http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/revealed-why-mend-struck/

News Oct 9 , 2010

Revealed: Why MEND struck

* ‘President ignored Aaron Team’

By Emma Amaize
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, which  claimed responsibility for the Abuja bomb blasts, may have struck to  protest what it perceived as disregard for  its leaders by President  Goodluck Jonathan and purported hijack of the Federal Government’s  post-amnesty programme by some people close to the president,  according to a source. Despite the reasons adduced by MEND for the explosions, which it  described as a “symbolic attack”, ex-militant leaders in the Niger-Delta  have resolved to dump Henry Okah, who is currently in prison custody in  South-Africa over the October 1  explosions. A MEND source,  who does not want to be named, said: “The whole  problem was as a result of government’s insensitivity to the matters on  ground. They know the importance and role of Henry Okah in the Niger- Delta peace process but the president chose to ignore him. He was  listening to some cronies and few ex-militant leaders who have access to him and opted to chase shadows  than tackle the matters headlong. “He shut Okah out of Aso Villa, Abuja because he was taking advice from those who cannot guarantee him protection and you can see the  consequences of his ill-motivated steps. The late President Umaru Yar’ Adua met with the MEND’s Aaron Team, led by the former Chief of  General Staff, Rear Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe, rtd, who is a Niger- Deltan, with Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, as an observer before  he died, and promised to sustain dialogue on the way forward with the  team. “President Jonathan is from the Niger-Delta. He had met Henry Okah in  South-Africa in 2007  as part of his brief from the late Yar’Adua on the  Niger-Delta peace process. He knows that a team of eminent Nigerians,  led by Rear Admiral Akhigbe, was put together by MEND to discuss the  issues at stake. Okah is a member of the Aaron Team. Why did he not  deem

LET THEM COME OUT AND SAY MEND DOES NOT EXIST AGAIN

SHAMELESS PEOPLE

Soyinka is a man of great integrity.He should reveal to Nigerians the true MEND that he was negotiating with and also tell us if GEJ's government continued with the negotiations.

Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe, rtd, who is a Niger- Deltan, with Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, as an observer before  he died, and promised t

Is Wole Shoyinka dead?

Abagworo:

Soyinka is a man of great integrity.He should reveal to Nigerians the true MEND that he was negotiating with and also tell us if GEJ's government continued with the negotiations.

My brother, you are right, but soyinka is also a man of peace. He might have chosen to keep mute for now because the truth might tear us apart. But I know he will speak at the right time

Lets see how the GOVT will respond to this. I wonder why a gang of terrorists 'MEND' is confessing to his criminal act with reasons to their 1st 10 bomb blast but still the president is accusing his political opponents.

homerac7:

Is Wole Shoyinka dead?

Nope, the poster is referring to the late president.

jabbok:

My brother, you are right, but soyinka is also a man of peace. He might have chosen to keep mute for now because the truth might tear us apart.

Are we not better being apart. It is very clear that is where Nigeria is heading to. So let him talk and speed up the disintegration before Mend or whoever release another bomb.

But I know he will speak at the right time

Yeah when more Nigerians are lying lifeless. Now or never.

presido1:

Are we not better being apart. It is very clear that is where Nigeria is heading to. So let him talk and speed up the disintegration before Mend or whoever release another bomb.

Yeah when more Nigerians are lying lifeless. Now or never.

I feel your rage. We are certainly better apart

So it is obvious now that Okah was involved in the bombing. Good.

The govt should ensure Okah discloses the names of his sponsors. We are aware that $100m was involved.

Slowly but steadily, we are getting to the truth.

jamace:

Why can't this faceless MEND, if at all it is MEND, reveal its identity? Why hide under cover and claim you are MEND? Which MEND is this that is not known, even by the MEND that Nigerians know about? How do you want the govt to negotiate with a ghost?

Some persons are trying to hide their criminality. It is a matter of time, they shall be exposed and dealt with.

Those Ex-Militants that paraded themselves as MEND are nothing but EX-militants. The real MEND never keyed into the Amnesty thing.GEJ is being Daft and Confused.But he should not forget that OKAH will come out some day and throw more light on this issue, only will the public know the identity of the real Terrorists . GEJ has shot himself in the foot so badly

Those Ex-Militants that paraded themselves as MEND are nothing but EX-militants. The real MEND  never keyed into the Amnesty thing.GEJ is being Daft and Confused.But he  should not forget  that OKAH will come out some day and throw more light on this issue, only   will  the public know the  identity of the real Terrorists . GEJ has shot himself in the foot so badly

Okah can not claim to be MEND when he is living and enjoying himself in South Africa. He is first and foremost a gunrunner.

Acording to the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) "Henry Okah until recently was the lead arms supplier  to a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. His faction of MEND  was led by General Boyloaf (Victor Ebikabowei) who has since disbanded his unit, which  represents the mainstream MEND and joined forces with the renewed efforts to bring peace,  stability and development to the Niger Delta”

Read this thread to know the previous and current relationship between Okah and the JRC.
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-526963.0.html

As it stands now, Okah has no foot soldiers. He can only hire disgruntled elements, or even  mercineries, to assist him in his operation. And his operation is not for MEND but a personal biz from which he intends to make money for himself and his family.

Fortunately, he has agreed to have  caused  the bomb blast in Abuja, aided by his sponsors.
The FGN should ensure that he and his sponsors are brought to book.

[flash=200,200]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8WL9xF3hM0?fs=1&hl=en_GB[/flash]

Denying that MEND exists is like denying that you and I exist.The present Government refused to continue negotiations and also refused to address key issues.I believe Soyinka will talk later.

This is the angle of this whole that I am appalled is not being investigated. If the president is 100% that MEND is not involved, who has been sending the messages from the MEND email? Where are these people located etc? What information does the president have that exonerates MEND that he is unwilling to reveal to the Nigerian people? If he was able to public declare MEND's innocence then I see no reason why he should not follow it up with information backing this declaration.

Headlines Nov 8 , 2009
Why Soyinka, Akhigbe can’t speak for N/Delta….Abbe

*No clear mandate for them from militants By Emma Amaize

MINISTER of Defence and Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Amnesty, Major. “General Godwin Abbe (rtd.), shed light, yesterday, on why the committee is not keen on meeting with the Aaron Team, a group of eminent Nigerians with mandate from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta ((MEND) to dialogue with the Federal Niger-Delta crisis to an end. The minister, who spoke exclusively to Sunday Vanguard, said the Aaron Team had no identity and was suffering from credibility crisis, as it has not established that it was put in place in the first instance by a consensus of former  militants to act on their behalf. The Aaron Team comprises former Chief of General Staff (CGS), Vice Admiral Okhai Mike Akhigbe ( rtd), Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka (observer), Major General Luke Kakadu Aprezi (rtd) and Dr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde. Besides the issue of identity, Abbe said the team had not made any contact with his committee for any meeting and the government agency would not, on its own, be seeking to discuss with an unrecognized group. However, a senior official of MEND told Sunday Vanguard, yesterday, I think you better ignore the minister of defence. The man does not even know what is happening and he is behaving as if without him, nobody can meet with Mr. President. We have ignored him, as the people that know what they are doing in the Presidency have even by-passed him in dealing with MEND. Look at the way he has been talking since, as if it is not his duty to meet with everybody to ensure that peace returned to Niger-Delta. Why is he selecting the people to meet or not meet with? I will just tell you to leave Abbe alone. He is there but he does not know what is happening.It is people like him that create problem for the government. Look at the programme he was asked to handle, are those who accepted amnesty and returned arms

Why is he selecting the people to meet or not meet with? I will just tell you to leave Abbe alone. He is there but he does not know what is happening.It is people like him that create problem for the government. Look at the programme he was asked to handle, are those who accepted amnesty and returned arms, including Tompolo, Ateke Tom  and others not complaining that they were tired of meetings?  That  is his kind of person, he is not down-to- earth. However, Abbe said his committee was on top of the situation and that Tompolo, who is a strong voice in the Niger Delta struggle and other ex-militant leaders, were not in agreement with MEND on the formation of the Aaron Team. He claimed that there was disunity over the appointment of the Aaron Team, asking,Why do you expect government to deal with such a body? Told there was no question of disunity as the Aaron Team was appointed by the highest echelon of MEND, he said if Tompolo and others were disagreeing with the decisions of MEND, then, it was difficult for government not to watch before taking further action. Reminded that Henry Okah, the assumed leader of MEND, told President Umaru Yar'Adua at his meeting with him in Abuja to discuss with the Aaron Team on the way forward for Niger-Delta , he asked Sunday Vanguard, Were you there at the meeting to know what they discussed? Sunday Vanguard said sources close to the meeting revealed so but he replied that he could not rely on sources that were not present at the event, adding,I don't know what Okah told the president. MEND had, after the meeting between Okah and Yar'Adua, announced an indefinite ceasefire, saying, in a statement by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, On Tuesday, October 20, 2009,the Federal Government of Nigeria expressed its readiness to engage in serious and meaningful dialogue with every group or individual towards achieving a lasting peace in the Niger Delta.This welcome shift in position conveyed to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (