Four in Seattle-based film group arrested in Nigeria

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By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

Nigerian officials said the film crew members were detained for illegally traveling by boat in southern Nigeria's restive oil-rich creeks.

Story Published: Apr 14, 2008 at 7:02 AM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 6:25 PM PDT

Four in Seattle-based film group arrested in Nigeria

Tammi Sims sent this photo of herself to her brother in an e-mail last Friday. She was taken into government custody the next morning.

WARRI, Nigeria -- Four people from a Seattle-based film crew and a Nigerian man accompanying them have been detained and accused of traveling illegally in restive southern Nigeria, officials said.

Security forces fighting militants in the Niger Delta consider much of the vast wetland region a military zone and have barred outsiders from traveling there without express consent by authorities.

Nigerian Brig. Gen. Wuyep Rintip said the group was seized Saturday for flouting the ban and were to be flown to the capital, Abuja. He did not identify the detainees.

A U.S. official in Nigeria said the detainees were being given consular assistance. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing prohibitions on dealings with the media, said no further details could be given due to privacy concerns.

According to a news release issued Sunday in Seattle, those detained are Sandi Cioffi, director of the documentary "Sweet Crude;" Tammi Sims, Cliff Worsham and Sean Porter, also part of the crew, and Joel Bisina, a peace mediator and founder of Niger Delta Professionals for Development in Warri.

The Americans "entered the country legally on April 5th, having notified authorities about their intentions to film and to make a visit to a library they had helped build," the independent film-making company said in the release.

A lawyer was retained for the group but has been denied contact with them as well as information on charges, according to the release.

Sims' brother Adam Pimley said he had received an email from his sister on Friday in which she said things were going well in Nigeria. The next morning, she was taken into governmnet custody.

"My fear is I don't know when I'll see my sister again. I know I'll see her, but I don't know when," he said.

Sims' partner said the filmmaker was passionate about the project in the Niger Delta, an area under struggle with poverty and unrest.

"Her life's mission was to shine light on a really dark part of the planet," said Chris Broderick.

For nearly seven hours on Saturday the film crew sent several text messages to their connections in Seattle stating they were being detained against their will but did not know why.

"It says 'I'm holding up fine, feel calm and trusting in the bigger picture,'" Pimley said of the text message.

The state department said the crew is tired but healthy, and has not been charged with any crimes.

"They're being held for question. That's the official word from the Nigeria government," Pimley said.

However, the film crew's visas reportedly listed the locations to which they were heading.

Text messages from the film crew have stopped. Family and friends said they assume the cell phones have been confiscated.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she is pushing for the crew's quick and safe return.

Various foreigners have been picked up in the Niger Delta in recent months as security forces have stepped up efforts to quell unrest in the region.

Several foreigners, including two documentary filmmakers, were expelled from the country on alleged visa violations. An American aid worker, long a resident in Nigeria, was arrested with those filmmakers and was charged with spying. The charges were later dropped and she was released.

Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, pumps its crude from the Niger Delta, which remains deeply impoverished despite the natural bounty. Armed groups roam the region of creeks and swamps, stealing crude oil for resale and engaging in other criminal activities.

Some gunmen also launch militant attacks seeking to pressure the government to release their leaders and send more government-controlled oil revenues to the anarchic area. Their attacks have trimmed nearly one quarter of Nigeria's daily crude output, helping to send oil prices soaring to historic highs in global markets.

The government considers all the gunmen criminals.