On Monday, November 12, 2007, fighters from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) led by the undersigned raided the Exxon Mobil Qua Iboe Terminal jetty in Akwa Ibom state of Nigeria. Our mission was to dispossess the military guards of all arms, ammunition and out-board engines at the jetty. The operation was a success.
That raid and other on-going ones in the Niger Delta are to boost our armaments for the war that is imminent in that region.
The federal government of Nigeria in announcing a security budget of an outrageous sum which is meant to oppress and suppress the struggle for emancipation instead of earmarking money for development is tantamount to a declaration of war.
In a desperate attempt to draw the United States� military into an unjust war, the governments� secret service and military staged arrest of fake Al Qaeda agents in the north of Nigeria since that is President Bush�s obsession. The murdered Cameroonian soldiers in Bakassi were carried out by the Nigerian military because of their perceived sympathy to our cause and their blind eye to a weapons route.
No amount of American military presence or its latest weapons of warfare can intimidate us from fighting for justice. The theatre of war will not be limited to the Niger Delta region alone. We use this medium to warn both foreign and local oil workers that this new phase of resistance will be bloody and are advised to leave the region.
To appreciate our preparedness, we are unveiling the MEND emblem which will be worn by all our fighters with the motto: �for our freedom, and yours�.
Jomo Gbomo