The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has discredited the Cable News Network (CNN) report currently being aired where purported members were shown.
Spokesman of the militant group, Jomo Gbomo, while disputing the report threatened to release the correspondence between MEND and CNN Correspondent, Mr. Jeff Koinange if he dared dispute their claims.
The letter from MEND yesterday states: “On Monday January 22, 2007, we were approached by Mr. Jeff Koinange who implicitly acknowledged this email account to be the authentic voice of MEND.
“He requested we stage some scenes for a very important CNN programme which was supposed to air in the first week of February.
“We stated clearly we would not be disposed to fit into his tight schedule. Our struggle is much more to us than parading before everyone willing to film fighters. I’m sure the world has seen enough of that.
“What CNN has presented as the truth to its unsuspecting viewers, is a collection of thugs, pirates and bunkerers put together by Jeff Koinange and CNN to meet up with the deadline given to Mr. Koinange by his editors in CNN. It is far from the truth.
“The band of criminals paraded by CNN as MEND have nothing to do with MEND. They are indeed the kidnappers of the Filipinos and as earlier stated, carried out this act at the behest of politicians and some misguided so-called Ijaw leaders to prevent an Itsekiri man emerging as governor in Delta State.
“It is astonishing that a network of high repute such as CNN would descend this low in its search for a sensational story. We are reluctant to release our correspondence with Mr. Koinange but will circulate this if our claims are refuted.”
In an earlier release, Gbomo had stated: “From the inception of our campaign, all statements from MEND have been released through this email account only and we categorically denied taking the Filipinos.”
Apparently refering to another group which claimed to have kidnapped the Filipinos, Gbomo said the so called Major General Tamuno “is unknown to us and is a fraud.”
The Filipinoes, he said, “were abducted by a community in Gbaramatu with the connivance of FNDIC in Warri who were paid by local politicians to blackmail the government into annulling the PDP primaries in Delta State.�
Gbomo said the FNDIC in a bid to “lend credence to their fraud and cover up this disgraceful act carried out in the name of the struggle for the liberation of the Niger Delta, they added our original list of demands to their intended goals.”
The struggle for the liberation of the Niger Delta, he said in the release, “has no relationship with the PDP primaries for which the Filipinos are being held. This same group of frauds in their earlier release claimed to hold the Italian hostages as well. This has long been disproved”.
Meanwhile, a French National, Mr. Gerrald Lapora working with Elf Petroleum Nigeria has been kidnapped by an unknown group just as the Filipino woman abducted on her way to the bank on Wednesday was reportedly killed by her captors.
The French national was said to have closed from work and drove to the front of his home and while waiting for the gate to be opened, some unknown persons swooped on him and took him hostage. So far, no group has taken responsibility for the action. Also, the Filipino woman, said to be a karate instructor with a red belt allegedly refused to cooperate with her captors who may have killed her before calling her Iranian husband to tell him of the incident.
However, the Rivers State Police Commissioner said while his command heard about the rumour of the woman�s death, it was not sure of the authenticity of the information as the captors may be using the ploy to extort money from her husband.
This is coming on the heels of a parley between the Nigerian Navy and the host communities aimed at resolving misunderstandings between them and oil companies.
Addressing the forum of host communities, the Flag Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral Peter Adeniyi said that there was need for dialogue which was a better way of resolving conflicts.
He regretted that avoidable conflicts had in the past, led to the shutting down of operations and regretted the rise in the incidence of hostage taking and increased agitations which impact negatively on peace.
�Disruptions of oil companies operations, hostage taking and insensitivity to the host communities� plights among others will definitely retard development and engender further agitations�, he noted.
He asked all the aggrieved parties to take the floor and state what their expectations were so that they would be amicably resolved as a peaceful environment would guarantee better development and good life for all.
�We should resolve our differences through dialogue under a conducive and peaceful environment. This will obviously attract greater investments in the various host communities and will in turn guarantee better life for us and for future generations. We must avoid the use of violence in asking for what is legitimately ours�, he stated.
He said he appreciated the enormity of the problem the people in the riverine areas were facing due to the hazards of oil exploration, adding that having lived in those places; he had a better appreciation of the problem but promised positive actions to ameliorate them.
Feb92007