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
interview
Lagos — An Ijaw leader and Chairman of the Kalabaris' Elders Council, Chief Anab Sara-Igbe spoke to journalists recently in Lagos on the genesis of the Niger Delta crisis especially the current Port Harcourt violence. He proffered some solutions to the recurring unrest. Olatubosun Sowmimo was there. Excerpt:
Warri — MOVEMENT for Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) yesterday, said it had uncovered plan by Nigerian security agencies in connivance with the Presidency to decimate some Ijaw communities in the Niger-Delta, warning that militants would resume fresh hostilities if the plot was not aborted.
Warri — PRESIDENT of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, Dr. Chris Ekiyor says only the Ijaw National Congress (INC), currently headed by Prof Kimse Okoko and the IYC, can speak for the Ijaw nation and not the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) or any other group.
column
Lagos — For several decades after the discovery of crude oil in the Niger-Delta the area was rightly seen as the underdog region of the Nigerian state.
No thanks to its vast oil resources whose benefits were nowhere reflected in the everyday existence of the people that inhabit the area nor in the environment.
Port Harcourt — Spokesperson of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Gbomo Jomo has said that contrary to the much held view that most of the dead in the crack down on cultists and militants in Port Harcourt, Rivers State were cultists, the death toll was more of innocent civilian casualties.
Port Harcourt — Despite heavily armed government troops manning roadblocks and patrolling the streets of Nigeria's main southern oil city Port Harcourt, many locals say the militias which the troops have been fighting, are still located in and around the city and that the current peace is temporary.
Port Harcourt — Governor Celestine Omehia of Rivers State yesterday announced what amounted to a subtle proclamation of emergency rule in the state when he said soldiers would be on Port Harcourt streets for the next six months.
Port Harcourt — People are fleeing Nigeria's main oil city of Port Harcourt amid heavy fighting between government troops and armed gangs, residents and officials told IRIN on Friday.
"The whole thing appears to be completely out of hand," said Opuka Ibieye, a resident of Port Harcourt, a 2 million strong city in the south of the country, who said he was fleeing the city with his family.
Lagos — THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has threatened renewed attacks on oil and gas installations within the area at the end of August due to perceived lack of genuine commitment on the part of government to address the issues at stake.
Lagos — ANY end in sight to the Niger Delta crisis? In Nigeria today, it will be difficult for anybody including president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to answer the above question.
In fact, the Niger Delta has become an albatross to the nation. Many are worried that the crisis in the zone is on the rise despite government's efforts to address the hydraheaded problem.