Unrepentant militia group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), may send another round of shock wave across the oil region if it makes good its fresh threat.

The group, which claimed responsibility for last weekend’s bombing of a Shell/Chevron-operated pipeline in Abonnema, Rivers State, said in an electronic mail response to Sunday Sun enquiry that it was not intimidated by the warning of the Minister of Defence, Major-General Godwin Abbe (rtd), or even the presence of the Joint Task Force (JTF), a government security outfit deployed in the region to check insurgency and oil bunkering activities.

Among other reasons for the attack, the insurgent group said a situation where ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua’s absence from the country had stalled the peace process in the region was unacceptable.

Sunday Sun gathered that security has been beefed up in the region, with the military embarking on regular air, land and coastal patrol, especially around suspected flash points.

The Abonnema attack was said to have caught the JTF unawares regardless of the fact that it had a base near the oil facility that was destroyed. It had tried to downplay the incident, saying it was not aware of it and that it would be investigated.

Efforts to speak to the JTF Commandant, Major-General Sarkin Bello, on MEND’s fresh threat proved abortive as calls to his mobile phone were left unanswered. There was also no response to a text message soliciting his response on the threat at the time of filing this report.

But an officer attached to the JTF, who spoke to Sunday Sun on condition of anonymity, said the security outfit was combat-ready against any further attack by the insurgent group.

“We are determined to repel with equal force any further attack on oil facilities by this group of hoodlums. We cannot allow disgruntled elements to continue to hold the country to ransom after all the government had done through the amnesty granted former militants and other concessions to the region. We won’t allow the peace, security and economic well-being of this country to be threatened by these dissidents. We are determined to put a stop to it,” the officer said.

MEND, however, poured ice on the JTF’s combat-readiness. Its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, said last weekend’s “warning strike” was a wake-up call to the country that the unrest was far from over if issues were not dealt with the speed and seriousness they deserve.

“It is only logical that if a warning shot is ignored that you fire another. We initially thought the new JTF spokesman was a more polished and exposed professional than his predecessor, but it is now evident that they are the same. Under his watch, he denied the vandalizing of the residence of a former MEND commander, Christian don Pedro, and offered a silly reason for their presence in the community. This recent denial is another obvious cover-up by a confused JTF, which believes that an outright denial is the way to go.

“How can the government deal with what it cannot grasp? If they decide to carry out punitive strikes on any oil bearing community as a way of intimidating the region, Abbe will meet a response he never anticipated.

“The JTF cannot attack what it cannot see or locate, and even past commanders, who choose to act as informants and traitors, will have nothing to grasp because as it stands they are not even aware of the identity of the commanders that replaced them. We have established mobile camps and new commanders all over the region for both land and creek operations,” Gbomo stated.

MEND explained that contrary to reports, none of its ex-commanders condemned the Abonnema attack because, according to Gbomo, they understand the strategic reasoning for it.

It also claimed that Soboma Jackrich alias Egberipapa, who it said was being sponsored to condemn the strike, was never a MEND commander as claimed and that his opinion was irrelevant.

Gbomo maintained that the amnesty programme, which has now been bedeviled by several hiccups, was a blessing in disguise because it helped to differentiate the real freedom fighters from businessmen.

“You must realize that a large number of the so-called 15,000 militants are not genuine freedom fighters but jobless youths and criminals, who took advantage of the amnesty to escape from the police wanted list. Only a handful are genuine fighters who wanted to take a break. No real freedom fighter will engage in riots and despoil.

“For now, we will not need any ex-militant because the number of unrepentant fighters are capable of getting the job done. Besides we do not need many fighters for an unconventional war.”

The resumption of hostilities, Gbomo further explained, would not affect the status of the Admiral Mike Akhigbe-led Aaron Team it constituted to negotiate with the federal government.

Other members of the team are Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka (Observer), Brig-Gen Luke Kakadu Aprezi, United States-based Dr Sabella Ogbobode Abidde, and Mr Denzel Kentebe, an architect, who is MEND’s liaison.

“They (Aaron Team) will continue as mediators between MEND and the government,” even as it defended its position that the militia group remained apolitical despite citing the succession controversy in the Presidency as one of the reasons for the last attack.

“MEND is talking about continuity and delegation. If Yar’Adua is not able to continue negotiations, then someone else should be delegated to continue. This has nothing to do with who rules the country. Any way the attack is perceived is beyond our control. Our statement, which announced the warning strike, has been self-explanatory,” Gbomo said.

MEND has made the issue of true federalism, resource control and the ownership of land by communities the main plank of its demands, arguing that the Niger Delta, which produces over 90 per cent of the nation’s wealth, cannot continue to be neglected and left in abject poverty.

It has equally backed calls on the government to implement recommendations in the report of the Niger Delta Technical Committee. The Ledum Mitee-led committee, which was constituted last year by the federal government, submitted its report a year ago but the government has sat on the White Paper and spurned calls for its implementation.

The militant group, which commenced a deliberate sabotage of oil facilities three years ago, to draw attention to the plight of the Niger Delta, had declared an indefinite ceasefire in October to pave way for dialogue with the government.

Following the unrest in the region occasioned by the activities of militants, President Yar’Adua on June 25 granted an unconditional 60-day amnesty to the insurgents, which commenced on August 6 and expired on October 4. To underscore the success of the exercise, the government said about 3,000 weapons were surrendered by no fewer than 15,000 former militants.