Nigerian government forces have launched full scale attack on militant camps in the country's southeastern Rivers State, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), an active militant group operating in the region, said in a statement received here on Saturday.

"At about 0900 Hrs today, September 13, 2008, the armed forces of Nigeria began a full scale aerial and marine offensive on the MEND positions and neighboring Ijaw communities in Rivers State with helicopter gunships, jet fighters and over 20 gun boats and landing crafts filled with heavily armed soldiers mainly from the northern axis of Nigeria," said the statement.

"All MEND positions in the Niger delta will respond to this unprovoked attack coming at a time the government is canvassing the so-called Niger Delta Ministry to hoodwink the people," it said.

The statement also revealed that civilians near the camps were under attacks from government forces.

Oil companies are warned to move out their workers within the next 24 hours, "because a hurricane is about to sweep through oil installations in the entire Niger Delta region."

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua Wednesday reshuffled his cabinet and created a new Ministry of Niger Delta, vowing to promote development and peace in the country's oil-producing area.

Since the beginning of 2006, militant groups emerged in Niger Delta region, fighting for more local control of natural resources, especially oil, through way of kidnapping oil workers and attacks on oil facilities.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped and a string of attacks on oil pipelines, wells and terminals have been registered by now, which have led to about 25 percent oil production drop compared with the country's peak oil output of 2.6 million barrels per day.

hmmmm. . . . tory don burst.

I was about to ask where is Ibime to confirm the falseness of this report.

or else reassure us that this attack is bound to fail.

very sad. This government is a disgrace . . . violence and creating more bureaucracy (ministry of the niger delta) is not the way forward. Just more evidence that we are ruled by brainless individuals.

MEND are claiming soldiers attacked them whilst soldiers are claiming that MEND attacked them. PR propaganda will never end.


Nigerian gov't forces exchange fires with militant forces 



    LAGOS, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian military force spokesman Sagir Musa said on Saturday that the military in the country's oil-rich Niger Delta region countered an offensive by the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on Saturday.

    He told local media that the militant group launched an attack on troops patrolling Eleme-Tombia, a riverside community in the Degema council area of Rivers State.

    "Our men were patrolling the area when MEND opened fire on them. There was an exchange of fire, but we did not record any casualty," he said.

    But spokesman of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), with the alias "Jomo Gbomo," said in a statement reaching here via Internet on Saturday that Nigerian military forces had launched full scale attack on militant camps in the country's southeastern Rivers State.

    "At about 0900 Hrs today, September 13, 2008, the armed forces of Nigeria began a full scale aerial and marine offensive on the MEND positions and neighboring Ijaw communities in Rivers state with helicopter gunships, jet fighters and over 20 gun boats and landing crafts filled with heavily armed soldiers mainly from the northern axis of Nigeria," said the statement.

    "All MEND positions in the Niger delta will respond to this unprovoked attack coming at a time the government is canvassing the so-called Niger Delta Ministry to hoodwink the people," it said.

    The statement also revealed that civilians near the camps were under attacks from government forces.

    Oil companies are warned to move out their workers within the next 24 hours, "because a hurricane is about to sweep through oil installations in the entire Niger Delta region," MEND warned in the statement.

    In an updated statement received at midday, MEND, an active militant group operating in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, also reported three casualties of its side during the crossfire, saying a military helicopter was damaged by MEND fighters as the battle is going on.

    Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua on Wednesday reshuffled his cabinet and created a new Ministry of Niger Delta, vowing to promote development and peace in the country's oil-producing area.

[size=14pt]Reactions to the new Niger Delta ministry:[/size]



Niger Delta leaders were sharply divided, yesterday, in their reactions to Tuesday’s creation of an exclusive ministry for the region with the militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), and one-time deputy president of the former Midwest Region, Chief James Otobo, strongly objecting to its establishment.

On the other side of the divide is Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark; retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte; Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Mr. Magnus Abe; and Rivers State warlord, Ateke Tom.

Support for the new ministry also came from the opposition Action Congress (AC); prominent lawyer, Chief Richard Akinjide; former Petroleum Resources Minister, Professor Tam David-West; and Second Republic Governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa.

MEND calls for caution

MEND in an online statement said: “The people of the region should receive this latest dish with apprehension and not allow the over five decades of starvation to rule our emotions as this is not the first time such “palatable” offers have been served to the region from the late 50’s to date.

“Creating a ‘Ministry’ is not the coming of the much awaited messiah. Nigeria has in existence, ministries over 40 years old which have not positively impacted on the people. It will be yet another avenue for corruption and political favoritism.

“Some examples of moribund ministries include Energy, with its epileptic power supply; Health, with hospitals that have turned to dispensing clinics such that even the president prefers to be treated in Saudi Arabia or Germany; Works and Transport, responsible for the untimely deaths and maiming of road users due to poorly maintained roads and bridges in spite of availability of funds; Education, with the elite losing confidence that their children study in foreign tertiary institutions; Special Duties, with a minister that has been made redundant that he spends his time in office watching television. The list is endless.

“MEND will know the government is sincere when it offers true federalism in all its ramifications which includes resource control. The unconditional release of all detained activists in its custody is another.”


Otobo kicks


Chief Otobo reacting in an interview with Vanguard said: “As far as I am concerned, it is like creating an intermediary between the people of the Niger Delta and the Federal Government and that is not what the people of the Niger Delta are asking for.

“As one of those who fought for the independence of this country, I want to say that it is an insult that the Federal Government is creating a Ministry of Niger Delta in 2008 instead of giving us true federalism, which we asked for.”

Chief Otobo said the issue at stake in the Niger Delta was not the creation of a Ministry of Niger Delta but allowing true federalism to be practised with the full components of resource control and devolution of powers.

“It is another form of colonisation by the government because they want to perpetually control the Niger Delta and its resources and when the oil is finished, they will leave it helpless and wretched,” he said.

The Federal Government, according to him, explained that the one of the ministers in the ministry would take care of infrastructure and the other, youth empowerment, but, he countered the position by positing that the Federal Government had no business in providing infrastructure in the states if true federalism were in place.

His words: “Infrastructure is not the business of the Federal Government but the federating states in a true federal structure, which is what the Niger Delta people want.”

He dismissed the ministry as a Greek gift and wondered whether the Federal Government would also create a special ministry for the North-Central, South-West and other zones of the country the way it had done with the Ministry of the Niger Delta.


Welcome devt — Clark


But in a separate interview, Ijaw leader, Chief Clark said: “It is a welcome development. It shows the commitment of President Yar’Adua to his seven-point agenda.”

He said Yar’Adua’s father was the one appointed when a special ministry was created to develop the Victoria Island in Lagos, in the First Republic, and Nigerians knew what happened then, as well as what the creation of a special ministry for the development of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has achieved.

Chief Clark said in Britain and some other countries of the world, governments created some special ministries to tackle development problems in certain areas, adding: “That is what the new Ministry of Niger Delta is going to achieve and I am happy about that.”

He appealed to the youths and militant groups in the Niger Delta to give the Federal Government a chance to develop the region, now that President Yar’Adua had demonstrated that he wants to turn the region around.


Ayemi-Botu hails


Former National Chairman of the Association of Traditional Rulers of Oil Mineral Producing States of Nigeria (TROMPCON), Pere Charles Ayemi-Botu, hailed President Yar’Adua for creating the Ministry.

Ayemi-Botu, who is also the Paramount Ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State implored the youths of the region to support and encourage Yar’Adua to succeed by laying down their arms and embrace peace.

He said the yearnings and aspirations of the people of the region had been realised following the creation of the ministry, adding that the much_ needed development and empowerment were on the way to the region.

“I am appealing for a ceasefire because it is almost Uhuru, no more hostage taking, no more militancy, no more pipeline vandalism because we must all cooperate with Yar’Adua to succeed. Anybody who engages in criminal act again would be seen as anti-Niger Delta,” he added.


Good measure — Okotie-Eboh


A PDP chieftain, Chief Okotie-Eboh, said: “It is a very good measure and it shows the sincerity of President Yar’Adua to resolving the Niger Delta crisis. We should give him a chance. This ministry will get allocations like other ministries to tackle the problems of the Niger Delta. t is a good development.”


David-West, Akinjide give thumbs-up


Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Professor Tam David-West and former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), lauded the creation of the Ministry.

But Chief Akinjide who spoke in Ibadan said in as much as he would appreciate the move by the president, the quality of the person chosen to man the ministry would determine the success of the ministry.

“It is an excellent move in the right direction, but a crucial test is the content of the portfolio of the ministry. The creation of the ministry may not put a final end to the crisis in the region unless the Federal Government does the right thing,” he said.

On his part, Professor David-West advised President Yar’Adua not to nominate a Niger Deltan as head of the ministry so that the issue of sentiment and corrupt practices could be taken care of.

His words: “The minister must not come from Niger Delta. The fact that the minister comes from Niger Delta does not mean such person is committed to the cause of the region. If you make a Niger Deltan a minister, he will complicate the issue. He will come with his biases and sentiments.

“So, the president must ensure a good Nigerian outside Niger Delta region is made the minister. The permanent secretary can be from the region but not the accounting officer of the ministry,” said the Professor of Virology, adding: “I give kudos to Yar’Adua. Without taking out anything out of his tremendous achievements, what he has done is highly commendable. But it is one thing to create a ministry it is another thing for the ministry to work.”

What is needed are experts in aerial photography to track the movements of people in the area.

That way more will be revealed and positions captured with minimal collateral damage if possible.

Oil companies are warned to move out their workers within the next 24 hours, "because a hurricane is about to sweep through oil installations in the entire Niger Delta region," MEND warned in the statement.

what a bunch of punks.  i know part of guerrilla warfare is sabotage but do these clowns do anything else.

bawomolo:

what a bunch of punks. i know part of guerrilla warfare is sabotage but do these clowns do anything else.

Market utility is inversely proportional to political volatility. . . . lol.

tpia:

What is needed are experts in aerial photography to track the movements of people in the area.

That way more will be revealed and positions captured with minimal collateral damage if possible.

Don't worry, we will employ Nigeria1 to do that one for us. . . .he can head the anti-militant division at NigComSat. . .

Ibime:



Don't worry, we will employ Nigeria1 to do that one for us. . . .he can head the anti-militant division at NigComSat. . .

no wonder you guys are running helter skelter and trying to bluff your way out of a tight corner. If Nigeria1 is the kind of analyst you're relying on, then better move to Cameroun as part of bakassi. Nigeria1 wey dey tell you say most of the oilfields you're fighting about, actually belong to the Yoruba side?

Ibime:

Market utility is inversely proportional to political volatility. . . . lol.

abeg quit fooling yourself over this oil thing.

Gas prices have risen and risen yet the world hasnt fallen apart.

The most that can happen is the Republicans get replaced by Democrats and so on. How many Nigerians have you seen returning home because they couldnt afford gas prices or cost of living abroad due to the attacks by Niger Delta militants on oil installations in Nigeria?

People are buying hybrid cars in record numbers, many overseas companies are packing up and returning to the US or their home countries, and China is taking advantage of the whole situation to colonize Africa. So who exactly is the winner or loser here? Gray area, I should think.

tpia:

Gas prices have risen and risen yet the world hasnt fallen apart.

The most that can happen is the Republicans get replaced by Democrats and so on. How many Nigerians have you seen returning home because they couldnt afford gas prices or cost of living abroad due to the attacks by Niger Delta militants on oil installations in Nigeria?

People are buying hybrid cars in record numbers, many overseas companies are packing up and returning to the US or their home countries, and China is taking advantage of the whole situation to colonize Africa. So who exactly is the winner or loser here? Gray area, I should think.

So it shouldn't bother you none if our actions lead to higher prices. So why are you sweating us?

Market utility is inversely proportional to political volatility. . . . lol.

and how has such volatility benefitted the people of ND, less oil revenue means less allocation to the new minstry and ND states. u aren't gaining anything at all.

Ibime:

So it shouldn't bother you none if our actions lead to higher prices. So why are you sweating us?

you're the ones sweating yourselves.

I'm saying higher gas prices wont stop the sun shining.

bawomolo:

and how has such volatility benefitted the people of ND, less oil revenue means less allocation to the new minstry and ND states. u aren't gaining anything at all.

Firstly, the local economy is based on fishing and farming. That is gone now because of pollution. In the eyes of the average Niger-Delta man, we lose more by having crude oil than not having it. Without crude oil, we would still have our local economy and hunger will never cross any of our stomachs. Therefore, we are not spiting ourselves even if we chase all oil companies away. It would be good riddance to bad pollution and health hazards. A man always prefers to rely on his own means rather than Government handouts.

If not for all this agitation, there would not even be any Niger Delta Ministry.

They are even building a new Petroleum Institute in Bayelsa abi Delta state. Not to mention the new N16bn initiative that the EU have agreed with Nigeria for the Niger-Delta. You have to admit that MEND has achieved results.

However, Nigeria keeps supplying all these things that we never asked for. What we asked for was fiscal federalism, a repeal of the Petroleum and Land acts and better industry standards on the emmission of carbon pollutants.

I wish Nigeria responded favourably to peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience.  I can assure you the Niger Delta people would prefer to seek a peaceful course of action. However, 50 years of empirical evidence has taught us better.

After a period of oppression, a man is ready to spite himself in order to spite you. If we tolerate this, then our children will be next. In other words, "We no go gree. . . . you go kill us today o!"

You have to admit that MEND has achieved results.

this makes as much sense as crediting an israeli-palestinian peace deal to hamas.

Call it what you want, that is your own wahala.

it's the truth, does MEND have a centralized structure or a credible political wing like the ANC during apartheid to claim it has caused those developments. MEND is a splintered group(probably with infighting) that has done more harm than good to the people of ND. MEND just gives the nigerian army a good excuse for the nigerian army to wreck havoc on you guys. why does everything revolve around ijaw/ijo to you. itsekiri, urhobo people and co don disappear.

Firstly, the local economy is based on fishing and farming. That is gone now because of pollution

money in ND that should be spent on environmental protection is probably being DIVERTED to security and this silly skirmishes. a massive offensive is probably inevitable to clean up this MEND mess once and for all.

Therefore, we are not spiting ourselves even if we chase all oil companies away

actually u would, since the oil companies are probably the ones that would bear the burden of job creation and cleaning the oil spills in nigeria.

and neighboring Ijaw communities in Rivers State with helicopter gunships, jet fighters and over 20 gun boats and landing crafts filled with heavily armed soldiers mainly from the northern axis of Nigeria," said the statement.

   "All MEND positions in the Niger delta will respond to this unprovoked attack coming at a time the government is canvassing the so-called Niger Delta Ministry to hoodwink the people," it said.

I am happy some reasonable heads are within this MEND group. Niger Delta ministry my arrss. Did we start today to see such? I pity any Igbo soldier that will join this hausa/fulanis in this injustices against our neighbors. They know nothing but only to kill.
If only the Ijaws will have ONLY leaders like Chief James Otobo who understand the mentality of this hausas. What they are doing to the Ijaws and to an extent, the rest of nigerians is sanctioned by their koran, so it's a no biggie for them. Just read the provocative comments of tpia, one of their sons to understand what i am saying here. All he want is to keep the oil flowing no matter how it is achieved. It's also not a suprise that some yorubas are supporting this injustice as you can also notice in this forum because they also benefit from it. Only those who are afraid to live on their own will succumb to the threats of these illiterate and parasitic people. UP MEND!!!

QuotaSyste:

I am happy some reasonable heads are within this MEND group. Niger Delta ministry my arrss. Did we start today to see such? I pity any Igbo soldier that will join this hausa/fulanis in this injustices against our neighbors. They know nothing but only to kill.
If only the Ijaws will have ONLY leaders like Chief James Otobo who understand the mentality of this hausas. What they are doing to the Ijaws and to an extent, the rest of nigerians is sanctioned by their koran, so it's a no biggie for them. Just read the provocative comments of tpia, one of their sons to understand what i am saying here. All he want is to keep the oil flowing no matter how it is achieved. It's also not a suprise that some yorubas are supporting this injustice as you can also notice in this forum because they also benefit from it. Only those who are afraid to live on their own will succumb to the threats of these illiterate and parasitic people. UP MEND!!!

e be like say dem don take Tpia swear for ya brain.

I remember this piece written by Gani. . . . Gani is a true friend of the Niger Delta people. . . I remember that he was Saro-Wiwa's lawyer. . . .


[center]The Murder Of Dikibo
Another Lesson For Niger-Delta[/center]

[center]By
Gani Fawehinmi, LLD, SAN[/center]




It appears to me that there is a deliberate but undeclared policy of the Nigerian state, through successive governments, to eliminate prominent leaders and leading lights from the Niger-Delta, be they of the left, right or centre particularly those who have the moral capacity to influence, motivate and to lead their people.

Let no one be deceived that the Nigerian State is scared of the eruption of discontent that may develop from the avalanche  of socio-economic and indeed political deprivation, neglect and exclusion of the Niger-Delta which is the confirmed hewers of wood and drawers of water of the Nigerian economy.

The Nigerian State tolerates leaders from the Niger Delta so long as they support the enslavement of their people. But the moment they show signs of independent thinking and preparation for action or opposition to the negative policies of the Nigerian State, all the coercive apparati of State power and might are brought to bear on them without pity or without human touch.

This is the pivot around which the strange, dastardly and brutal murders of their leaders in recent times can be understood.



ISAAC JASPER ADAKA BORO

Let us start with Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro, a revolutionary of the Niger-Delta.

Jasper Adaka Boro revolted against the suffering of his people.  Jasper was a former Police officer who later became a student leader in University of  Nigeria Nsukka.  He was imbued with rebellious instincts and aversion for poverty.  With an unusual courage and determination, he led a revolt against the socio-economic system that imprisons the Niger-Delta people.

The following facts emerged from his trial in 1966.  In 1966, Isaac Boro from Oloibiri in the Niger Delta area, returned home from Lagos and recruited other young men, forty in number, including Samuel Owonaru and Nottingham Dick into an organisation known as the Delta Volunteer Service (DVS). He had conceived and worked on this liberation plan for 3 years. He established these men in a camp which he set up first at Taylor’s Creek then later at Ton‑Ton‑Bau bush, supplied them with military-style uniforms, and trained then in the use of firearms and dynamite, using explosives which he bought for that purpose.  A red flag bearing a crocodile emblem was hoisted in the camp.  The training continued until the 23rd February when Boro divided the men into three groups, each of which he assigned to carry out certain operations.

Two of the groups led by Adaka Boro and Nottingham Dick attacked the police station at Yenagoa. They blew open the armoury and removed a quantity of rifles and ammunition. They also kidnapped the police inspector in charge of the station and two other persons. Later, one of the three groups proceeded by motorboat to Oloibiri, where they blew up the Shell‑B.P. oil pipeline. Their three prisoners were abandoned a few days later and they managed to make their way back to Yenagoa. Apart from the pipeline at Oloibiri, another Shell‑B.P. pipeline was blown up  at Odi.

On the afternoon of the same day that the pipeline in Odi was attacked, eight members of the organisation engaged in a gun battle with units of the police force drafted to the area to restore law and order. After the operation, at which the police expended 450 rounds of ammunition, with no loss of life on either side, the police found erected on the Mbiama side of the river a signboard bearing the words “Welcome to the Niger Delta Peoples Republic”.  They also found copies of typewritten documents titled “THE NIGER DELTA PEOPLES REPUBLIC DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE” and another headed “NIGER DELTA PEOPLES REPUBLIC STATE OF EMERGENCY D.V.S. OPERATION ON INTERNAL SECURITY”

After Boro lost his appeal at the Supreme Court and he was kept in the prison, the Nigerian civil war broke out. He was compelled by circumstances  to join the Nigerian side in the Civil War.  In suspicious circumstances,  which are yet to be officially explained, he met his death. That eclipsed his “revolution”. He fought and died while trying to rescue his people from socio‑economic subjugation.



KENULE BEESON SARO-WIWA

Then came Ken Saro Wiwa.  He saw injustice and fought against it.  The Nigerian  State descended on him and got rid of him by hanging him and eight others to death.

Ken was an intellectual, an administrator, a poet, an orator, an author, a great thinker, and above all he was an organiser of people per excellence.  He had an overwhelming moral authority.  He aimed to redress the political and socio-economic wrongs imposed on the Niger Delta people.  His base was Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People. (MOSOP).

He was tenacious and determined in pursuit of emancipatory ideals.  In all his struggles, Ken applied peaceful, non-violent means reminiscent of the strategy and tactics of Mahatma Ghandi.

The Nigerian State became uncomfortable with the spreading influence of the icon from Niger Delta.  On Friday, November 10, 1995 Ken and 8 other equally prominent activist were hanged.  Acid was poured on the dead body of Ken, perhaps to prevent (in their puerile and morbid thinking) the reincarnation of Ken Saro Wiwa.

In the words of Ken at the Special Tribunal set up by the Late General Sani Abacha:

“My lord, we all stand before history.  I am a man of peace, of ideas.  Appalled by the denigrating poverty of my people who live on a richly-endowed land, distressed by their political marginalization and economic strangulation, angered by the devastation of their land, their ultimate heritage, anxious to preserve their right to life and to a decent living and determined to usher to this country a whole a fair and just democratic system which protects everyone and every ethnic group and gives us all a valid claim to human civilization, I have devoted all my intellectual and material resources, my very life, to a cause in which I have total belief and from which I cannot be blackmailed or intimidated.   I have no doubt at all about the ultimate success of my cause, no matter the trials and tribulations which I and those who believe with me may encounter on our journey.  Nor imprisonment nor death can stop our ultimate victory.

On trial also is the Nigerian nation, its present rulers and all those assisting them.  Any nation which can do to the weak and disadvantaged what the Nigerian nation has done to the Ogoni, loses a claim to independence and to freedom from outside influence. 

I predict that a denouncement of the riddle of the Niger Delta will soon come.  The agenda is being set at this trial.  Whether the peaceful ways favoured will prevail depends on what the oppressor decides, what signals it sends out to the waiting public.


SENATOR OBI WALI AND PA ALFRED REWANE

We cannot but mention the murder of Senator Obi Wali, a prominent Niger Deltan of Rivers State extraction who was gruesomely assisinated in his house and matcheted to pieces. Or how can we forget the organised assassination of Pa Alfred Rewane of Niger Delta and of Warri pedigree.  Pa Rewane was a national philanthropist and a die-hard defender of Niger Delta.

He loathed poverty.  In several advertisements in major Newspapers in  Nigeria before his death, he espoused the philosophy of governance that should cater for the welfare of the country in general and the Niger Delta in particular. His influence impacted effectively on both the Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole.  The government could not accommodate his criticisms through the written word.  He was assassinated on Friday, October 6, 1995.


CHIEF MARSHAL HARRY

Marshall Harry was murdered on Wednesday, 5th March 2003. He was a former National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-South, Niger Delta.  He later decamped to the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP).  Shortly after he decamped to the (ANPP), he was assassinated in Abuja.


ALFRED AMINASAORI KALA DIKIBO

Alfred Aminasaori Kala Dikibo was murdered on the night of Friday, February 6, 2004.  The world woke up to hear of his death on Saturday, 7th February 2004 which was a weekend.  The President had his media chat on Sunday, 8th February 2004 where he declared that Dikibo was killed by armed robbers.

Obviously no investigations had been carried out to justify General Obasanjo’s unnatural and diversionary conclusion.  Since the President made an affirmative assertion as to the cause of Dikibo’s murder, it would be expected that the police would ask the President some questions.   In fact, the investigation should start from Aso Rock, to PDP and then to Rivers State in that order.



Furthermore, the agenda of the meeting which Dikibo was to attend is important if the police is to get to the root of his death.

The following questions are very pertinent in this regard:

(a)   What was the aim of the meeting?

(b)   What agenda was in place?

(c)   Was the meeting going to oppose some policies of the President?

(d)   Was the meeting going to discuss the plan to amend the Constitution so that there will be another opportunity for the President to re-contest or to oppose the attempts by General Obasanjo to perpetuate himself in power?

(e)   Was the meeting out to create a united front for the South-South people so that they could sponsor a Presidential Candidate in 2007?

(f)    Would the meeting have affected the political calculation of PDP for 2007?
     

Unless the Niger Delta people are united against oppression and they are prepared to put their destiny in their own hands to shake off the yoke of governmental barbarism and subjugation of their future, there may be no end to the murders.

In conclusion, all Nigerians, regardless of ethnic affiliation, religious differences or varying geo-political backgrounds, have a duty to rise up and resist arbitrary deprivation of lives.  Arbitrary killings by the State will continue for as long as such odious criminal and despicable acts do not evoke mass anger and people’s  peaceful uprising.  Only the fear of a volcanic social eruption from below can stop barbaric behaviour by holders of political power.


CHIEF GANI FAWEHINMI, LLD, SAN 
Thursday, 12th February, 2004

Amaechi laments miliitants’ activities

Meanwhile, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has denounced the activities of militants in the state, lamenting their negative impact on development in the state.

The activities of the militants, he said, recently forced him to lodge N94 billion, an amount which accrued to the state from excess crude account in the bank. He regretted that the money could not be utilised for projects in the state at the moment because of the militants who are in the habit of abducting workers at project sites.

He cited the Egbomu community in Andoni local government area which is threatened by coastal erosion with government unable to help and contractors there forced to abandon the site.

“In the last two months, the contractor has not gone to site because the so-called militants did not allow the dredgers to pass,” Governor Amaechi said, and asked: “Who is losing or gaining in this kind of scenario?”

But he vowed that government would not relent as it was determined to flush them out. He said the activities of the criminals were denying the people of Rivers State development.

Governor Amaechi added that contract for the bridge linking Bolo Community in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area with Dere Community in Gokana Local Government Area had been awarded, and contractor paid, but the militants were denying Bolo people the privilege of driving home to their communities with their cars.

Ibime you just dey decieve yourself

We know say Yar'adua dey mumu, but MEND no be the solution to nothing!!!!!!!!!!

Controversies trail Niger Delta Ministry over appointments
Written by xxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 15 September 2008
THE recent announcement by President Yar’Adua to create a ministry of the Niger Delta which has precipitated mixed reactions is heading for another controversy.
This time it is over which among the contending ethnic groups in the region should produce the ministers and executives of the newly created ministry.

In a statement issued by a Sapele-based group, Niger Delta Youths Assembly for Peace and Justice (NDYAPJ), the body described the call credited to Niger Delta Watchdog that the President should, “consider representation of the various militant groups in the constitution of the ministry’s executives”, as not only irresponsible, but crudely opinionated and selfish

The statement signed by Messrs. Sisan Nanna, Ngozi Akani, Ejiro Akpomiemie and Eno Akpan appealed to the Federal Government to resist such cheap ethno-centric blackmail and cautioned the President to be fair-minded in the “forth-coming appointments into the new ministry, particularly that the Ijaws have so far been over-advantaged”.

The Sapele-based group, said, “The mentioned and recommended militant groups (MEND, IYC, NDPVF and GRAND) are all fronts for the Ijaw ethnic group represented by the Ijaw National Congress and the Ijaw Youths Council.”

It also noted that, “In a region of multiplicity of ethnic groups, for any group to arrogate to itself as the master-tribe status is not only immoral and criminal, but most unacceptable.”

The NDYAPJ said the Federal Government should “hold itself responsible” for what it described as the “endless raging and ravaging overbearing attitude of the Ijaw groups,” noting that it has never ceased to warn the Federal Government of the potential of creating a monster in the Niger Delta because of the propensity of government to “reward violence through endless pampering of the Ijaw ethnic group at the expense of the others in the region”.

The group said the collectivity of the Ijaw as an ethnic group has got more than their fair share of such fortunes and positions allocated to the region, adding that “if the government succumbs to latest treat and blackmail, then the government would have on its own authenticated and legitimised the dummy always put forward by the Ijaw ethnic group that the whole of the Niger Delta is synonymous with them”.

The NDYAP said from the position of the Vice-President, minister and leadership of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) allotted to the region, the Ijaws have cornered them without remorse and consideration for the sensibilities of the other ethnic groups in the region.

It said further, “To begin the process of cornering and monopolising the executives of the Ministry of Niger Delta would constitute the most potent subtle way of telling the world that in Nigeria, violence, kidnapping, illegal bunkering are rewarding and lucrative ventures.”