26 October 2009

Lasting respite seems to have returned to the restive Niger Delta as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has finally declared an "indefinite ceasefire" following President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's meeting with one of its former leaders, Mr. Henry Okah.

MEND, in an email yesterday by its Spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, where it declared an indefinite ceasefire, also announced the replacement of Ms. Annkio Briggs with Mr. Amagbe Denzel Kentebe as the group's liaison officer.

By agreeing to engage in dialogue with the group, Gbomo said the Federal Government had demonstrated readiness to engage in meaningful discussion with every group or individual towards achieving a lasting peace in the region.

In the meantime, it has emerged that in order to regain the allegiance of the ex-militants in the Niger Delta, they will be made to swear to an oath of allegiance to the country and openly sign the renunciation form at the rehabilitation centres.

Defence Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Committee on the Amnesty Programme, Major-Gen. Godwin Abbe (rtd), who made the disclosure at an interactive session with journalists yesterday in Lagos, said with the expiration of the amnesty period on October 4, 2009, the amnesty programme for repentant militants had entered the critical stage of rehabilitation and reintegration.

He also said the amnesty committee would soon approach the United Nations (UN) over the programme particularly with regards to the need for stiffer sanctions against illegal oil bunkering, comparable to what is in place against illegal mining of diamonds.

Gbomo said the position of the government, which informed its declaration of the indefinite ceasefire, was conveyed to them by one of its former leaders, Okah, after his meeting with President Yar'Adua on October 19, 2009 when it agreed to engage its Aaron Team led by Vice-Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe.

The position is a reversal of its earlier threat to take on the oil sector and military targets in the region after the expiration of its extended ceasefire deadline by October 15, 2009 unless the Federal Government engaged its negotiators, which includes Prof. Wole Soyinka in a dialogue on how to resolve the issues of the Niger Delta.

Gbomo said in the statement: "On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, the Federal Government of Nigeria expressed its readiness to engage in serious and meaningful dialogue with every group or individual towards achieving a lasting peace in the Niger Delta.

"This welcome shift in position conveyed to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) by Mr. Henry Okah after his meeting with President Yar'Adua on Monday, October 19, 2009 indicated the willingness of the government to negotiate with the MEND Aaron team.

"To encourage the process of dialogue between the government and the team that MEND has selected to negotiate its demands for a lasting peace in the Niger Delta region, an indefinite ceasefire has been ordered and takes effect from 0000Hrs, Sunday, October 25, 2009.

"The Aaron Team has been modified with the exit of Ms. Annkio Briggs by mutual consent. She has been replaced as the group's liaison with immediate effect by Mr. Amagbe Denzel Kentebe."

Gbomo had earlier said MEND would have no reason to commence attacks if the Federal Government demonstrated sincere commitment in engaging in dialogue to address the root cause of militancy.

He had exclusively told THISDAY that the genuine issue of fiscal federalism was being swept under the carpet and that it would no longer tolerate such.

Abbe told journalists the amnesty committee had already met with the international community in Nigeria over issues concerning the Niger Delta and the amnesty programme and that the Federal Government expected cooperation from the diplomats.

The Defence minister was responding to a question at the session on a report in a national newspaper that Nigeria had not invited the UN to play an active monitoring role in the amnesty process.

He put the number of ex-militants who have surrendered their arms and ammunition at 15, 260, though he stated that based on the committee's initial projection, the figure of all true militants in the Niger Delta was estimated at 17,000.

The minister said two rehabilitation centres in Aluu, Rivers State and Agbarho, Delta State were fully ready to be occupied.

"Both rehabilitation centres have capacity for 3, 000. In the face of accommodation problem, it is intended that ex-militants will be rehabilitated in batches. The rehabilitation will last for a period of about four weeks for each batch and will entail reorientation, counseling and moral/spiritual regeneration of the ex-militants," he said.

In preparation for the training/skill acquisition of the ex-militants, he said a survey of the need of the youths in the Niger Delta region was conducted by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

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