MEND names 7-member team to dialogue with FG
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Odein Ajumogobia. PHOTO: shipsandports
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on Monday, announced a seven-member team, led by Mr Odein Ajumogobia, a former Minister of Petroleum, to dialogue with the Federal Government.
Jomo Gbomo, MEND`s Spokesman, said in an online statement on Monday that other members of the group, tagged, “ Aaron Team 2”, are Bismark Rewane (Delta) and Chief Florence Ita-Giwa (Cross River).
The rest are Timipa Jenkins Okponipere (Bayelsa), Ibanga Isine (Akwa Ibom), Ledum Mitee (Rivers) and Lawson Omokhodion (Edo ).
Gbomo said other members of the team would be made public in due course after consultations with relevant stakeholders.
He said the team was made up of patriotic and selfless men and women with good track records and character drawn from different parts of the Niger Delta region.
Gbomo also said the team would dialogue with the Federal Government on the immediate, medium and long-term future of the Niger Delta region.
He said members had already agreed to serve on behalf of the Niger Delta Region.
He recalled that MEND on May 30, 2014, declared a ceasefire on attacks against the nation`s key economic and strategic interests.
The spokesman said the group took the decision in response to former President Goodluck Jonathan`s Democracy Day speech.
Our message to the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is simple: The Niger Delta struggle is beyond attacks on oil installations.
If indeed your cause is to avenge the injustice done to the Niger Delta region; then, we urge you to ceasefire and join us to the table of negotiation with the Federal Government.
Otherwise, the Niger Delta struggle shall be hijacked, once again by selfish interests for their own personal aggrandizement,” Gbomo said.
He said that the problems and challenges facing the region after attacks on key installations were environmental pollution and political corruption.
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5 Comments
Niger Delta Avengers are the real patriot and their demands speaks for the people, and not MEND. Avengers are to MEND what IPOB is to MASSOB, both Avengers and IPOB are true zealots and grassroots patriots that represents the genuine need of the poor peasant farmers of their respective communities.
really?
The challenge is that we all use fake names and address to make input in the social media. This tells much of who we are. what we aim at and what we want to be in the future. Faceless lot. I wonder for Nigerians of this century.
“However, with the benevolent benefit of hindsight, the group [MEND] realised that, after the initial euphoria of each successful attack, the gargantuan problems which confront our region; including environmental pollution and political corruption, increased geometrically. If indeed your cause is to avenge the injustice done to the Niger Delta region; then, we urge you to agree to a ceasefire and join us on the table of negotiating with the Federal Government.” – MEND
Well, who could have imagined a day that MEND & I (a Yoruba man, supposedly ‘co-conspirator’ with the Hausa-Fulanis to ‘steal’ ND oil) will be in agreement, in the attempt to drill some common sense into a ND militant group! You would think that any group that is really interested in ‘avenging’ the hapless ND people will look back at the history of militancy in the region, take the best lessons and learn from the mistakes of the past. But the mumu avengers, too eager to destroy the infrastructure that supports the national economy (including to the lowest levels of government in the ND states!), do not understand the power of leverage in any relationship. By disproportionately impacting your own local & regional economy and natural environment through these attacks, you are also destroying what is of utmost value [to the ND] in the long run. When it’s all said & done, oil money does not buy you a new and clean land, swamp, and waterways. I’m glad MEND is trying to instill some common sense into these boys. This is the 21st century. There’s no issue too complex to solve through persistent dialogue and political pressure. It’s harder than sneaking around and throwing cheap Chinese bangers, but it’s possible.
THE DNA IS THE RIGHTFUL STRRUGLING COMPARES WITH MEND AND THEY DON’T ASK FOR PIPELINES SECURITY CONTACT NOR CARROT AND STICK OR MONEY , BUT FOR MEND THEY HAD ALREADY SOLD THE NIGER DELTA STRRUGLY FOR ftMONEY AND THEY WERE AFTER MONEY, PIPELINES SECURITY CANTACT AND SECURITY JOB LIKE DOG HANDLY GARDING OIL FACILITY SO THE DEFFERENT IS COMPELELY CLEAR. SO MEND IS A JUDAS TRYING TO SETUP DNA TO COME FORWARDS KNOWING BETTER HIS DIALOGUE ARRANGEMENT MAY NOT WORK. THE GOVERNMENT JUST INTERESTED TO KNOW THEIR I’D AND WHO’S BEHIDE THE DNA AND WEAPONS
We will review and take appropriate action.