A war of words has ensued between a militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and a coalition of ex-agitators over alleged plan to attack oil installations in the region by the latter group.
Following the political crisis rocking Rivers State, a coalition of ex-agitators and fighters in the region under the aegis of Niger Delta Development Force had last week threatened to blow-up oil facilities in the region over what it termed a plot to seize financial allocations meant for local government areas in Rivers State through the courts.
The former warlords dared the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, saying if they proceeded in withholding the funds for the state, it would have grave consequences.
Kicking against the threat, MEND’s spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, in a statement on Friday, said it will support security operatives in safeguarding crude oil installations from any attack.
Gbomo also said MEND is not in support of the violence that Rivers State has been experiencing due to the lingering feud between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and his successor and estranged political godson, Siminalayi Fubara.
Describing the attack plan as threat to the economy of the country, Gbomo said it would be most unfortunate for a political dispute between two politicians to cost the state and Nigeria assets that are pivotal to nation’s survival.
Noting that the both feuding political gladiators are sons of the Niger Delta, the spokesman asked those making the threats not to allow themselves be tricked using the present circumstance into carrying arms against the Nigerian state on behalf of any of them, not even for any price.
He said as an Ijaw son, he knows the gains of having an Ijaw man as governor in Rivers, adding that it is an achievement which would not have been possible but for the collaboration of other ethnic groups.
According to him, the current healthy collaboration from the various ethnic groups which produced an Ijaw son as governor was spearheaded by the FCT Minister.
The statement said not only would MEND back the Federal Government in protecting oil facilities, but it would also ensure that the masterminds of the threats to attack oil installations are fished out and meant to face justice.
The MEND spokesman, however, urged the elders and traditional institutions in the region to intervene in the face-off between Governor Fubara and the FCT Minister.
He also urged parties in the festering political crisis to seek judicial redress if peaceful dialogue fails.
