Date Published: 03/16/10

Why we bombed Warri, by MEND

MOVEMENT for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a dreaded insurgent network, claimed on Monday that they bombed Warri, the commercial heart of Delta State in order to teach the state Governor, Mr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, a lesson on how not to run his his political mouth.

MEND Spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, told AkanimoReports in an on-line interview that the governor caused what their fighters did. According to him, ''after receiving the baton of ignorance from his Bayelsa state counterpart, the governor of Delta State declared  in the Vanguard newspaper of February 22, 2010 that MEND is a media creation."

Continuing, MEND said, ''this assertion coming from the same person who claimed publicly that an oil pipeline can be destroyed by one man armed with a bottle of petrol, is hardly surprising. What is surprising is how he managed to obtain a science degree.

''Thinking  of no better way to announce our continued presence in the Niger Delta to Mr Uduaghan, operatives of  MEND today March 15, 2010, successfully breached the security at the Delta state government house in Warri  and planted three explosive devices in and around this compound which is the venue of the Vanguard Post Amnesty Dialogue organised by the Vanguard newspaper.

''These devices will be detonated remotely.

''In our usual effort to prevent the loss of innocent life, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta advises the immediate evacuation of the the Government House annex Warri and its immediate surroundings up to the Delta state Brodcasting Corporation.

''The time given for this evacuation before the detonation of the first bomb is thirty (30) minutes which will elapse by 1130 hrs Nigerian time. The primary school bordering the government house annex should be evacuated immediately! 

''The first bomb will be detonated at exactly 1130 hrs.  We will thereafter advise on the other devices planted within and around the venue of the vanguard newspaper organised and Delta state sponsored conference. Organisers and participants at this jamboree will ignore this warning at their peril !!!

''People must not remain in their cars and attempt to drive their cars and maintain safe distance from all cars and the area''.

They are not yet done. Hear them, ''the deceit of endless dialogue and conferences will no longer be tolerated. The lands of the people of the Niger Delta was stolen by the oil companies and Northern Nigeria with the stroke of a pen.

 ''The vanguard organized and delta state sponsored conference is one of such tools of deception. The Niger Delta has been  partitioned into oil blocks which have been distributed amongst mostly Northerners while indegenes of the Niger Delta can barely survive. One such example being General T.Y. Danjuma.

''It is common knowlede that no southerner can lay claim to an inch of land in the North so why should we continue to talk as the occupation of our land and theft of our reources by the oil companies and Northern Nigeria persists?

 ''The governors of the Niger Delta are shameless and visionless stooges who are more concerned with looting their state treasuries and seeking a second term in office, even against the wishes of their peop.

MEND said they will attack any such gatherings designed to propagate more falsehood. Members of the public are hereby warned to avoid such gatherings as they may not be fortunate to have a warning before detonation.

 ''In the coming days, we will carry out a number of attacks against installations and oil companies across the Niger Delta and will spread out to companies such as Total which have been spared in the past. We hope the actions which will follow will persuade Mr Uduaghan that we exist outside of cyberspace'', they said.

However, there were strong indications yesterday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, that some of the leaders of the active social formations that were invited for the Warri event srayed out.

For instance, Co-ordinator of the Network of Freedom Fighters in the Niger Delta (NFF), Mr. Nengi James, said most of them have better things to do rhan attend an ''empty talk shop''.