Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said at the weekend it would consider the federal government’s offer of amnesty only if the movement’s leader, Mr. Henry Okah, was released from detention.
However, THISDAY checks, reveal that many of the militant leaders have been making overtures to government that they were ready to lay down their arms but that they do not trust political leaders from the area.
One of MEND’s commanders, Farah Dagogo, told Dow Jones the movement could also hold off further attacks on the oil industry if the companies can embark on mass employment of capable people from their host communities.
According to Dagogo, “President Umaru Yar’Adua says ‘we want to give amnesty. They should start with (Henry Okah). At least we will know they are sincere.”
His remarks come as the federal government, which is losing at least half a million barrels a day in crude production from attacks on oil installations by the militants, has stepped up a two-pronged strategy of attacking militant camps as well as renewing an amnesty offer.
The government’s offensive has focused on Tom Pollo, a MEND leader in Delta State. But the government has said it may extend it eastward to Rivers State, where Dagogo is based.
The militant leader, who commands one of the three largest MEND factions, said “they can attack any where, we have no problem about that. We are not afraid of the Joint Task Force (JTF),” in the Niger Delta.
Dagogo said he had been a student preparing to study medicine but decided instead to join Mujahid Dokubo-Asari when he set up MEND’s militant predecessor, the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force.
When Dokubo-Asari was jailed, his lieutenants, including Dagogo, participated in the creation of MEND, launching attacks of unprecedented intensity on oil companies. Dagogo acknowledged, for example, that his group had attacked oil facilities in September in “a joint operation” with other MEND factions, following an army attack in the community where he hails from, Tombia.
The attacks on pipelines, plants and platforms operated by Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) have halted up to 115,000 barrels a day of oil production – nearly 6 percent of the country’s production
But Dagogo said “we want to stop our attacks” on oil facilities. “We are telling them (the foreign oil companies) to come back,” he added. Foreign oil companies have reduced their operations onshore in the Delta or have frozen new projects because of the unrest. “The reason why we attacked them is that they don’t employ anybody where they work,” Dagogo said.
Though oil companies have tried to employ more community contractors in recent years, many villagers still feel excluded from employment opportunities, leading to resentment against the companies. “If they give the youth some of the skills they need” and “proper [economic] development, I can guarantee there will be no problems for them,” Dagogo said.
For now, “maybe we can stop (attacks on oil infrastructure) for a while and see what happens,” he said.
Meanwhile, Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger-Delta yesterday alerted the nation to what it called clandestine design by some Nigerian intellectuals abroad, who are sympathetic to militant groups in the region, to launch an international campaign against the security agency in order to discredit it before the international community.
According to Colonel Rabe Abubakar, “The purported plan has it that the illegal oil bunkering, which has been going on for a very long time, was jointly perpetrated by the support of the commanders for gratification thus making them exceptionally rich with properties and foreign accounts.
“The aim of this campaign, he said, is to tarnish the image of JTF and distract it from its task in the Niger-Delta. “The JTF therefore wishes to inform this group and any other group that it would not be intimidated and no amount of smear campaigns, as being hatched by this group, would deter it from carrying out its national duties.
“The JTF wants to advise that, instead of providing immoral and unpatriotic support and instigation of their kith-and-kin back home, which will subsequently lead them to self-destruct while they live in comfort abroad, it would rather be more noble and commendable for them to channel their intellect and foreign connections in Diaspora to bringing peace, security and development to their homeland.
“The JTF wants to appeal to the larger society, including international community, to disregard the planned smear campaign and continue to work with us in order to get rid of all forms of criminalities and make the region and our great country a haven for our future generations.”
The JTF embarked on a full-scale war against militants about two weeks ago at Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State, following killing of no fewer than 10 military officers by the militants after an ambush near Camp 5 in Oporoza.
The military vowed that no amount of pleadings by Nigerians would stop the bombardment and that the fight, which has displaced several thousands of people, would not be stopped until the major military objective of destroying the militants is achieved. The JTF said that one of the militants’ leaders, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, a.k.a Tom Polo, has been declared wanted over allegation of war crimes.
“Tom Polo, give yourself up. He must be held responsible for all the attacks on Nigerian soldiers. When I resumed here, the first thing I did was to extend the olive branch to Tom Polo, appealing to him to give up militancy, but he did not take it. The JTF has declared Tom Polo wanted. I appeal to Nigerians wherever they see him to report to JTF. We will bring all those responsible for the missing soldiers to justice,” the military said.
May312009