Militants Threaten to Attack UK Interests in Nigeria
•FG deploys more troops in Bayelsa
From Ahamefula Ogbu in Port Harcourt, 07.11.2008
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has threatened that it will from midnight of Saturday call off its four-week old unilateral ceasefire in reaction to the pledge of military support to the Federal Government allegedly made by British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown.
Brown had told journalists at the G8 summit in Japan that his country would help Nigeria "deal with lawlessness" in the region – a statement that MEND believes means military action.
The militants threatened that British interests and citizens in Nigeria would be in danger if Brown went ahead to provide military support “for the continued suppression and marginalisation of the region through destruction of lives and environment”.
MEND, in an e-mail signed by Gbomo Jomo, said they were going to hurt the interest of Britain which it accused of causing the problem that is currently haunting the country through its “divide and rule tactics which favoured a section of the country”.
The militant group claimed it was irked that at the G8 summit, Brown offered to help Nigeria militarily in the Niger Delta which they claimed amounted to lending a hand to the Nigerian government “to further the violation of their human rights.
They decried the impression being painted that the problem in the Niger Delta stemmed from oil thieves in the region, pointing out that it was common knowledge that the region was neglected for over 50 years of oil exploration and degradation of the environment.
The statement read: “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) wishes to sound a stern warning to the British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, over his recent statement offering to provide military support to the illegal government of Umaru Yar'Adua in further oppressing the impoverished people of the Niger Delta.
“To demonstrate our seriousness to the UK support of an injustice, MEND will be calling off its unilateral ceasefire with effect from midnight, Saturday July 12, 2008.
“The United Kingdom is part of this problem with the politics it played pre- independence that gave leverage to some sections of the country which has helped in marginalising and exploiting the region today.
“Should Gordon Brown make good his threat to support this criminality for the sake of oil, UK citizens and interests in Nigeria will suffer the consequence.”
Despite widespread advice against a military action, more soldiers have been deployed in the region, THISDAY investigation has revealed.
Most of the soldiers have been deployed to take over existing checkpoints in the capital city of Yenagoa and environs, while new ones are being created at strategic locations in and around Yenagoa.
Although no reason was advanced for the mew military presence on the streets of the capital, THISDAY gathered that more troops were deployed in the volatile areas of Southern Ijaw and Ekeremor local government areas which account for most of the disturbances in the region.
The troops were deployed from the jetty of the Warri Naval Base, NNS Delta, in Delta State.
A security source told THISDAY that the large military presence was part of their mandate to safeguard the lives and property of the citizenry.
The crisis in Nigeria has been the greatest impediment to the development of the region which makes the nation lose 62,500 barrels of oil valued at N8 billion daily, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua said yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He was flagging off the oil and gas conference organised by the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHACCIMA) which theme is on local content.
The President, who spoke through the Minister of State for Petroleum and Energy, Mr. Henry Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), lamented that the security situation in the Niger Delta was not allowing the harnessing of the full potentials of the oil and gas endowments.
He regretted that the activities of “vandals” was costing the nation much while putting the environment and the people to risk in addition to threatening to derail the economic development plan of the government in the sector.
On the local content drive of the government, he regretted that of all the over $10 billion spent annually in the oil and gas sector, less than 10 per cent of it was being spent within the economy which was not good enough.
Yar’Adua canvassed an increase in the refining capacity of the country from the present 12 million litres a day to about 40 million litres a day if it had to meet the local demand.
The President observed that most of what was spent in the sector is still being given to foreign companies because of lack of capacity which he charged the local players in the industry to strive and build capacity.
He asked all groups which have taken up arms in the region to lay them down and allow peace to reign so that the developmental programmes of the administration which he said he was irreversibly committed to implementing.
Yar’Adua pressed for total peace devoid of kidnapping of expatriates and children for ransom so that industries would blossom while investors would find the nation a profitable place to invest in.
According to him, proper planning would mean the country pressing for rapid industrialisation that would sustain the economy in the event that the oil and gas deposits of the country run dry.
Earlier in his welcome address, President of the Chamber, Prince Billy Gillis Harry, said the aim of hosting the programme in Port Harcourt was to prove to the world that the city had returned to normalcy and safe for investors.
The PHACCIMA boss lamented that the effect of militancy had driven investors out of the region but said those who want to wait for total peace to return before coming back might discover they have no space to operate by that time.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to increase their stake in the oil and gas production sector as it would discourage capital flight.
