Ross Kemp on plane to Nigeria this morning...
Discussion
One of my colleagues sat beside him and his 'producers' on this morning's Virgin flight to Lagos, Nigeria. Imagine he's heading for the Niger Delta to meet some of the gangs down there for his TV series. Will be interesting to see the TV version v's the reality of the militant gangs there...... He'll probably lose his cash/identity etc down there.. 
jshell said:
One of my colleagues sat beside him and his 'producers' on this morning's Virgin flight to Lagos, Nigeria. Imagine he's heading for the Niger Delta to meet some of the gangs down there for his TV series. Will be interesting to see the TV version v's the reality of the militant gangs there...... He'll probably lose his cash/identity etc down there..
I wonder what type of gang he's going to meet?It would be far more interesting to see how those internet scammers operate...I mean, ultimately, every drug/extortion etc gang is much like the rest from across the world.
Nigeria is fairly unique when it comes to scamming .....I think.
Did your colleague not ask him? or overhear anything?
camgear said:
I just watched the end of the first series of the Afghanistan Documentary, is it me or when he meets all the lads getting of the coach is there a overpowering air of awkwardness? :/
I noticed that too.I just put it down to the lads not really wanting their homecoming moment interrupted by Kemp and his crew. Maybe they were also uneasy about their loved ones being filmed?
Martial Arts Man said:
jshell said:
One of my colleagues sat beside him and his 'producers' on this morning's Virgin flight to Lagos, Nigeria. Imagine he's heading for the Niger Delta to meet some of the gangs down there for his TV series. Will be interesting to see the TV version v's the reality of the militant gangs there...... He'll probably lose his cash/identity etc down there..
I wonder what type of gang he's going to meet?It would be far more interesting to see how those internet scammers operate...I mean, ultimately, every drug/extortion etc gang is much like the rest from across the world.
Nigeria is fairly unique when it comes to scamming .....I think.
Did your colleague not ask him? or overhear anything?
However, the militant gangs of the Niger Delta are armed to the teeth with GPMG's, RPG's etc. etc. They are concerned in both the 'bunkering' (stealing) of oil from tankers/vessels/pipelines and are responsible for $billions of thefts each year and horrific pollution across the area where they burst pipelines and try to fill tanks/barges/barrels etc. They often blow themselves up and thousands have died over the years. When the oil companies try to repair the pipelines, they are prevented from accessing the area by armed communities/gangs. The gangs also kidnap and murder people on a regular basis, though they tend to let expats go when the ransoms are paid. We had a botched kidnapping a few weeks ago where an 8 yr old girl was shot and killed with her 11 year old brother being taken - he's been released now.
There's nothing can be done though - the militant gangs are a mix of serving military/community members/civil servants/police etc, they're impossible to isolate and define.
As far as piracy goes, Nigeria is one of the fastest growing areas of piracy in the world. Many people have beeb killed and vessels stolen/hijacked or just generally shot-up. Vessels normally 'convoy' up rivers now with military gunboats giving so-called 'protection'. One FPSO was hit with an RPG and I have pics of other boats with loads of bullet holes. I visited an offshore FPSO last year and counted 40+ impact marks on bulkheads and pipework. Sobering.
The scammers tend to work from makeshift internet cafe's. These are wooden huts hidden within vast slums and communities and incredibly difficult and dangerous to find. Many of them are supported by Russian and Eastern European gangs, but with the level of corruption here, gullibility of the Western people and ease of elec comms, they are wealthy and virtually un-catchable. I know 1 guy who's into that and other sh!t. It's just a way of life for them.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff