The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) says it is extending its ceasefire by 30 days but promised to continue hostilities against the oil and gas industry at the expiration of the extension.
The group, said on Wednesday, it is extending its ‘unilateral ceasefire’, which expired at midnight on September 15, 2009, by 30 days.
“MEND does not recognize an amnesty that has not made any provision for meaningful dialogue on the root issues that gave birth to the Niger Delta unrest in the first place,” Jomo Gbomo, the spokesperson for the group said in a reply to questions sent to him by NEXT via email.
“We have therefore resolved to continue fighting because the reasons for fighting have not yet been addressed.
He advised the federal government to seize the opportunity of the ceasefire to do the right thing for the Niger Delta region. “The government should use this extension of time to do the right thing, instead of pretending to talk peace while arming the military for a war it cannot win,” he said.
Mr. Gbomo warned that the Oil and Gas industry, which he said will bear the brunt of renewed hostilities, should not be deceived by the amnesty programme or the recent military hardware purchases ‘as this is only leading to another cycle of violence.’
There, however, appears to be cracks within the militant groups in the region.
The group had threatened to renew hostilities against oil facilities at the end of its ceasefire on September 15, 2009, “to prove that weapons being displayed are mostly government-owned and those surrendering them have not been part of the previous campaigns like Hurricanes Barbarossa, Piper Alpha and Moses that brought the government to their knees.”
A time to negotiate
This ceasefire extension by MEND is thought to be a way of buying time, as the group attempts to mend cracks of division amongst its top commanders, some of whom have expressed their willingness to take the federal government’s amnesty offer, and the financial benefits that come with it.
Timi Alaibe, presidential adviser on the Niger Delta, met two militant leaders on Sunday and said he had held “very fruitful” discussions with them.
“Tompolo and Ateke Tom have indicated they were 100 percent for the amnesty programme. That they wholly accept amnesty, but they have also made some requests to the president,” he had said.
But others who attended the meeting were less optimistic, saying talks were at a standstill because the militants were refusing to disarm until their main demands were discussed.
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