MEND statement regarding the Niger Delta Peace Commitee

Issued on Friday, September 5th, 2008, by Jomo Gbomo

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) considers the 40-man Niger Delta Peace Committee which is scheduled to be inaugurated in Abuja on Monday, September 8, 2008 as the appetizer on the menu of another banquet of deceit orchestrated by an insincere government to give it a semblance of integrity.

Without the release of Henry Okah, no right thinking militant that has evaded capture can trust that the government wants genuine peace. Treating those in its custody differently from those that are in the creek is sheer hypocrisy. Henry Okah must be a part of the process and not an agenda for debate.

MEND therefore dissociates itself from this peace committee and can assure them that without putting the horse before the cart, they are bound to fail as the Gambari led one before it. Peace in the Niger Delta will be determined from the mangrove creeks and not from air-conditioned rooms in Abuja.