[size=15pt]Military not at war with MEND, say Defence officials [/size]
From Madu Onuorah (Abuja), Kelvin Ebiri and Rose Ann Chikeruba (Port Harcourt)

DEFENCE Headquarters yesterday dismissed claims by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) that it has ordered a cease-fire, saying that it is spurious term, since as the Nigerian military was never in any war with it or any group within the country.

Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Danjuma Yussuf, said in a statement in Abuja yesterday that if the group wants to be taken seriously, it should show it by laying down their arms "for the sake of national interest."

According to the Defence Spokesman, "the attention of Defence Headquarters has been drawn to the claim by a militant group going by the name 'MEND' to the effect that they have declared a cease fire in their so-called 'oil war' in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

"We want to categorically and emphatically state that the Nigerian Armed Forces is not at war with any individual or group and as such the issue of a cessation of fire or cessation of war as is being portrayed certainly does not arise.

"However, if the restive youths in the region are actually serious about stopping their acts of brigandage, they should show it by laying down their arms for the sake of national interest."

A top military officer told The Guardian that the military was unhappy that some Nigerians see its presence in the Niger Delta as meddlesomeness. This, he said, is because "in the first instance, as a sovereign nation, the military is expected to be deployed in every part of the country as a matter of routine. And with the crisis in the Niger Delta, the military's presence is purely to help in nudging forward the political solution including dialogue and guaranteeing security for infrastructure development of the area."

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Organising Secretary, Uche Secondus, has described militancy and youth restiveness in the Niger Delta as potential threats to the actualisation of President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua's seven-point agenda.

MEND has expressed its willingness to meet with the members of the Ledum Mitee-led Presidential Technical Committee on the Niger Delta as part of efforts to find lasting solutions to the protracted Niger Delta crisis. Secondus was PDP Rivers State chairman under former Governor Peter Odili.

Secondus, while addressing newly inaugurated local council party chairmen at the PDP secretariat in Port Harcourt yesterday, bemoaned the precarious security situation in the region, which has led to the abandonment of major construction projects like the East-West road by Julius Berger and others.

Also, the wife of detained Henry Okah, Azuka, has called on the State Security Services (SSS) to obey an order earlier given by a Federal High Court, Jos that her husband be taken to hospital for treatment of his kidney ailment.

Similarly, the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria has expressed concern over the significant drop in medical care in the Niger Delta region because of the rising level of armed conflict within the region.

The association said in a statement issued after its yearly General Meeting (AGM) held recently in Port Harcourt that, "health care indices such as infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate will continue to grow at an alarming rate except something is done fast to stop the problems in the region".

The national president of the association, Dr. Owhondah Golden lamented in the statement that oil exploration in the region had brought several diseases to the people.

source:http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article04//indexn2_html?pdate=230908&ptitle=Military%20not%20at%20war%20with%20MEND,%20says%20Defence%20officials

After more than 50 people dead, villages attack, 3 flowstation and several pipeline blown up, shell and other oil companies forced to evacuate, villagers forced to flee: if its not a war , is it a football match

this Nigeria politics tire me o!!!!