MEND to begin documenting activities

"Hurricane Barbarossa" as the MEND calls its recent wave of intense attacks on oil and military installations--in response to recent repressive government incursions in creek communities--has proven once again that there is no coherent system for visually documenting the human rights abuses in the Niger Delta.

It seems that the MEND has finally come around to recognize the importance of images as part of their larger struggle. As an excerpt from a recent communique states:

"If the Nigerian military is confident of its capabilities, let them be bold to take journalists and photographers to Orubiri to assess by themselves the aftermath of Barbarossa. We will henceforth begin documenting our raids by providing digital cameras and camcorders for each fighting unit."

This is good news for all of us who, in solidarity, wish to show the world the consequences of allowing the current government-industry cabal in Nigeria to operate unseen and unchecked.