whaling. It’s at the center of everything we do,” she said. “It’s a different relationship than just going to the grocery store. The whale feeds the entire community,” she said.

Opponents of the rigs docking in Seattle, a city known for its environmental causes, include Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council.

Shell was bringing in the rigs and moving ahead as planned despite the opposition and a ruling earlier this week by the city’s planning department that the port’s agreement with the company was in violation of its city permit.

“The timeline now is just to make sure the rigs are ready to go,” said Curtis Smith, a Shell spokesman.

PHOTOS: Kayak protest of Shell oil rig in Seattle kng5.tv/1e7DznR #shellprotest http://t.co/2AwBg41L4p—
KING 5 News (@KING5Seattle) May 16, 2015

The second rig is expected at the port in the coming days.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management gave conditional approval to Shell’s resumption of fossil fuel exploration in the Arctic, which was suspended after a mishap-filled 2012 season.

The decision was met with approval by some Alaska lawmakers, who said it would bring money and jobs to the state. (Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Eric Beech and Steve Orlofsky)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/16/seattle-kayak-shell-protest_n_7298518.html

Idle No More Washington ~ From the Arctic to the Salish Sea

Idle No More ~ From the Arctic to the Salish Sea. Photo: Facebook

Idle No More ~ From the Arctic to the Salish Sea

Hosted by Idle No More Washington

Saturday May 16, 2015, 10 am – 4:30 pm. Seacrest Marina Park: 1660 Harbor Ave SW, Seattle, Washington 98126

• 10:00 am – Canoes gather at Seacrest Marina

• 11-12:30 – Canoes leave for a short pull for photo op, board the barge for a jam session, open mic, music, and speakers.

• 1:00 pm – Pull to Jack Block Park, 2130 Harbor Ave SW, Seattle

• 2:00 pm – Duwamish Welcoming, Landing Protocol, Opening Blessing, and speakers.

• 3:45 pm – Water Blessing Ceremony (please bring a container of water from your area)

• 4:00 pm – Closing Prayer

In solidarity with our Alaskan brothers and sisters in the Arctic, and all the Coast Salish tribes who are the original stewards of the Salish Sea we come together in a good way to unify in Spirit for prayer, ceremony, and songs to bring a peaceful resolution to preserve and protect the Arctic from the proposed drilling by Shell.

We invite all our Native brothers and sisters to join us in support of not allowing Royal Dutch Shell to use the Port of Seattle Terminal #5 for their drilling rigs, stopping the drilling in the Arctic, and how could we instead support sustainable energy sources. We must ask how can we support Alaska Natives in finding other sources of revenue and work that is not devastating to their traditional way of life, contribute to climate change, and rising sea levels.

We will have travel stipends available for canoe families coming from far away, reserve some hotel rooms with double beds for Friday (sorry for the late notice, but we would need to know before Friday if you need a room), a dinner on Friday at 6 pm. Please contact Sweetwater if your canoe family can make it and how we can assist with accommodations. Bring your drums, regalia, signs, and be #IdleNoMore

PLAN TO ARRIVE EARLY. We encourage public transit. There will be a shuttle from a nearby parking area. Traffic will be very congested and may take 30-45min longer than normal.

Driving Directions from the north to Seacrest Marina

1) Merge onto I-5 S.

2) Take EXIT 163A toward W Seattle Br/Columbian Way/W Seattle Br N.

3) Merge onto W Seattle Bridge W toward Spokane St N.

4) Take the Harbor Ave/Avalon Way exit.

5) Turn right onto Harbor Ave SW.

6) 1660 HARBOR AVE SW is on the right.

Event Page: https://www.facebook.comevents/435811393260441/

Activists Use Tripod To Block Shell’s Seattle Operations:

• Days after the Foss Maritime announced that they intended to defy Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, and illegally host Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet, Seattle activists have blockaded Shell’s Seattle fuel transfer station by erecting a tripod.

Photo: RisingTideNA (Twitter) 2015-05-12

Next week, thousands of protestors from Seattle and beyond plan to converge at terminal 5 and Harbor Island to non-violently resist the progress of Shell’s Arctic drilling rigs and support vessels.  On May 16 a family-friendly Paddle in Seattle will rally people on water and land to protest their presence.  Then  May 18,  activists plan direct action on land. Read more about “Festival of Resistance” at Shellno.org.