Former members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in Furupagha, an Ijaw clan in Ondo State, have vowed not to allow any election to take place in the state if the Federal Government fails to recognise former leader of the group in the on-going dialogue with MEND.
In a statement made available by the ex-militants in Akure, the Ondo State capital through their spokesman, Ebakormor Ayebi, the youth said failure to carry along their leader, known as “Creek Lion” in the proposed dialogue with other leaders of MEND, will not augur well for the existing peace currently being enjoyed in the state.
The return of Creek Lion
Mr Ayebi noted that the group, under the leadership of “Creek Lion” is prepared to call on all ex-freedom fighters in the creeks of Gbelebu, Taribor, Ebijaw, Zion, Makporo, Kolonbou, Ubagbororo, Siluko, Kekere, Ofinege, Okwa, Madagbayo and Ezide; to take up arms and stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting elections in Ondo State.
The central body of MEND had, last week, issued a threat that it will unleash terror in some parts of the country, including Abuja and Lagos, and political gatherings over what the group described as the federal government’s defiant approach to the demands of the freedom fighters on post-amnesty programme of the federal government.
The militant group said while it will leave the high command of MEND to face the issue of fresh hostilities on oil installations and political gatherings, the Furupagha section of MEND will ensure that no INEC official is allowed to stay and conduct election in any polling booth in all the 203 political wards in Ondo State if its demands are not met.
Meeting the unhappy
But the Special Adviser to the President on Niger-Delta Affairs, Kingsley Kuku had said that the Federal Government is ready to enter into dialogue with MEND over the latest threat. Mr Kuku said, “so many threats will come, but this particular one, we’re not taking it lightly; we’re going to look into it. It is about engagement, we’re going to engage anybody that is aggrieved.” Mr Kuku hails from Arogbo-Ijaw, Ese-Odo council area of Ondo State, which forms part of the area the militant group claimed the federal government abandoned in the scheme of things.