MEND to lift ceasefire due to British PM statements

In a communique issued early this morning, the MEND called off its most recent ceasefire and strongly criticized British PM Gordon Brown, for his offer of support to Nigeria. The Prime Minister is quoted as saying, "We stand ready to give help to the Nigerians to deal with lawlessness that exists in this area and to achieve the levels of production that Nigeria is capable of, but because of the law and order problems has not been able to achieve." While those around Mr. Brown are denying that Britain means to supply military support, it does not seem outside the realm of possibility, considering that one of the major oil players in the Delta is Royal Dutch Shell, a partly British company. That company has lost hundreds of thousands of barrels of output over the last two years and increasingly since April. It also now appears that the sham peace summit is even more unlikely since UN Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari, who was strongly criticized by most in the Niger Delta, has decided not to participate. There is no peace summit. There is no peace. It seems fairly reasonable, for lack of any other viable option from their point of view, that Britain will support its interests quietly through military support to Abuja. This will only mean more violence and chaos in the Delta.


THE MEND COMMUNIQUE:

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.

Mr Yar'Adua in a fraudulent appeal to the G8 leaders in Japan, misled the international community into believing that the unrest and agitation in the region is due to oil theft which encourages "blood oil".

The international community and independent researchers are very well aware that the unrest in the region is as a result of over five decades of oil exploration that has developed other parts of Nigeria to the detriment of the environment and people of the Niger Delta.

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 marginalizing 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 consequences.

Jomo Gbomo