I just realised that the needs of these MEND guys are nothing but justice, Check this out the TOP List of their negotiators.
I think our leaders are the major cause of our problems.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2009/july/19/newsbreak-19-07-2009-001.htm

In the estimation of the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), last Sunday’s attack on the oil facility at the Atlas Cove Jetty in Lagos was perhaps the most successful for the group since it launched its two-pronged Hurricane Piper Alpha and Hurricane Moses two months ago.

No fewer than three Naval personnel, including a Naval Commander and six civilians were reportedly killed in the attack on the facility operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The MEND fighters were said to have arrived the facility about 10.30pm and engaged the few security men on duty in a gun duel before dynamiting the pipelines in a three-hour onslaught.

The militant group had commenced the ‘hurricane’ with the destruction of the Chevron-operated Otunana flow station in Delta State on June 9. So far, it has claimed responsibility for 14 similar attacks on flow stations, manifolds and platforms belonging to mainly three oil majors – Shell, Chevron and Agip – in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states.

In an electronic mail response to Sunday Sun enquiry, spokesperson of the insurgent group, Jomo Gbomo, revealed that the Atlas Cove attack was carried out with little or no resistance from the security forces.
Asked how the fighters beat the security on the waterways from the Niger Delta to Lagos, where the Atlas Cove facility is located, Gbomo riposted: “What security? Those guys (naval personnel) are not experienced in fighting in the water and they were cowards. So it was not a problem dealing with them.”

The group, however, refused to disclose the type of boats and the weapons used by the rebels.
Still smarting from the shock attack on the delicate oil facility, MEND vowed to extend its “plagues” beyond the oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta to civil infrastructure such as bridges in the event of attack by the armed forces.

This, it said, is without regards to the 60-day ceasefire it declared on Monday, following the withdrawing of the treason charges by the federal government against its leader, Mr Henry Okah.
Unfazed by the flurry of condemnation that trailed the Atlas Cove bombing, MEND maintained that any infrastructure perceived to have been built with the oil resources from the Niger Delta could come under attack.

Specifically, Gbomo said the militants had no regrets for the bombing, because in the reasoning of the group, the Atlas Cove oil facility was only sited in Lagos but that it does not belong to the state.
“The government needed to know that its subtle threat after its October 4 (2009 amnesty) deadline will have dire consequences if we are attacked by the armed forces. At such a time, we will broaden the targets from oil infrastructure to civil infrastructure we know were benefits from the Niger Delta resources such as bridges, etc.”
Asked if it was not bothered that the attack might spark off reprisal action against Niger Deltans in Lagos, Gbomo riposted: “Why should they? Does the Atlas Cove facility belong to Lagos State? That is a federal project built wholly from the Niger Delta resources and it is an oil-based project, making it a legitimate target. The fact that it is based in Lagos does not mean we base our attacks on sentiments and geographical locations.”

Consultation with stakeholders
With the declaration of the ceasefire, the leadership of the group is said to have begun consultation with a cross-section of stakeholders within and outside the region.
This would culminate in the constitution of a team that would present its demands to the federal government on the way forward for peace in the region.

But MEND dismissed reports of cracks within the group over the list of negotiators.
One of its commanders, ‘General’ Boyloaf in Bayelsa State, said last week he was not aware the group was compiling a list of negotiators.
“There are no cracks. Some of us wanted to maintain the status quo and the leadership has overruled it.
“Those negotiating will be selected from across the country. We will approach the likes of Balarabe Musa, Col. (Abubakar) Umar, Professor (Wole) Soyinka, Femi Falana, Admiral Mike Akhigbe, etc. So you can see that this is not about money sharing but about the future of Nigeria,” Gbomo stated.

Demands
Sunday Sun learnt from another source that the group would table short-term, medium-term and long-term demands before the government.
The short-term demands include immediate withdrawal of the Joint Task Force, particularly from Ijaw communities and the Niger Delta; rebuilding of all Niger Delta communities destroyed by the JTF, particularly Agge and Gbaramatu communities; and structured/realistic empowerment of the “freedom fighters” and youths.
The medium-term demands would be in the form of a marshal plan to develop the Niger Delta, supervised by credible independent national and international bodies including the oil multinationals who are also primary stakeholders; a percentage of the annual national budget be set aside for its implementation (similar to what was done for the Federal Capital Territory); as well as structured community participation/stake holding/percentage ownership by the oil bearing/producing communities.
They also want the “complete domination of the oil industry by the North/three major ethnic groups” reversed.
In the long-term demand is the return to true, fiscal federalism as enshrined in the 1960 and 63 constitutions.

Okah still in Abuja
A source also informed Sunday Sun that the ongoing consultation is the reason the militant group’s leader was still in Abuja. Since he regained his freedom last Monday, he is said to be holding meetings with various stakeholders.
“Okah is still here (Abuja). Although he is in pains as a result of his health condition, he believes it is important he sees through this process before going for treatment abroad.
“A doctor has been attending to him and I have just gone to purchase some drugs,” the source said.
His counsel, Mr Wilson Ajuwa, confirmed this when we spoke to him on the telephone but said he could not confirm when Okah would leave the country.

“He (Okah) is still around. I cannot say when he will leave but there is a possibility it could be next week,” Ajuwa said.
He also could not confirm Okah’s destination or the hospital he would be admitted. Ajuwa however said the MEND leader, who is battling with a failing kidney, will go to where he would get the best treatment anywhere in the world.

if i may ask ,is bombing,kidnapping and maiming the only solution? who is gaining and who is loosing now,who is the federal government we are talking about,who is the govt. after much i do what next ?