Militants bomb Shell facilities again
Headlines Jun 29, 2009

* MEND claims 23 soldiers killed

*No soldier was killed – JTF

By Emma Amaize

WARRI - MILITANTS in the early hours of today bombed an off-shore platform of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) located at Forcados in Delta State and purportedly sunk a military gun boat carrying between 20-23 soldiers, a claim that the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta promptly denied.

Spokesman of the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND), Jomo Gbomo who confirmed the bombing of Clusters 11 and 30 of the platform and clash between militants and soldiers in an online statement, yesterday, also said its commanders were being enticed with up to N1 billion each to lay down their arms.

militantafp480

His words, “Even though our commanders are constantly being bombarded with enticing monetary offers as much as 1billion Naira per camp, only those who are willing to sell their birthright for a bowl of porridge will accept while the rest of us will continue the struggle until justice is achieved”.

Coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre (JMCC) of the JTF, Colonel Rabe Abubakar , however, said MEND was fabricating a story concerning a clash between soldiers and militants in the state, as nothing of such happened.

He said the militant group was striking at isolated pipelines that were not in use and which soldiers were not guarding, all to create the impression that they were still potent, whereas, it was clear that the security outfit was dislodging the militants from their various camps,

Colonel Abubakar said that no military gunboat was sunk, not to talk of 20 -23 soldiers losing their lives as claimed by the MEND.

The JTF spokesman wondered why the boys carrying out the attacks should not take the opportunity opened by the Federal Government by the proclamation of amnesty to drop their arms and live a good life, saying, he was surprised that they were still going ahead with the destruction of the nation’s economy and pollution of the environment of their people despite the government’s gesture.

MEND in a drawn out statement said Shell Forcados off-shore platform attack at about 3.30 am was a continuation of its Hurricane Piper Alpha, pointing out, “Cluster 11 and 30 are currently on fire after a massive explosion”.

Gbomo said after bombing the two clusters, “A military gunboat patrol on noticing the fire stumbled upon heavily armed fighters and the confrontation resulted in the sinking of the gunboat with all the occupants numbering between 20-23 soldiers”.

According to him, “We have made it clear that patrols must not open fire at us as our target is the oil infrastructure. This unheeded warning resulted in the death of these soldiers”

MEND disowns representatives
In a related development, he said, “MEND wishes to state that Mr Innocent Iboroma and Mr Cletus Arerebo are not representatives of Farah Dagogo and Boyloaf at high level talks.Therefore, the said meeting held in Port Harcourt between them and the Minister of Internal Affairs is a fraud”.

“MEND”, he maintained, “will negotiate as a group when the right time comes. The impression the government is trying to give that commanders are negotiating independently is another propaganda aimed at causing confusion”.

Arerebo, Boyloaf fault Jomo Gbomo

Vanguard contacted Mr. Arerebo and he explained he had the mandate of Boyloaf to attend the meeting. His words,  “It is Boyloaf that called me to represent him at the meeting, I did not know about the meeting before, he was the one that called me  and I know that many people called him to find out whether he sent me to the meeting and he told them he was the one, so I don’t know what Jomo Gbomo is driving at. I even spoke to Boyloaf this morning .

Also speaking to Vanguard, Boyloaf said, “Cletus Arerebo has been representing at several meetings, I sent him to represent me in this one in question”.

MEND raises fresh query on Okah

The militant group also picked holes in government’s sincerity on the release of its detained leader, Henry Okah. According to Gbomo, “The sincerity of the government of Nigeria came into question again on Friday, June 26, 2009 after the Interior Minister, General Godwin Abbe (rtd) informed the nation that the release of a sick Henry Okah would now depend on consultations with the dictators and despots ruling Angola and Equatorial Guinea”.

“The minister also lied when he said Okah travelled to Equatorial Guinea. The fact is that Mr Henry Okah has never set foot in that country; not even as an airport transit passenger.

“In the case of Angola, the authorities in that country had severally wanted to release Okah and Atatah because they had no case to answer, but were prevented by the Nigerian ambassador in Angola from doing so”, he noted.

“It is important to remember that Edward Atatah, arrested  with Henry in Angola has long been set free because nothing incriminating came out of that business trip. If it were true that Okah went to purchase weapons as claimed, then Edward would not have been set free because both men traveled together to inspect the fishing trawler in Luanda, Angola which Henry wanted to purchase.

Demands compensation for Green and Pepple families
“Many Nigerians are unhappy that the Yar’Adua government has brushed aside the call for inquiry into the extra-judicial murder on 08/08/08 of Messrs Boma Green and Stanley Pepple by the JTF in Bonny, Rivers state”, he added.

He continued: “The fact they have not seen reason to investigate the killings that was caught on tape means that the perpetrators have been given a license to kill innocent civilians. The region is not safe in the hands of such licensed armed killers called the JTF who we understand is now threatening the families to shut up or risk being killed”.

“The government should use part of the 50 billion Naira amnesty fund as compensation to the families of these men since they left behind children that must be educated and wives that must survive with a trade.

“A fraction of what was wasted for travels, hotels, allowances and entertainment by the Niger Delta Technical Committee whose report has joined the long list of shelved reports since 1960 could have gone a long way in helping the two families.

“Justice for the two men will become an integral part of any future negotiations we will have with the government until the perpetrators of that evil act are brought to book”, he said.

Amnesty‘ll separate criminals from freedom fighters

On the amnesty for militants, he reiterated that it was directed at criminals and not freedom fighters, saying, “If successful, the on-going amnesty exercise directed at repentant criminals in the Niger Delta region will no doubt create an enabling environment for dealing with the Niger Delta question which freedom fighting groups such as MEND is waging”.

“It will separate the wheat from the chaff and allow the government to focus on the root issues instead of tying militancy with criminality as an excuse for not addressing the grievances of the Niger Delta people.

“Because criminals in other parts of Nigeria may hijack the struggle again after the region is rid of them, we call on political thugs, armed robbers, kidnappers, pirates etc from other states in Nigeria to take advantage of the governments offer by travelling to one of the centers in the Niger Delta and trade their weapons for amnesty.

“Come with the whole gang and get rehabilitated with gains of free education, money to start legitimate businesses etc. This is a unique opportunity in a country where so many graduates cannot find jobs and girls no longer marry for love. Remember to use a name that strikes terror, like Osama bin Laden, 9/11, Taliban, Mujaheddin etc.

“The certificate the Inspector General of Police (IGP) will personally hand over will be your life saver. One last thing, take  a picture shaking hands with the IGP as proof, frame the picture and leave it on your car dash board to avoid future harassment by the police at illegal road blocks.

“We hope that after this exercise is over the government will begin a genuine bilateral peace process with the involvement of the international community and every stakeholder to address the agitation of the region such as fiscal federalism amongst others”, the militant group asserted.

…Rehabilitation for criminals in public office
“We also hope that rehabilitation of criminals from past public office holders to the present ones, including the armed forces and police will be put in place so as to bring sanity back to the decayed system.

“Past heads of state and governors from the military era should also participate in the program too. The Jerry Rawlings type of rehab against


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/06/29/militants-bomb-shell-facilities-againkill-23-soldiers/

http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/TON/Article.aspx?id=1943

there you go guys,

The group sarcastically added that the amnesty seekers should take a picture of themselves shaking hands with the head of police and place the framed picture on their car dashboards in order to avoid future harassment by security forces. ol boy
more sources below.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/29/ap6597303.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aBIaU9WuQTjI

There goes 'our' highest revenue earner.

God help us, this is how problems in countries begin! How will the country survive without crude oil? Even if they finally realize that they need to focus on other income earners, it will not take a day or even a year to achieve this!

Epiphany:

God help us, this is how problems in countries begin! How will the country survive without crude oil? Even if they finally realize that they need to focus on other income earners, it will not take a day or even a year to achieve this!

Will be to the best interest of Nigeria for the Oil to seize, cos that will make them to focus on other source of revenue.

Epiphany:

God help us, this is how problems in countries begin! How will the country survive without crude oil? Even if they finally realize that they need to focus on other income earners, it will not take a day or even a year to achieve this!

How was 'nigeria surviving' before oil was discoverd?

MEND is clearly winning both politically and militaristically.


Also, since the documents at MEND’s camp were discovered, along with all the political affiliates on them, it has become clear the FG has hesitated in pushing further due to fear from opponents from within.

The situation is a mess, but a good crisis cannot be wasted. This is a great chance for the FG to begin to generate revenue from other sources, and for states' governors to stop waiting for handouts, but to actually get their states to generate revenue.

Next year, the FG allocation will be miniscule due to MEND's ability to strangle the major oil exporters. I hope governors are ready for it. If any of them have brains they will begin to plan for a much smaller oil allocation next year.

GBAM. . . . . some people better realise that the amnesty is for criminals. . . . the amnesty will not take away from genuine agitation. . . . up MEND!

If i were from any of those areas these militants operate,i would expose them for good.if this turns to a full war,millions of people will die and the militants shall surrender.this is seeming difficult because it has not been turned to ethnic war like biafra.trust me when war escalates,it will turn to ijaw vs nigeria and like the biafran war both innocent civilians,women and children will be massacred.i plead with any powerful and wise ijaw to help solve this because ijaws cant stand what igbos suffered in biafra.

Abagworo:

If i were from any of those areas these militants operate,i would expose them for good.if this turns to a full war,millions of people will die and the militants shall surrender.this is seeming difficult because it has not been turned to ethnic war like biafra.trust me when war escalates,it will turn to ijaw vs nigeria and like the biafran war both innocent civilians,women and children will be massacred.i plead with any powerful and wise ijaw to help solve this because ijaws cant stand what igbos suffered in biafra.

My frend, you should reason a bit while commenting on this issue. You must understand that any future war that might emanate from this will not be like the Biafran war. Tell me if there is any well meaning Igbo person, civilian or military that will join nigerians/ awusa/ fulani prescisely to fight against the Ijaws? Such will never happen. Though most Ijaws collided with the rest of nigerians to fight against Igbos during the Biafran war, but that will not be the case this time. The only support that those awusa/fulanis will get might be from the Yorubas, their partners, or must i say their servants/arrss lickers in crime.
If any war breaks out, Igbo people will welcome lots of refugees from our Ijaw neighbors and suport them in food, cash and in kind until the war is over. Our people's proverb says that you don't fear death while going to war. Ijaws are already dying in dicapitating conditions caused by the unlawful theft of their oil resource, so why fear war when you can push and finally liberate your self and use what you have to better your children's future life? MEND should not relent in their effort for the successful end is near. Nigeria must be divided.

I really think the game is up for the north.
The same north that wants "one nigeria" because of fear or being like Chad and Niger: -

1) Hates seeing southerners in the north.
2) Resorts to killing Southerners any time their is religious provocation.
3) Remains the most economically unproductive region but has the gut to say "Power must return to the North"
4) Refuses to allow the people who generate the nation's wealth to have the seats of Petroleum Minister and NNPC Chairman (amidst all the agitation).

If the North truly wants One Nigeria from deep within their hearts (Without any selfish ulterior motive), why must they always kill southerners

Mend!
Move On! Split the Nation! Its loooong overdue.

chei that's our paycheck

Ellyptical:

I really think the game is up for the north.

Looks like MEND is really winning the war! After the claims that the boys have been dislodged, they still have the capacity to crumble the Oil industry!

I always wonder, what is so hard in just deciding once and for all to fix the Niger Delta problem?? Why is it so hard. Why can't the Government just decide for once to do right??
If this continues, in a few months, the government might not be able to pay salaries. Even salaries of the JTF boys might be hard to come by.

Yeah, MEND is really winning the war.

MEND is winning and they will finally win. FG is fighting a useless war.

God Bless Mend. I am so Happy and Full with Enjoy that my peoples are winning.

“Because criminals in other parts of Nigeria may hijack the struggle again after the region is rid of them, we call on political thugs, armed robbers, kidnappers, pirates etc from other states in Nigeria to take advantage of the governments offer by travelling to one of the centers in the Niger Delta and trade their weapons for amnesty.

LOL

If it were true that Okah went to purchase weapons as claimed, then Edward would not have been set free because both men traveled together to inspect the fishing trawler in Luanda, Angola which Henry wanted to purchase.

How could the FG have mistaken responsible fishermen for militants.

this guys are full blooded patriot, what our fathers fail to do thinking we are ONE nigeria, and were getting betrayed left right and center. this guys refuse to take bull shit, i really commend them, for their bravery, this might just be the catalyst needed to get this slumbering giant rolling. watch out for recruitment not only from the niger delta, but the arewa itself, they need emancipation from their feudal rulers who have subjected them to slavery of the highest order for more than two hundred years. WATCH OUT!