NIGERIA: Give peace a chance, FG begs MEND

The Federal Government has appealed to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta not to plunge the region into another round of violence, following the conviction of its leader, Mr. Henry Okay, for terrorism.

A South African court had last Monday found Okah guilty of masterminding the October 1, 2010 bomb blasts in Abuja, among other terrorism charges.

Following the conviction, MEND, in a statement on Saturday, threatened to renew attacks on targets across the country.

It said, “Nigerians as a whole will feel our presence when we finally decide to carry out our targets which will not be restricted to the Niger Delta alone; MEND has become more sophisticated than the level of mere IED or car bombs, and reached capabilities which will take the Nigerian Military another 10 years to catch.

“To the Nigerian Government, you have seen nothing, the disintegration of Nigeria will start through us and by us, we are well equipped for this task. We have details of all the family members of the Government (1999-2013).”

The FG, however, called on the group to give peace a chance and allow the transformation of the region to continue.

The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, who made that call at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, said it was not right for MEND to truncate the development of the Niger Delta because of the travails of its leader.

Maku, who responded to questions on the threat, said it was shocking that a group of Nigerians would issue threats over Okah’s conviction by South Africa, stressing that acts of terrorism against the country should be condemned by everyone.

He said, “Henry Okah was tried in South Africa under due process and found guilty of committing acts of terrorism; South Africa  convicted him. It is very shocking for any group of Nigerians to issue threats.

What we expect is for all Nigerians to show patriotism and support to the government.”

The minister explained that the peace in the Niger Delta was the result of the Amnesty programme of the government, which was instituted to train and empower the youths of the region at home and abroad.

He, therefore, appealed to all militant groups to allow the peace in the Niger Delta to endure, stressing that a return to violence would not augur well for progress of the region.