The news last week over the possible regrouping of former members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was a sad development. MEND was disbanded in 2009 following the Amnesty Programme floated by the Yar’Adua administration.
A former Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpomupolo (Tompolo), the other day, summoned commanders and leaders of the various wings of the militant group to an emergency meeting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
In an invitation to his comrades, he said: “My dearly beloved Commanders and Leaders of various wings of the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), I greet you all. It is my pleasure to humbly invite you to a very crucial and urgent meeting…”
A source was quoted as stating the agenda of the meeting: “The place of the Niger Delta in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and appraisal of the former President Goodluck Jonathan government in view of the current happenings in the country will be tabled for discussion at the meeting.”
But in a sharp reaction to the invitation, Jomo Gbomo, spokesperson for the MEND, “wishes to state categorically that the proposed meeting is merely an assembly of dubious contractors and disgruntled elements, reacting on behalf of oil thieves and corrupt officials of the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan.”
According to him, “the MEND reaffirms our support for President Buhari and his government’s courage to probe the immediate past Goodluck Jonathan administration, which should also include the office of the Ex-President, the former First Lady and the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme.”
However, the group reiterated its “commitment to the Niger Delta struggle,” which it said “has no relationship with seeking political appointments, power or contracts.”
When the Amnesty Programme was announced, Henry Okah, the acclaimed guerrilla leader of MEND, rejected the deal and went on with the deadly campaign on October 1, 2010. He is currently serving a jail term in South Africa. However, some other members who quickly accepted Jonathan’s administration were handsomely rewarded.
Tompolo, one of the arrow heads of the self-determination-seeking group, became a big time contractor to the Federal Government.
At various times in the life of the past administration, he got billion Naira pipeline monitoring contracts.
In the run-up to the general election, some of the former militant warlords spoke up against any attempt to push Jonathan, their kinsman, out of power.
While Jonathan reigned, the Aso Rock Presidential Villa was a second home to some of the former militant leaders.
Although Jonathan accepted the result of the election in which he was ousted, some of the militants did not hide their feeling that he needed to hang in there no matter the consequences.
As soon as the APC government came into power, President Buhari directed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to discontinue payment to Global West Vessel Specialists Nigeria Limited (GWVSNL) for the provision of platforms for security of the nation’s waterways. GWVSNL is reportedly owned by Tompolo.
The contentious maritime security contract was approved by former President Goodluck Jonathan and awarded by NIMASA in 2011.
Many operators and stakeholders had questioned the wisdom in concessioning the nation’s maritime security to a private company, especially one linked to a former militant.
The government, penultimate week, went ahead to sack Patrick Akpobolofemi, Jonathan’s Man Fridaywho was the DG NIMASA, and was believed to have used his position to enrich some of his Ijaw kinsmen, Tompolo inclusive.
Analysts believe the regrouping of the militants must have been an offshoot of the recent happenings in the power equation.
A source said that some militants may have held back from going back to the creeks and resuming kidnapping activities because Jonathan was in charge of government. But with the current arrangement in government that appears not favourable to the South-South at the moment, the militants may have decided to go back to the trenches.
“We may likely see a resurgence in militancy in the Niger Delta. And this may worsen the already bad security situation in the country. It is also capable of throwing the Yar’Adua government off balance. Although America has promised to assist in the fight against insurgency, I don’t think US can be of any meaningful help if the militancy resumes. Don’t forget that the militants make more money in crisis situation than they do in time of peace. They siphon crude oil and sell to their foreign collaborators. Where did some of them get money to build universities outside the country? Where did they get money to trade in military hardware? So, I think it is a dicey situation,” a source said.
It was also gathered that the fear that the Yar’Adua’s Amnesty Programme may be jettisoned by the new administration may have agitated the former militants.
As soon as Buhari won the Presidential election, there was an anxiety over the fate of the Amnesty Programme sustained by the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan. It was feared that the current administration may not be interested in continuing with the programme.
Analysts say that there are disturbing signs that the beneficiaries of the programme were beginning to suffer. Reports say that some of the beneficiaries of the programme being trained as commercial pilots in Germany at the Lufthansa Flight Training School, Frankfurt, have been sent away for non-payment of their fees for accommodation and logistics. Two of them are said to have only one test remaining before they graduate. Another six pilots have graduated but their certificates were withheld due to outstanding fees.
The ugly development, however, has been blamed on the delay by Buhari in constituting his cabinet or the delay in appointing officials to continue running the affairs of the Post Amnesty Programme (PAP), even as reports say that money to run the programme is not a problem as there is sufficient fund in the agency’s account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
A social commentator, who spoke to BD SUNDAY on condition of anonymity, said that some of the ex-militants were not happy that power had slipped from their hands, particularly the romance and patronage they enjoyed from the Amnesty Programme office that was under the control of Kingsley Kuku.
“Don’t forget that the Amnesty Programme, apart from sponsoring ex-militants’ foreign trainings, it also took care of the leaders of the various militant groups. They were constantly getting contracts and cash gifts. So, the feeling of loss may be too heavy for them to bear,” the analyst said.
Last month, MEND threatened to resume hostilities in the region in protest of the huge salaries and allowances of federal lawmakers. It was in reaction to media reports that federal lawmakers were going to receive N9 billion wardrobe allowance. But Bukola Saraki, Senate president, refuted the reports, stating that each lawmaker would only get a wardrobe allowance of N506, 600 per annum in line with the stipulation of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
But dissatisfied Mend, through its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, threatened fire and brimstone, said:
“These wicked individuals appropriate to themselves huge and absurd salaries and allowances at the expense of the millions of hapless Nigerians, who have not been paid for months, their salaries, pensions and other benefits they deserve.” According to the group, “The Niger Delta region, where the bulk of revenue that sustains the nation comes from, continues to suffer neglect, environmental degradation and lack, made worse by the very corrupt and visionless past government of Goodluck Jonathan and his cronies, some of who still shamelessly parade themselves on national television and other media platforms as ‘Niger Delta Activists’.
“Nigerians refuse to tolerate this ostentatious lifestyle of our lawmakers, whose main objective, it seems, is to enrich themselves and carelessly spend scarce resources. The Niger Delta people refuse to pamper and cater for the needs of these thieving Assembly rogues to their detriment.
“If the lawmakers refuse to make the necessary adjustments needed to accompany the needs of the masses and the Niger Delta region, it may lead to the resumption of hostilities.”
It would be recalled that MEND and other militant groups launched attacks on oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, often through the use of sabotage, guerilla warfare or kidnapping of foreign oil workers. The rebels’ goal was to destabilise the foreign oil interest in the Niger Delta, who they claim have been exploiting the local populace.
MEND announced its creation in early 2006 with several attacks on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure. Their attacks resulted in severe cut in daily production of oil. They employed a sophisticated media campaign involving e-mailing press releases to coincide with their attacks.
Zebulon Agomuo