The division within the leadership of the coalition of “ex-militant” groups in the Niger-Delta, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger-Delta (MEND) seems to have taken a turn for the worse as some leaders of former militant groups, which are affiliated to the body, have warned the Federal Government against further dealing with Mr. Henry Okah under the post-amnesty arrangement.
The former “warlords”, better referred to as “Generals”, alleged that the popular MEND leader had, alongside the body’s spokesman, Mr. Gbomo Jomo, betrayed the trust of most of the former militant commanders and thousands of their loyalists in the Niger-Delta struggle, particularly by announcing the constitution of a mediation team, known as the ‘Aaron Team’, towards ongoing talks with the Federal Government.
Rising from a meeting convened by a repentant militant leader, “General” John Togo recently, the MEND leaders described the ‘Aaron Team’ as unacceptable and, therefore incompetent to negotiate the future of the ex-militants and the entire Niger-Delta development with the Federal Government or any other body for that matter.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, a copy of the which was e-mailed to THISDAY in Warri, the ex-militant kingpins however expressed unreserved apologies to Prof Wole Soyinka, a member of the mediation team for the embarrassment their rejection of the team might cause him, saying they and their followers were not consulted on the composition of team, which they blamed on the personal ambition of Okah.
Part of the resolution at the meeting was the presentation of a list of 14 “Generals”, including Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, Mr. Ateke Tom, ‘Boyloaf’, Mr. John Togo and Mr. Farah Dagogo.
They expressed outrage at the self-imposition of Okah, who they claimed had been parading himself as one of the top ranking former “General” in the armed struggle in the Niger-Delta, saying he was no more than a businessman who was busy earning money for himself by selling arms to the militants during the struggle.
The aggrieved MEND chiefs challenged the Federal Government to present to Nigerians the arms and ammunition surrendered by Mr. Henry Okah during the disarmament phase of the amnesty programme, if the government were now convinced Okah was the most appropriate link with the ex-militants under the post-amnesty arrangement.
“We appreciate the fact that Mr. Henry Okah contributed his role in our struggle as a businessman with large supply of arms, which we used during the dark days in our operations with federal troops in the creek.
“That is why when he was arrested by federal Government in far away South Africa, we did all we could to secure his release from detention by killing a lot of soldiers, destroying oil pipelines, including the SPDC prime Bonga Oil Field at 75 nautical miles from the shore. We also lost a lot of our soldiers during our encounter with federal troops in our various operations while he (Mr. Henry Okah) was in detention. ”
The statement asked Okah to apologize to them for his alleged misdemeanours is he did not want to be declared a persona non grata, even as it said a new spokesman would soon be named to replace Gbomo Jomo.
“We shall be obliged to declare particularly Mr. Henry Okah an outcast. For General Dagogo who is being deceived by the ingrate, Mr. Henry Okah. We are calling him back home and never to join forces with bad eggs”, it said.
The former “warlords” then warned that those scheming with the traitors in their midst for political or other reasons would have more than they could handle on their hands at the end of the day, saying they could not be sidelined or ignored in the post-amnesty dialogue with the government.
“We seize this forum to call on Federal Government, international community, corporate bodies and individuals not to recognize Mr. Henry Okah and his Aaron Team for the continued peace in Niger-Delta; that the said Aaron Team does not get our support.
They however assured of their relentless commitment to the Niger-Delta peace and development under the present dispensation, but warned that this was not indicate of any weakness or war-weariness on the part of the ex-militants.
“We leaders of ex-militant groups in Niger Delta on behalf of our foot soldiers hereby declare once again that we are still committed to the amnesty granted to us by President Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for peace and rapid development of Niger Delta.
“We want to say here that we are not tired of fighting or being lobbied from fighting as claimed by Mr. Henry Okah; but we only deemed it fit to give peace a chance by accepting amnesty and by that our single laudable action, we must throw our weights behind Mr. President to allow the peace process to succeed.”