Nigeria oil militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said on Saturday it would soon commence massive attacks against South Africa’s investments in Nigeria, especially mobile telecommunications company, MTN, to protest the continued detention of its leader, Henry Okah.
‘The Nigerian oil industry and South African investments in Nigeria will witness an assault unprecedented in the history of armed conflict in the Niger Delta,’ the group said in a statement emailed to the media on Saturday, a day after it claimed responsibility for the attack on an AGIP Oil Company pipeline in the region.
‘Our decision to attack South African investments in the Niger Delta is directly related to the conduct of President (Jacob) Zuma regarding the continued incarceration in South Africa of Henry Okah,’ MEND said.
Mr. Okah, who resides in South Africa, is facing trial over his alleged role in the 1 October 2010 bombing in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja, which ruined the West African nation’s 50th independence anniversary celebrations and left about a dozen people dead.
Concerning the attack on South African investments in Nigeria, MEND said it would soon issue guidelines to MTN employees, customers, and owners of properties accommodating MTN related communication equipment.
‘These guidelines are intended to minimize civilian casualties and forestall the unnecessary destruction of privately-owned properties accommodating MTN equipment,’ said the militant group, whose attacks at the height of the militancy in the Niger Delta helped slash Nigeria’s oil production by as much as 25%.
The militancy in Nigeria’s oil producing region has reduced drastically since 2009, when the government’s amnesty programme was embraced by hundreds of miltants.
Though MEND as a body was opposed to the amnesty programme, many of its top commanders signed on to it.