“We insist that the NDA, their patrons, sponsors, supporters and sympathizers are criminals and haters of the current administration (as revealed by the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers - RNDA) who must publicly renounce all forms of hostility against Nigeria."
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on Monday welcomed the decision of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to ceasefire and dialogue with the Federal Government.
In a statement signed by Jomo Gbomo, MEND pointed out it had canvassed for that development since April 2016, convinced that criminal attacks on oil installations as a strategy to force concessions from the government was no longer fashionable.
The group, however, advised the government not to set a precedent of dialoging with people it called criminals, pointing out that if the government does choose to hold a separate dialogue with the NDA team, MEND shall immediately disband its AARON TEAM 2, with whom the government is currently in dialogue, and pull out.
“We insist that the NDA, their patrons, sponsors, supporters and sympathizers are criminals and haters of the current administration (as revealed by the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers - RNDA) who must publicly renounce all forms of hostility against Nigeria,” the statement said, adding that once this is done, MEND would embrace the NDA and their co-travelers.
Pointing out that MEND has itself since May 30, 2014 ceased all forms of hostility against Nigeria's economic and strategic assets, it questioned the NDA decision to name a separate dialogue team headed by Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark.
It described the move as “hasty, premature and capable of sending wrong signals” to the government that the region is polarized and incapable of speaking with a single voice under a single umbrella body, drawing attention to the MEND AARON TEAM 2 Dialogue and Peace and Development Initiative, headed by Mr. Henry Odein Ajumogobia, which it inaugurated in June.
MEND said it believed that the NDA, Mr. Clark, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and others who attended last Friday’s Niger Delta Coastal States' stakeholders meeting knew full well of the AARON TEAM2 inauguration.
“We also reasonably believe that these earlier-mentioned persons and stakeholders are aware that the Federal Government of Nigeria has been engaged in preliminary talks with MEND with a view to resolving the current Niger Delta crisis, as duly confirmed by no less a person than President Muhammadu Buhari,” it said.
Pointing out that it has so far actually secured some very critical concessions from the federal government in the talks, MEND said the final phase of the talks will be concluded by its AARON TEAM led by Mr. Ajumogobia.
“In the light of these developments, we want to believe that Chief Edwin Clark shall respect himself as an elder statesman by refraining from accepting to lead a so-called 'NDA delegation' to non-existent talks with the federal government,” the group said. “If Chief Clark accepted such an appointment, then Nigerians and the international community shall be left with no option than to believe that, truly, he was the mastermind and evil genius of the spate of NDA attacks on oil installations which have greatly contributed to destabilize the current administration, blighted Nigeria's oil production capacity and thereby, caused economic hardship on innocent Nigerians.”
Furthermore, MEND said of Mr. Clark and the challenge before him, “At almost 90 years of age, we believe that Chief Edwin Clark cannot reasonably stand the rigors associated with dialogue and negotiation of the Niger Delta question. Chief Clark must not head every civil society initiative on the Niger Delta. Following his appointment by NDA (assuming he decided to accept), we expected Chief Clark to lead his team to pledge allegiance to the MEND AARON TEAM who are patiently waiting on the sidelines to meet President Buhari in the next couple of days to chart a course for the beleaguered region.”
