Saharareporters, New York

The ultimatum handed Julius Berger, Nigeria's construction giant, by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) may be deeper than what was originally revealed, according to Saharareporters’ findings from MEND operatives.

MEND's ultimatum to Julius Berger will be the second major misfortune to hit the construction behemoth, whose Nigerian business remains its largest source of revenue, but German investigators are saying it is also the greatest source of corruption, according to information gleaned from state prosecutors handling Bilfinger Berger investigations. Bilfinger Berger is Julius Berger’s parent company.

Earlier this year, a major German news magazine, Der Spiegel, revealed that Bilfinger Berger was under investigations by the Wiesbaden public prosecution office. The paper, quoting German state police sources, said the investigation pertained to suspicion of bribery for a construction project in Nigeria in the 1990's that had been a subject of serious investigations by French and US authorities.

In an exclusive interview with MEND's operative in charge of information, Jomo Gbomo, Saharareporters obtained details of the reason why MEND singled out Julius Berger for attack in its first–ever advisory targeting multi-national corporations outside of the Niger Delta region.

Gbomo told Saharareporters that after Julius Berger pulled out of the Niger Delta region due to the harassment it received by way of kidnapping, and a recent harassment by an angry mob in Abuja following a major auto accident that killed 11 commuters, MEND decided to go after Julius Berger in Abuja because the federal capital had become the hub for its corrupt activities.  Gbomo told SaharaReporters, "We reasoned that since the company did not have any qualms abandoning the projects in the Niger Delta, its main milking cow, they should respond the same way in Abuja."

Elaborating on MEND’s allegations that Julius Berger had tried to bribe the militants with $20 million, Jomo Gbomo explained that the secretary to the Federal government, Baba Gana Kingibe used some state governors in the Niger Delta to undertake telephone negotiations with top commanders of MEND to accept the bribe and withdraw the threat to expel Julius Berger from Abuja.

Kingibe, the Seceretary to the Federal Government, has denied this claim, but MEND has shut down that denial. "We are not at all surprised by his (SGF’s) denial. What do you expect from a man with a presidential ambition? It must have been a surprise to the criminals in government that we spilled the beans. The GMD of NNPC has confirmed that the government offers bribes to militants so Nigerians will not be deceived by his denial.”

Elaborating further on the bribe attempt, MEND said, "An offer of $10m was first made on Friday, August 8, 2008, then increased to $20m the next day."

Asked to identify the governor involved, Gbomo said, “Let us keep the governor out since his role was to plead for the statement to be written to favor the government."

Jomo further explained that if Julius Berger refuses to heed its ultimatum, MEND may not immediately respond with violence saying, "If Julius Berger does not quit, those expecting an attack immediately will be disappointed. At the time of our choosing, they will pay the price for disobedience."

He added that its ultimatum and threats against Julius Berger is only applicable to expatriates working with the company, as the Nigerian government and the company do not value its local workers.

And asked if MEND's threats against a company operating outside of the Niger Delta area meant that it was expanding its scope of attacks, the MEND spokesperson responded, "We want to expand the theater of conflict. Abuja is significant because it is a city built by Julius Berger with Niger Delta crude oil as payments by a desperate Ibrahim Babangida. Abuja cannot continue to grow with the wealth from the region, while politicians are preparing for a summit or whatever they want to call all it to the detriment of the region."

MEND also addressed the broader question of Julius Berger’s involvement in official corruption in Nigeria. "We all know how this company has supported military despots and corrupt politicians,” its spokesman said.  “We know how they bribe them with houses and are very much involved in inflating contracts as kickbacks.”

He lamented how the company “has gotten away with murder” in Nigeria through poor safety standards in its construction sites. “When you visit Germany, road construction sites have adequate reflective signs to warn on-coming vehicles but this is not so in Nigeria where vehicles crash head-on to concrete roadblocks at night without any consequences to the company who have the backing of our corrupt officials."

The MEND spokesperson also touched on the nature of Julius Berger’s pre-eminence in Nigeria, by saying, "How many people even in Germany have heard of them?” he asked. “Are very good roads and bridges not built in South Africa and the USA by companies other than Julius Berger? The company is preferred here (only) because they support corruption."

When reminded of the warning by Nigeria police that MEND operatives would meet their death in Abuja if they make any attempt to attack Julius Berger expatriates, Gbomo responded, "That is the beauty of fighting guerrilla warfare that can deploy car bombs. The so-called federal might is what we are waiting for so that Nigeria stops postponing the doomsday to the conflict that is long overdue."

On the nature of an imminent attack, he said, "We do not plan to attack them the way they see it. It is impossible to protect every German worker in Nigeria and we plan to use unconventional tactics. By even having heavy security around them, that is a victory for us because that will be changing the face of Abuja to begin looking like the Niger Delta."

He noted that if a JB worker were to be captured in Lagos or have his vehicle blown up, it would have an impact on Abuja.  “We are confident the Germans have enough common sense to comply, as I doubt they have any faith in the police or military", he said. 

Saharareporters has found that Kingibe has a relationship with Julius Berger dating several years back. The SGF, like many other Nigerian public officials, has benefited from Julius Berger kickbacks. Our findings show that the construction company built a multi-million dollar house for Kingibe in Abuja.

Located off Gana Street in the highly priced Maitama area of Abuja, the house was acquired by the South African Embassy on a lucrative rent deal.

It would be recalled that last year, we reported that Julius Berger had shipped out most of its computers to another African country where it maintains technical presence.  The computers, which contained sensitive information that could potentially put Julius Berger officials in jail, were then systematically destroyed by techies flown in from Germany.