Fighters with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), pictured in 2008
What the so called ex-militant generals said in Yenagoa was it not as unintelligent as the allegations by a section of the country that President Goodluck Jonathan and his Niger Delta people are responsible for the spate of Boko Haram attacks in the north particularly the north-east? What has happened to our sense of reasoning? You have a problem in your bedroom with your wife and children and instead of facing the issues as they are, you are busy blaming every neighbour but yourself and your family members for your woes. Check am naa!
When Boko Haram started their senseless killings and destructions, some northern leaders and elites celebrated them as messiahs sent from Allah to make life unbearable to the Jonathan government. Little did they know that these Boko Haram boys dem had a different agenda and when it dawned on them, these same northerners who hailed the miscreants turned around to accuse the American authourities, Nigerian authourities, Jonathan and his Niger Delta militants of throwing bombs all over the place. You see self deceit?
Now, hear the self acclaimed Niger Delta ex-militant generals: “We will react violently to any calculated plan by the opposition political leaders to sponsor some few disgruntled elements in the Niger Delta to perpetuate violence. If there is any attack in the Niger Delta, it will be met by multiple attacks in the states under their control.”
“In a situation where the people of the Niger Delta have decided to adopt a non-violence posture due to the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, it should not mean that we are cowards. We want the members of the pseudo MEND and their sponsors to know that if they buy arms to carry out their evil intentions, we will produce guns to counter them. If they buy bombs, we will produce bombs.”
Mumurism is not an attribute of cow (namah) alone; some human beings have a very high mumu index. Look at it: if your archenemy can come into your bedroom to recruit your children who as you said, were disgruntled for whatever reasons, and succeeds to use them against you while they are still living in your house, what does that say about your ability to manage conflicts and disagreements?
So if there is an attack in the Niger Delta carried out by Niger Deltans (MEND), you will take your revenge attack to another people in another area because you suspect they bought over your children! What kind of mindset is this?
Even the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) in a statement signed by Eric Omare could publicly say: “We want to clearly dissociate ourselves from the purported statement by MEND. We are aware that those disgruntled elements were paid money to issue a statement of lies and deceit. MEND of today is no more the original MEND that was formed by ex-agitators in the Niger-Delta region to fight for the emancipation of the region.”
“The injustice against the people of the Niger-Delta which led to the agitation was foisted on them through the successive administration of people from the ‘born-to-rule’ clan of General Buhari. Hence, it is a contradiction for the so-called MEND which claimed to be fighting for the Niger-Delta region to adopt the continuation of the injustice against the Niger-Delta region.”
Is it not funny that IYC could unknowingly acknowledge the existence of a MEND even though it is not the original version? Ofcourse there is no way that this crop that claims to be MEND today could be completely the same that operated before the amnesty by the Yar’adua administration. The question is: is there any variant of MEND in existence today in the Niger Delta or it’s a mere “ghost” group as described by the IYC?
Rather than acknowledge that there is a real problem, dancing around it would not make it go away. Spirits don’t issue/send press statements to media outfits in the terrestrial plane except it is peculiar to the Niger Delta. And as said in one of the various MEND’s- spirit statements, “Nigerians should ask this man (Eric Omare), if he was referring to “ghosts” when he lauded MEND for declaring a temporary ceasefire six (6) months ago as can be seen in the following
Do you negotiate with “ghosts” for a ceasefire? If you negotiated with them, it means you know them and where they are so what stops the IYC leadership from going to meet with these people either to appease or confront them? Why threaten to export your problem to another state (region) when you can address it inside your house?
If a remnant of those who fought against the injustice meted to the region are still feeling disgruntled, is it not proper for those who have “seen the light” now to go and preach the good news to the ones still in darkness peradventure they too be converted? No be so?
It should be clear to the government and amnesty office as said by a commentator that “MEND may be on a spoiler/vengeance mission for what the PDP Chairman, Adamu Muazu, recently described as “Monkey de work baboon de chop.” If the amnesty was all encompassing, maybe, we may not have these pockets of disgruntled militants.
If MEND, a Niger Delta rights group (whether real or disgruntled faction) as alleged by the People’s Democratic Party spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, in his media statement, has any relationship with the APC, the question would be: where were the ex-militant generals, IYC and even Ijaw National Congress when their disgruntled brothers and co-travellers in the Niger Delta struggle reached out to Daura and Borno to strike a relationship in a strange land? Could it be that the disgruntled remnant of the militants complained at home but were ignored and asked to go to hell?
Peace is all we are asking for in the region and everybody should encourage whatever it takes to achieve it. That’s my message. God bless Nigeria!
IFEANYI IZEZE lives in Abuja and can be reached on: iizeze@yahoo.com; 234-8033043009)