The Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has announced that it has
concluded plans to commence attacks in the Niger Delta region. MEND, few hours
after a South African court sentenced its leader, Henry Okah, to 24 years
imprisonment over the October 1 Independence Day bombing in Abuja said the
incarceration of its leader would not affect its activities.
The
spokesman of MEND, Jomo Gbomo, in its latest statement, said the militant group
would commence attacks from midnight on Friday, April 6 in sustained attacks
code-named “Hurricane Exodus.” According to Gbomo, “Hurricane Exodus is a
direct repercussion of a forged threat letter contrived by the Nigerian and
South African governments purporting to have originated from MEND,” which he
said contributed to the jail term handed Okah by the court.
MEND
vowed that “the attacks will be sustained until an unreserved apology is
offered to MEND and the Nigerian government shows their willingness to
dialogue, the same way they are willing to dialogue with Boko Haram.” The Joint
Military Task (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, in its reaction said it got wind of
the statement before it was issued and advised those parading themselves as
MEND members to desist from any action that could disrupt the peace in the Niger
Delta.
The
media coordinator of the JTF, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement, said
the people of Niger Delta were not in any bondage that would warrant their
emancipation. “The JTF Operation Pulo Shield has caught wind of this threat
prior to the issuance of the statement today by some persons parading
themselves as MEND. Niger Deltans are not in any bondage and therefore do not
require armed struggle or emancipation as claimed by this threatening gang.
What Niger Deltans are in a dire need of now, is peace for sustainable
development having emerged from the dark days of turbulence in the region.
Informed by this development we have effected some redeployment to tackle any
upheaval.
This
set of people are advised to toe the path of law and order in addressing
whatever grievance they have and to desist from any action that will upset the
peace and development of the Niger Delta. “The good and peace loving people of
the Niger Delta are enjoined to dissociate themselves, their communities and
leadership from this unwholesome approach as portrayed by this group.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteers Force (NDPVF),
Alhaji Mujahid Asari- Dokubo in an interview has dismissed opposition to the
jailing of Okah, describing his sentence as God’s judgment. Asari-Dokubo who
decried the refusal of people to comment on Okah’s sentence because of fear of
repercussions said Okah was a merchant of death that corrupted the Niger Delta
struggle.
He
explained that no matter the demands he was making from the Federal Government,
his killing of innocent people was a dark spot in the Niger Delta struggle.
“People don’t know Henry Okah. I know him and he knows me. He is just a
businessman, a merchant of death. Yes, he wants oil blocks. That is his right but
does he need to kill innocent people? It is not in consonance with Ijaw
tradition of war to kill innocent people. Henry Okah was a dark spot on the
pages of our struggle.
The
South African court was even lenient. If Ebiware who was just an accomplice was
given life sentence, why should Okah get 24 years? “You know, people are afraid
to speak against Okah apart from myself because I know him. His sentence is
God’s own judgment against a man who is insatiable, who corrupted our people,
introduced robbery, kidnapping and other vices unknown to our struggle.”
Source: Sun
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