•Seeks cancelation of Amnesty Programme
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has described the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), as a tool designed to destabilise the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The MEND also dissociated the Niger Delta region from the secessionist call by the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), saying it believed in a unified and truly federated Nigerian state.
The group, in a statement circulated by its spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, restated is opposition to the continued running of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), noting that it was a signature of the corruption of the past administration, which has no intention or capacity to bring a sustainable answer to the recurring Niger Delta question.
MEND, which hinged its support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on the need to allow it time stabilise the nation, which it said had suffered continued abuse for years, however said the president should see to the freeing of its incarcerated leader, Henry Okah and his brother, Charles Okah.
According to the group, this is key to a genuine dialogue that would bring peace to the Niger Delta.
The MEND statement said: “After a rigorous and robust analysis, debate and review of political events in Nigeria within the past 12 months; particularly as they affect the Niger Delta region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has resolved to continue to respect the unilateral ceasefire of hostilities declared May 30, 2014 against key economic interests of the Nigerian State.
“The painful but necessary resolution to respect the ceasefire was borne out of MEND’s belief that as President Muhammadu Buhari marks his first year in office, he deserves more time to stabilize the country that was ran aground by the ill-fated, corrupt and visionless immediate past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan which pauperized the Nigerian people to the alarming degree we all experience today.
“The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) wishes to condemn and dissociate itself from the recent activities carried out by a group known as the “Niger Delta Avengers”. Their sudden emergence has absolutely nothing to do with the Niger Delta struggle but rather a tool by certain elements to destabilise the current government. Going by their actions and subsequent statements, it has become very apparent on who the sponsors of these group are.
“MEND serves notice to the International Community that the Niger Delta region shall NOT be part of a secessionist Biafran State. Rather, the group believes in one strong united Nigerian federation where the principles and ideals of Resource Control; True Federalism; Rule of Law/Respect for Human Rights; Democracy; Free Enterprise and a Vibrant Civil Society are well entrenched in the grundnorm and put to practice.
“However, The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) remains vehemently opposed to the fraudulent and unsustainable Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) headed by Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd) which still runs on the corrupt bureaucratic and operational template of the past administration. We have always made it very clear that unless the root issues which gave birth to the agitations in the Niger Delta region are addressed, in the form of a sincere dialogue, this programme will only continue to remain a mere cesspool of corruption.
