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

05/15/2007

Gunmen kidnapped a Nigerian manager working for the Italian oil company, Agip, in Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta on Monday, the latest in a spate of abductions in Nigeria's anarchic oil heartland, police said. The man was on his way to work when six men dressed in military uniforms snatched him, a source working for a security company said. Ransom seekers in the Niger Delta sometimes dress up as soldiers to carry out abductions.

05/15/2007

opinion Lagos — There seems to be an end to the criminal activities of militants in the Niger Delta Region if the promises made by the President General of the Global Peace Movement, Dr. Mike Uyi, is anything to go by. Uyi, had promised to bring to Lagos some of the leaders of these militia groups so that they will be made to speak for themselves on what they want from the government and the oil companies. Uyi who only visited the Creeks to ascertain the extent of pollution in the area said that he actually met with the head of three militant groups in the region.

05/14/2007

Lagos — Fear and apprehension have gripped Anambra state following the proposed sit-at- home order by the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) which starts today with MASSOB and the police command in the state poised for a showdown.

05/14/2007

Abuja — The President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Peter Esele, has pleaded with the militants in the Niger Delta region to desist from violence as this will hamper development in the area.

05/14/2007

analysis Washington, DC — Militant groups in the Niger Delta have stepped up attacks on oil installations following last month's election. Since the beginning of May, pipelines have been sabotaged and at least 29 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped. A spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) warned that attacks would continued until the government opened a dialogue about restoring the oil wealth to the people in the region.

05/12/2007

Port-Harcourt — Sharing money to few dissenting voices in Niger-Delta won't work this time, says MEND THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND), has pointed to the way out of the series of violent attacks and abduction of foreign oil workers in the region, saying that dialogue is the better option to resolving the crises than the government handing out money to some people. Jomo Gbomo, the Movement's spokesman had this chat with our reporter. Read on.

05/11/2007

Nairobi — Oil firms have increased petrol and diesel prices at the pump by an average of Sh3 in the last two weeks, raising the stakes in their regular cat and mouse games with the Government. Petrol now costs as much as Sh81.24 per litre in Nairobi and the surrounding areas, with diesel climbing to Sh71.24 in the city. This comes at a time when international crude oil prices have been fighting to regain lost ground.

05/11/2007

Port Harcourt — A militant group which identified itself as "The authentic Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (mend)" has given an insight into the upsurge in criminal activities in the area.

05/10/2007

The Niger Delta region which has been a hotbed of violence with its attendant hostage taking and upheavals has remained the proverbial thorn in the flesh of the Federal Government over the years. Not even series of conferences and peace moves by various concerned bodies in the country and beyond have yielded the desired antidote to the recurrence of incessant kidnappings. However, peace and harmony may soon be restored in the region as a body known as Global Peace Movement, an international Non-governmental organization based in Nigeria has concluded modalities to find a permanent solution to the activities of the Niger Delta militants.

05/10/2007

column Was Rivers State governor-elect, Celestine Omehia, at all surprised when his mother was abducted by Niger Delta militants a couple of weeks back? Probably not, in a way. These militants have shown so much creativity and daring in their abduction activities that there is little reason for them to spare anyone.