THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has threatened renewed attacks on oil and gas installations within the area at the end of August due to perceived lack of genuine commitment on the part of government to address the issues at stake.
It was also reliably gathered that the Movement has broken rank with Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo while also threatening to liquidate him if he does not stop making calls on them which he is not in a position to make.
An operative of the MEND made the disclosure while speaking with the Vanguard at the weekend, noting that in the last 70 days of the live of the present administration the Movement has not been able to discern any level of seriousness on the part of government.
When attention was drawn to the release of Alhaji Dokubo and the resolution of Chief Alamieseigha�s court case by the government, the operative who pleaded anonymity said these were peripheral to the main issue.
�The release of these persons are peripheral to the issue of resource control, environmental pollution and neglect, among several other issues. Government cannot be talking with charlatans who are ill-equipped to articulate the problems besetting the area.
�These people are the very same who have thrown us into this mess. We cannot afford to remain quiet and do nothing in the face of their perfidy,� he said.
He decried government�s refusal to reach out to genuine leaders of the struggle, preferring to talk with those whom he described as only interested in furthering their selfish ambitions.
�Our decision to renew attacks on oil installations is simply aimed at showing government that we have been patient enough and would brook no further delay. Government also needs to realise that they have been talking with the wrong people. Unfortunately, it will appear that this is the only way to make government see reason,� he said.
After President Umaru Yar�Adua was sworn in May, MEND pledged to halt all attacks to give him time to show seriousness about addressing the problems of the area in reaction to his promise to make it a priority.
A newswire service monitored at the weekend also confirmed the operative�s submissions, quoting Jomo Gbomo, a spokesman of MEND as saying attacks will resume at the end of August with greater ferocity.
Jomo Gbomo also pointed out that the Movement shall renew its suspended abduction of expatriates while also maintaining its guerilla tactics until it achieves its stated objectives.
�We will never stop hostage taking until we achieve our goal,� Gbomo said. More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since late 2005 by MEND and other militant groups and also by criminal gangs since late 2005.
Nearly all of the workers, most of whom are employees or contractors working for companies like Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), have been later released for ransom payments.
Attacks from MEND in the last 20 months have shut in over 650,000 barrels of oil production per day, repre-senting an estimated 28 per cent of the country�s total output. However, companies have since resumed incremental amounts of output and exports in the past month or so.
Speaking earlier about the group�s relationship with a Alhaji Asari Dokubo, the operative disclosed while his release from detention was a welcome development, he neither spoke for or on behalf of MEND.
The operative pointed out that while Asari is not the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), it is unfortunate to note that, �he was under the illusion that he could command attention and loyalty from the rank and file of the militants when he has not earned it�.
�We have warned him to desist from making calls which he is not in a position to make. Otherwise, we may be forced to take the option of getting him out of the picture altogether,� the operative disclosed.