THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has ruled out the possibility of its Aaron Team negotiating with Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, because he has not been mandated by ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua to do so.

The group has also denied involvement in the sabotage of a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline, which took place at the weekend in Bayelsa State.

Shell has cut its Nigerian oil output in the wake of an attack on a pipeline, hours after Nigeria's main militant group called off a three-month ceasefire.

Shell said on Monday in a statement that it was forced to shut down three flow stations at the weekend following an "act of sabotage" on the Trans Ramos pipeline in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

Shell's spokesman in Nigeria, Precious Okolobo, said: "We have shut in some flow stations which produce into the line and the leak has stopped. Repair work will commence as soon as possible."

MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, told The Guardian in an online interview that the absence of the President had negatively affected hopes of dialogue towards addressing the real issues surrounding the unrest in the Niger Delta.

"It appears President Yar'Adua did not delegate this very serious, peace-threatening issue to anyone in his absence. The Vice President has made no such move. He does not have the mandate of the President who appears to be the sole custodian of power in Nigeria. Without this mandate, any negotiations with the Vice President will be meaningless.

"Like many African nations, power is unfortunately centred around one man and the absence of this one man, in our case, President Yar'Adua, has likened Nigeria to a rudderless ship which can end up anywhere. The continued absence of the President and the vacuum of clear leadership created by this absence, inches Nigeria closer to self-destruction with each passing day," Gbomo said.

The Vice President, according to MEND, needs no advice on what to do in the event that this responsibility is thrust upon him. Should he fail to accede to their demands, according to MEND, the militants would continue with their fight regardless of the fact that he hails from the Niger Delta.

Gbomo stated that the implementation of the Ledum Mittee Committee recommendations would be a good start. The militant group, according to him, is fighting for the restoration and full control of land and resources of the people of the Niger Delta, "stolen more than 50 years ago by western oil companies and certain regions of Nigeria, which have held the reins of power."

Gbomo said: "President Yar'Adua certainly has the will to bring a change to the Delta, but lacks the tools. What the Delta needs is a constitutional amendment, which will only come when it becomes clear to our legislators that the oil in the Delta will stop flowing. Also, the President is surrounded by so many corrupt individuals looking to make money from everything concerned with the Niger Delta."

MEND, which called off its unilateral three months' ceasefire on Saturday, pointed out that it had never had faith in the entire amnesty exercise, which was offered by President Yar'Adua to Niger Delta militants, but had given dialogue a try to prove to the world the insincerity of the Federal Government, oil companies and other collaborators in the "theft of the resources of the Niger Delta areas."

The group accused the government of lacking a plan to address the injustice in the Niger Delta, arguing that government officials had hoped "to bring their version of peace to the Niger Delta through the bribing of traitors who had successfully deceived the government into believing they were capable of preventing a resurgence in fighting."

These frauds, according to MEND, "have existed through the era of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to this day, feeding off successive insincere governments."

Gbomo said MEND commanders had been appraising the situation on the ground to determine the direction the future military campaign would take. He said a number of individuals from the Niger Delta recently claimed the struggle had entered into an intellectual phase.

According to him, "Where have these fraudulent intellectuals been all these years? They are taking advantage of the government's eagerness to dole out bribes through dubious committees, competing in the media for relevance and favour in the eyes of the government."

MEND said it believed the prevailing situation in the country should, and would be resolved politically. It observed that if the President had handed over to his deputy as stipulated by the constitution, the prevailing confusion would have been avoided.

Responding to former President Obasanjo's demand for Yar'Adua to resign on health grounds, MEND said: "Is it not ironic that Obasanjo who sought to perpetuate himself in office is now giving lectures on honour? This is evident of the shamelessness and forgetfulness of our leaders."


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article03//indexn2_html?pdate=040210&ptitle=Jonathan%20has%20no%20mandate%20to%20talk%20with%20us,%20says%20MEND

Nigeria movie,

MEND is as confused as Yar'Adua.Cripple Nigeria's crude production completely and stop the implementation of the 2010 and see automatic results.If not we will continue on the status quo.

Lets wait and see the length at which the people of this Nation can be pushed before they resist . . I am actually loving the series of event, i hope Yar'Adua stays away a little longer