Attack on Agip facility-MEND talks tough as explosion rocks ex-militants’ hotel

Posted by admin Headlines, Niger Delta Monday, February 6th, 2012

Sounding tough and unrepentant, the Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday served notice of bigger attacks on oil
installations. MEND had last weekend blew up Agip truck line in Brass, Bayelsa
State, resulting in a loss of 4,000 barrels of oil per day even as the Joint
Task Force (JIF) said that it had identified seven suspects in the Agip facility
attack. The JTF, in unmasking the suspects, urged them to report to it (JTF)
before noon on February 12, even as explosion rocked a hotel housing
ex-militants in Warri, Delta State.

Three former militants were living in
the hotel. But MEND called the bluff of the Federal Government and SACOIL and
threatened to carry out major attacks on oil installations. The group has
responded to what it called the ignorant comments of the JTF spokesperson, Col
Timothy Antigha and the government of South Africa through its Ministry of
International Affairs. MEND said: “The JTF spokesperson in his little mind is
failing to comprehend the gravity of the situation unfolding in the Niger Delta
and attributes our attack on the Agip pipeline to instigation by imaginary
persons interested in benefiting from the fraud that was the disarmament process
in the Niger Delta.

“ The Nigerian government claims to have disarmed
more people than exist in the Nigerian Army with only two thousand weapons to
show for all their trouble. The lull in fighting by all groups in the Niger
Delta is being used to acquire more sophisticated weapons to ensure that our
next assault on the Nigerian oil industry expels western oil companies once and
for all. There is nothing the Nigerian military can do to halt us”, MEND
spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, said.
According to him, “Agip cleverly indicated that
4,000 barrels of its production is affected by our attack. The reality is that
close to 200,000 bpd of Nigerian crude exports is affected by our attack as that
trunk line served to transport crude oil for other oil companies as well. This
translates to a daily loss of at least 20 million us dollars”.

To the
South African government, MEND said, “we accept your challenge and will show you
how easy it is to drive your investments out of our region. If the Nigerian
government cannot protect companies like Shell and Chevron, how will they manage
to protect an insignificant Sacoil? Within the next few weeks, the Movement for
the Emancipation of the Niger Delta will carry out a few major attacks on oil
installations to demonstrate to the world the helplessness of oil companies and
the Nigerian military”.

MEND spokesman further threatened to launch
further attacks on oil pipelines, adding that “there will be a brief pause as we
await the time agreed upon by all groups in the delta for the resumption of
hostilities in the Niger Delta.
Meanwhile, the JTF (Operation Pulo) has
identified the brains behind the bombing which destroyed an Agip truck
line.
The JTF said it has identified seven suspects it believed were the
brains behind the attack.
The suspects are: Friday Burutu, Lord Onipa,
Robinson Agagudu , Eyala Karo and Stanley Uduorie. Others are Para Ekiyes and
Rasmus Omukoro.
According to Col Antigha, the suspects are advised to turn
themselves in for interaction with authorities by noon on February 12.
He
reiterated the earlier warnings that the suspects and their cohorts were out to
swindle Niger Deltans by using the identity of the erstwhile leadership of MEND
to advance selfish reasons.

Antigha advised the general public to
disregard the threat issued by the group, stating that amnesty had been granted
to authentic militants.
Daily Sun gathered that the explosion caused serious
upheaval at the hotel, simply identified as Lawfab Hotel, near Warri Airport.

Sources said that the incident which occurred in the early hours of Monday,
shattered a room where three of the ex-militants were living.
Though no life
was lost, residents described the incident as first of its kind.
“We were
shocked by the heavy sound and smoke which emanated from one of the hotel room
where ex-militants were being accommodated” said a sympathizer, who declined to
disclose his name.

But some of the ex-militants who spoke with Daily Sun,
complained bitterly about the attitude of the Presidential Adviser on
Niger-Delta and leader of the amnesty programme, Kingsley Kuku, who they alleged
was not concerned about plight of some of the ex-militants.
It was learnt
that even before the explosion, there was tension in the ex-militants camp who
protested vehemently against the ill-treatment being meted to them by the
handlers of amnesty programme and threatened to go back to the creeks to resume
hostilities.

-Sunwp_posts