MEND Nigeria-Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta-MEND-Official News Site -tracking News, Articles, Interviews and Opinions, related to MEND- from 1999 to Present
Abuja/Yenagoa — AFTER 19 days in captivity, the kidnapped four foreign oil workers were freed yesterday by Ijaw militants.
They were handed over to the Secretary to Bayelsa State Government,
Dr. Godknows Igali at 5 a.m at an undisclosed border town between
Bayelsa and Delta States.
Yenagoa — FOR the four foreign oil workers abducted by militants in the Niger
Delta, the final journey to freedom began at about 5 a.m. yesterday in
the mangrove of the Niger Delta. The take-off point was not immediately
clear, but it was somewhere between the Delta and Bayelsa States
boundary. They arrived Yanagoa through the Sagbama waterways about an
hour later, accompanied by the Secretary to the Bayelsa State
Government (SSG), Mr. Boladei Igali.
editorial
Lagos — The emergence of a hitherto unknown group, Movement For The
Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), which, a few weeks ago, kidnapped
four Shell oil workers of different foreign nationalities, has,
will-nilly, raised the security stakes in the nation's oil-producing
region of the Niger Delta.
column
Lagos — The release of the four foreign oil workers by their captors is a
cherry piece of news that would resonate beyond the shores of Nigeria.
Maybe this would modify the views abroad that "Nigeria is a lawless country".
Asaba — General Manager (West), Shell Petroluem Develop-ment Company, Mr
Cor Zegelaar, yesterday appealed to the Delta State government, to
provide adequate security for oil workers in the state with a view to
operating uninterrupted.
Yenagoa — Governor Goodluck Jonathan of Bayelsa State said last night that
the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) did not ask for
any ransom before the release of the four hostages on Monday.
He however said the government "provided money for logistics".
Port Harcourt — Four foreign oil workers were released on Monday after being held
hostage for 19 days by ethnic Ijaw militants in Nigeria's turbulent
Niger Delta.
But the militants, who are fighting to take control of the region's
oil wealth, said the release was a purely humanitarian gesture and
warned oil firms that their struggle to radically cut Nigeria's oil
exports would continue.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), who
are responsible for the kidnap of four oil workers being held hostages
in an undisclosed location, has warned the federal government against
attempts to use force to secure the release of the men even as it has
declared what it called, a unilateral ceasefire to allow for meaningful
negotiations between the federal government and the organisation.
Lagos — OUTSPOKEN lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), has warned the
Federal Government against the use of force in addressing current
agitation for resource control and improved living condition by the
people of the Niger Delta.
Warri — FOLLOWING the imminent release of the four foreign oil workers taken
hostage 19 days ago, a member of the negotiation team constituted by
the Federal Government, Chief Bello Oboko, has appealed for the safety
of the kidnappers.