THE Move ment for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) have joined forces in condemning the Federal Government peace initiative in the Niger Delta.
In separate reactions to the Federal Government initiative both groups accused the Federal Government of insincerity. MEND in a statement to Vanguard said it had uncovered an alleged plot by the government to invade the region while the IYC pointed to the relentless attacks on militant leader Atake Tom who had embraced peace by men of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta.
However, a member of the Federal Government/Ijaw Joint committee on Roadmap to peace in the Ijaw areas of the Niger Delta sued for caution among the Ijaw groups which recently pulled out of further negotiations with the Federal Government on the Niger Delta peace process.
Oboko said the Ijaw must stay on the pathway to dialogue and reconciliation if and when attacked without provocation, the Ijaw would defend her nationhood by any means necessary.
MEND meantime, urged all armed factions in the restive Southern oil heartland to join together and cripple Africa�s biggest petroleum industry.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which has spurned a government peace initiative and ended a cease-fire, praised moves by another militant faction to quit the talks and called for all groups to band together.
�We call on all genuine militant groups to unite and cripple the oil industry in Nigeria once and for all and stand strong to face a common enemy,� the group said in a statement. �The time has come for all breakaway factions to come together and wage war of a different kind in 2008.�
Bombings and attacks since early 2006 by MEND have already trimmed about one quarter of Nigeria�s estimated daily crude production of 2.5 million barrels. Government officials weren�t immediately available for comment.
The group announced a unilateral cease-fire shortly after the May 29 inauguration of President Umaru Yar�Adua, but later called it off. Yar�Adua�s government has made some efforts to reach out to militants, but a widescale conference focussed on peace and development for the Niger Delta has yet to materialise.
MEND said it wasn�t part of the ongoing peace efforts, which took a hit over the weekend when representatives of ethnic Ijaw fighters said they were quitting the initiative after several military operation in the Niger Delta. Violence is rising again in the region after MEND ended its truce, although nowhere near the levels seen before April�s elections, when gun battles or attacks on oil workers were nearly daily occurences.
Ijaw Youth Leaders Forum, which facilitated the recent ceasefire and reduction in hostage taking between the militants and the Federal Government through the Senator David Brigidi�led Niger-Delta Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee (NDPCRC), had in a communiqu� dated December 14, 2007, announced its withdrawal from the peace process alleging insincerity on the part of the Federal Government.
The Forum, in a statement, entitled, �The Niger-Delta Peace Process: A Critical Review�, signed by its chief facilitator, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, also ordered the T.K. Ogoriba-led nine-man Consultative Committee on the Road Map to Peace Implementation, nominated by the body, and inaugurated by the Federal Government in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, August 24, 2007 to shelve consultations with the Federal Government forthwith.
It also stated: �The Federal Government of Nigeria should also halt forthwith any form of oppression or provocation against our people or communities under the planned orchestration of the Nigeria military, which is bent on working against a political solution to the Niger-Delta question.
�We enjoin the international community to prevail on the Nigerian state to show appropriate commitment to the peace process, which the Niger-Delta (Ijaw people) are committed to. �All sons and daughters of Ijaw land in the region (at home in the Diaspora) should stay calm, unruffled and pray fervently for these gallant generation of Ijaw youths amidst these on-going aggressions, for we shall not abandon our God-given land and resources.�
MEND in an online statement yesterday entitled �War against injustice� signed by Jomo Gbomo, made available to Vanguard, says it �supports and commends the position taken by the Ijaw Youth Leaders Forum as outlined in its communiqu� dated December 17, 2007.�