Press Release:
HOSTAGES RELEASED; FURTHER ACTION SURE
On the 20th January,2007, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) intercepted a cargo ship (Baco Liner 2) suspected to have been conveying arms and ammunition imported by top politicians in the country, to destabilize the 2007 general elections in the region. Ordinarily, the Movement would have alerted the Nigerian security agency but decided to embark on this action, because the Movement has lost confidence in the Nigerian security agents in the region.
After thorough search and investigations conducted, MEND discovered several containers of explosives concealed in other consignments in the cargo ship.
However, with the intervention of the Delta State Government and Ijaw Elders, today the 13th day of February 2007,MEND is releasing the twenty four (24) Filipinos and the cargo ship (Baco liner 2) to the secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG) Bar Ovie Omo-Agege on humanitarian ground without ransom from any quarters. But with condition for further actions if the federal government reneges to meet the following demands.
That the Movement restate the call for the immediate release of Alhaji Asari Mujaheed Dokubo, the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) from detention without any condition.
That Chief D S P Alamieyeseigha should be unconditionally released, if the Federal Government will not probe Governors like James Ibori of Delta State and Peter Odili of Rivers State for the criminal mismanagement of over N600 billion naira that have accrued to their respective states from
1999 to date.
That the Federal Government should immediately demilitarise the Niger Delta, to avert imminent genocide against the people of the region .
That SPDC should immediately pay the aborigines of Bayelsa State the 1.5 billion dollars compensation as approved by the federal high court. This payment will open the way for an hitch free re-entry of the Anglo-Dutch Shell to its abandoned facilities in the region.
As the 2007 election approaches, we are keenly watching and commit the Government of Nigeria to conduct a free and fair election, for the people to be able to vote in candidates of their choice to prudently manage the resources of the Niger Delta for speedy development of the region. The Movement strongly reject the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) guber flag bearers for Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states.
Meanwhile, the Movement regrets holding fellow humans (the Filipinos on board the cargo ship) against their will, though see their activities in the Niger Delta region as machineries that were caught in the act of sabotaging our agitation
Finally, we call on the international community to immediately prevail on the Nigerian Government to addressing problems facing the Niger Delta people. We also call on Britain and the United States of America to actualize their commitment towards resolving the Niger Delta problem as they promised during the 2006 February – march Hostages saga, for a lasting peace in the region.
Signed:
Tamuno Godswill Oyinye Alaebi