… Declares Readiness To Protect Oil Installations From Attack
By ERIC MOORE
MOVEMENT for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has pledged group’s readiness to support security operatives in safeguarding crude oil installations from attacks.
Founding member and spokesman for MEND, Mr. Jomo Gbomo, in a statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Friday, condemned threat on crude oil facilities in Niger Delta by some ex-militants and agitators in the region.
He noted that the group would not support violence associated with political disputes between Mr. Nysom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and his estranged political son Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Gbomo said: ”The threat to the economy of the country over a political dispute between two politicians who were allies is unfortunate, more so, both politicians are sons of the Niger Delta.
”We cannot in the present circumstance be tricked into carrying arms against the Nigerian state on behalf of any of them, not even for any price.
”As an Ijaw son, I know the gains of having an Ijaw man as governor in Rivers, an achievement which would not have been possible but for collaboration of other ethnic groups.
”This healthy collaboration from the various ethnic groups which produced an Ijaw son as governor was spearheaded by the FCT Minister.
”On that note, we shall, therefore, offer full cooperation to the security operatives so as to ensure that individuals or groups constituting threat to smooth crude oil exploration are alongside their sponsors brought to book.
”If you are going for a revenge, you better dig two graves, one for yourself and one for your enemy. A word is enough for the wise,” Gbomo warned in the statement.
He, however, urged the elders and traditional institutions in the region to unbiasedly intervene in the lingering political crisis while also urging affected parties to seek judicial redress if peaceful dialogue fails.