Following the recent conviction of Henry Okah, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, yesterday announced that it would tomorrow, March 5 resume attacks in the country.
The group in an electronic mail sent to journalists through its spokesman, Gbomo Jomo, averred that series of attacks, code-named; Hurricane Exodus, would begin Friday midnight.
It said the attacks would be “a direct reaction to a forged threat letter contrived by the Nigerian and South African governments, purporting to have originated from MEND”.
However, government security agencies on Wednesday said they were prepared to checkmate the militant group.
Director of Information at the Defence Headquarters, Brig Gen. Chris Olukolade, advised those behind the threat to avoid any action that could endanger the peace in the oil rich region.
He said that the DHQ had its operatives on ground were battle ready at all times to defend the interest of Nigeria.
Olukolade warned MEND against reversing the hand of peace in the Niger Delta.
He said, “The DHQ has our outfit on ground in the Niger Delta. Our structures are on ground in the area. They should not reverse the hand of peace; nobody should threaten the peace in the area.
“The JTF is on ground and is prepared to do their duties in defence of every interest of the nation. Anybody trying to threaten the existing peace in the area is advised against it.”
Also the police said they would bring to book anyone who engages in any act that contravenes the law of the land, stressing that it would not condone acts of lawlessness in any part of the country.
Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, who said the police would not be drawn into responding to threats issued by criminal elements, noted that the Nigeria Police were ready to deal with any acts of brigandage.
“The police will not respond to threats by criminal elements, but suffice it to say, we are ready to curb any acts of lawlessness or criminality in the country,” he said.
The statement from MEND reads in part, “This fake letter was used as evidence against Henry Okah on whom a 13- year sentence was passed. To make matters worse, the prosecution’s second witness, Mr. Sele Victor-Ben, had exclaimed in court that the letter was not genuine after failing to catch the prosecutor’s eye who wanted him to lie under oath.
“We are now determined to conjure this imaginary trumped-up threat into a painful reality.
“The attacks will be sustained until an unreserved apology is offered to MEND and the Nigerian government shows its willingness to dialogue. The same way they are willing to dialogue with Boko Haram.”
Reacting to the threat on Wedneday, the Joint Task Force, the military outfit in charge of security in the region, asked the persons “parading themselves as MEND” to embrace the reigning peace in the region.
The JTF, in a statement by its Media Coordinator, Lt.-Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said it would not allow any aggrieved group to upset the peace in the region, saying it had positioned its troops in strategic places and put them on the alert to tackle possible upheaval.
It said, “Niger Deltans are not in any bondage and therefore do not require armed struggle or emancipation as claimed by this threatening gang.
“What Niger Deltans are in dire need of now is peace for sustainable development, having emerged from the dark days of turbulence in the region.
“Informed by this development, we have effected some redeployment to tackle any upheaval. This set of people are advised to toe the path of law and order in addressing whatever grievance they have and to desist from any action that will upset the peace and development of the Niger Delta.
“The good and peace-loving people of the Niger Delta are enjoined to dissociate themselves, their communities and leadership from this unwholesome approach as portrayed by this group.”
It would be recalled that Okah, a former leader of MEND, was on March 26 sentenced to 24 years imprisonment by a South African court which found him guilty of the October 1, 2010 bombing in Abuja and another one in Warri, Delta State. He was also sentenced for threatening South African government officials after his arrest in South Africa in 2010.
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