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MEND Rejects Governments Proposal on Policing Pipelines

May 20, 2008
In a statement released earlier today by The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the group responded to Minister of Defense Alhaji Yayale Ahmed's call to have militants form limited liability companies and begin policing the creeks of the Niger Delta on behalf of the government.

According to Minister Ahmed, he and both the president and vice-president have been losing sleep over the crisis in the oil producing region. It seems they believe bringing the militants into the fold will help cut-down on bunkering and kidnapping. It is well known that the government already has a major role in funding para-military organizations in the Delta, making the words of the Defense Minister all the more ironic.

As MEND states, this proposal is an absurd attempt to obfuscate the real problems in the Niger Delta and it is a slap in the face of seemingly earnest attempts by the militants to re-initiate dialogue with the Federal Government of Nigeria. The comments show an exclusive commitment by the government to protect oil interests and foreign workers and demonstrate a total lack of respect for the people of the Niger Delta who have been struggling to survive for decades.

Here is the MEND communiqué in full:

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) rejects the desperate and laughable proposal offered by the Nigerian Government through it's Minister of Defence that militant groups should convert to limited liability companies and be contracted to police the pipelines in the Niger Delta region.
 
We wonder what Henry Okah's share will be in "MEND Co. Ltd" since he is on trial for funding and equipping the same militants the government now wants to engage.
 
For the avoidance of doubt, we will continue our campaign of sabotage on the oil industry as long as the government is insincere in the handling of the Niger Delta crisis.

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