A traditional ruler from the oil bearing Egbema kingdom in the Niger Delta, HRM
Isaac Thikan, the Agadagba of Egbema and a staunch critic of the military excesses
in the region was forcibly abducted on June 24, 2009 by the JTF and taken to their
headquarters in Effurun, Warri where we are hearing he may have been killed.
If confirmed to be true, the extra-judicial killing of a royal father after the
destruction of the palace of the Gbaramatu monarch will be the last straw and will
certainly have dire consequences.
Tompolo has requested that we refute the story carried in the Vanguard newspaper
which claimed he was requesting for the amnesty being proposed by the government to
criminals through Chief E. K. Clark.
Professor J.P. Clark's suggestion on armistice as against amnesty for freedom
fighters is what MEND and Tompolo are favorably disposed to for adoption as the next
step to take towards resolving the crisis.
While the government is talking about amnesty on one hand, the JTF on the other is
still carrying out punitive scorched earth policy on communities around oil
facilities as a way of permanently relocating the people from their ancestral homes
and turning the area into an oil mining area.
The July 2, 2009 attack was carried out on the Abiteye community in Delta state by
the JTF. We will not be surprised if the army denies it or simply blame it on
unknown soldiers.
The burning down of this community even when the inhabitants have fled will be
revenged and it is the oil companies that will bear the brunt.
The recent comments by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan that criminal barons are
frustrating the amnesty implementation is not true. The governments insincerity is
the major cause where one sees the Interior Minister traveling from Abuja to Port
Harcourt to talk to fake representatives of militant commanders but can not travel
the shorter distance to see Henry Okah who is dying and needs urgent medical
attention.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) hereby warns the
investors to the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline project that unless the Niger Delta root
issues have been addressed and resolved, any money put into the project will go down
the drain as we will ensure that it faces the same fate other pipelines are facing
today.
We want to use this opportunity to warn the remaining companies still operating in
the region, namely Agip, Total, Shell and Exxon Mobil to leave while there is still
time because within the next 72 Hours Hurricane Piper Alpha will be upgraded to
Hurricane Moses.
Jomo Gbomo
