The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta [MEND] today,[Monday], carried out its threat which it issued early Monday morning to detonate three bombs at the venue of the Vanguard Post – Amnesty Dialogue in government house, Warri, Delta state.

Two bombs exploded within ten minutes. The first exploded as the governors proceeded to the venue, injuring some passers by. The second exploded outside the wall of the government house, Warri, venue of theprogramme.

Present at the occasion were Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim of Imo state and Comrade Adams Oshimoholeof Edo state.

Also present were the Minister for the Niger Delta, Chief Ufot Ekaette, leader of the Action Congress in Rivers State, prince Tonye Princewill and prominent Niger Delta citizens, which include Prof. Pat Utomi and Mr. Tony Uranta, among others.

MEND had in the early hours of Monday, issued a bomb alert in Warri, Delta state, and made good of same by the attack. In a release issued by the leader of the group, Jomo Gbomo, the group expressed worry over what it described as deceit on the Niger Delta region through incessant dialogue and talk shows without action and vowed to resume serious hostilities in the region .

“After receiving the baton of ignorance from his Bayelsa state counterpart, the governor of Delta State declared in the Vanguard newspaper of February 22, 2010 that "the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is a media creation." This assertion coming from the same person who claimed publicly that an oil pipeline can be destroyed by one man armed with a bottle of petrol, is hardly surprising. What is surprising is how he managed to obtain a science degree.

“Thinking of no better way to announce our continued presence in the Niger Delta to Mr Uduaghan, operatives of MEND today March 15, 2010, successfully breached the security at the Delta state government house in Warri and planted three explosive devices in and around this compound which is the venue of the Vanguard Post Amnesty Dialogue organised by the Vanguard newspaper.
These devices will be detonated remotely.

In our usual effort to prevent the loss of innocent lives, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta advises the immediate evacuation of the Government House annex Warri and its immediate surroundings up to the Delta state Broadcasting Corporation.

The time given for this evacuation before the detonation of the first bomb is thirty (30) minutes which will elapse by 1130 hrs Nigerian time. The primary school bordering the government house annex should be evacuated immediately!

The first bomb will be detonated at exactly 1130 hrs. We will thereafter advise on the other devices planted within and around the venue of the vanguard newspaper organised and Delta state sponsored conference. Organisers and participants at this jamboree will ignore this warning at their peril !!!
People must not remain in their cars and attempt to drive their cars and maintain safe distance from all cars and the area!

The deceit of endless dialogue and conferences will no longer be tolerated. The lands of the people of the Niger Delta was stolen by the oil companies and Northern Nigeria with the stroke of a pen.

The vanguard organized and delta state sponsored conference is one of such tools of deception. The Niger Delta has been partitioned into oil blocks which have been distributed amongst mostly Northerners while indigenes of the Niger Delta can barely survive. One such example being General T.Y. Danjuma.
It is common knowledge that no southerner can lay claim to an inch of land in the North so why should we continue to talk as the occupation of our land and theft of our resources by the oil companies and Northern Nigeria persists?

The governors of the Niger Delta are shameless and visionless stooges who are more concerned with looting their state treasuries and seeking a second term in office, even against the wishes of their people.
MEND will attack any such gatherings designed to propagate more falsehood. Members of the public are hereby warned to avoid such gatherings as they may not be fortunate to have a warning before detonation.

In the coming days, we will carry out a number of attacks against installations and oil companies across the Niger Delta and will spread out to companies such as Total which have been spared in the past. We hope the actions which will follow will persuade Mr Uduaghan that we exist outside of cyberspace.

Reacting to the development, Rivers state chapter of the Action Congress described the incident as unfortunate as well as a setback to their plans to convince the International Community that peace has returned to the troubled Niger Delta region.

In a release issued by the state publicity Secretary of the Party, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the party said: “The news of the explosion of two bombs at the venue of the post amnesty conference that claimed a couple of lives and damaged some cars, including the bus of Prince Tonye Princewill, leader of the Rivers state Action Congress who escaped death by the whiskers with Chief Ufot Ekaette, Minister in charge of Niger Delta Ministry, the governors and some other stakeholders from the region is very unfortunate”.

Adding his voice, the Rivers state AC leader, Prince Tonye Princewill described the bomb explosion as sad. “The explosion is sad and unfortunate as agitation in any form to claim lives of our people is not acceptable and should be condemned equivocally. Having said this, it becomes imperative on the side of the Federal government to urgently embark on the holistic implementation and issuance of a white paper on the Niger Delta Technical Committee report and attending to issues relating to amnesty granted to the Militants to avoid some extremists capitalising this lack of political will to treat the Niger Delta issue to cause further damage on the psyche of our people. This, i must confess, is a total setback to our plans to convince some Ambassadors that peace has finally returned to the region and should encourage the citizenry to invest in the region, but, we will not relent until our region is developed. The Federal government has put much emphasis
on the Power sector and electoral reforms. Though commendable, but to the detriment of the Niger Delta region that lays the golden egg. We mourn with those that lost their dear ones in this sad event, and pray God to grant the affected families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss and touch the hearts of those in authority to once and for all, address the Niger Delta question”, he stressed

Also speaking on the issue, former Director of Co-ordination, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Kaduna, Brigadier General Enang Essien [Rtd] blamed it on what he described as a show of the failure of the system.

General Essien, who is presently a Bishop in the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star further blamed the incident on the refusal of man to acknowledge the physical presence and manifestation of God on earth.

“Let me tell you, the world has refused to acknowledge the physical manifestation and presence of God on earth personified in Leader Olumba Olumba Obu. You do not expect to have peace in the world when the world has refused to worship and recognise their creator who is in their midst. The world cannot have peace until they recognise the presence of God on earth. Imagine Nigeria. The Country is fortunate to be the dwelling place of God, but they travelled to as far back as Rome to ask the Pope to come and make peace in Nigeria. Is that not a shame? When people from all corners of the world are coming to the World Headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, 34 Ambo Street Calabar to pay homage to the father, Nigerians are going out to exhibit their ignorance. All the things that are happening in Nigeria as the entire world are in fulfilment of the pronouncements of the holy father, Leader Olumba Olumba Obu and until the world recognise his
presence as God, the world will not have peace”.

It would be recalled that on the 1st of January, 2010, during his new year pronouncements declared that the Niger Delta problem will persist. He also made a pronouncement on the present Political logjam in the Country and the present developments are in fulfilment of his words that never go unfulfilled.

Also reacting to the development, the Niger Delta Coalition Against Violence, NDCAV, a non governmental Organisation working tirelessly to eradicate every form of violence in the Niger Delta region expressed concern over the development and called on the Militants to refrain from every form of violent agitations.
Speaking during a telephone interview with our correspondent, National President of the group, Lekia Bariledum Christian described the incident as unfortunate and reiterated its call for MEND to employ dialogue in all its agitations.

According to him, “NDCAV is not and shall not be in support of any form or act of violence in the Niger Delta region. We are particularly worried that this latest attack was targeted at people of the Niger Delta region. How can we be killing ourselves in the name of agitation? This is not right at all. However, we shall not support any offensive against any part of the Niger Delta region under whatever guise. Dialogue is the only way out of the problem. If after every war, people will still sit down to dialogue on the way forward, why go to war at all? There is no alternative to dialogue in conflict resolution and there is also no alternative to peace”, he stated.
Continuing, the NDCAV boss however called on the Federal government to take deliberate and urgent steps to ensure massive development of the region, describing it as the only sure solution to the problems of the region.

Anchored on the fore going, it therefore obvious that there is fire on the mounting and nobody is running. This is an obvious warning that there is danger and the Country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
Undoubtedly, by this singular action, the Militants and indeed, the Niger Delta people have lost confidence in their leaders. Attacking a venue of a meeting of Niger Delta leaders is a danger signal that must not be taken with a pinch of salt.

More worrisome is the fact that majority of the governors of the region were neither present, nor represented, a situation that has actually raised some questions still yearning for answers. Why were Governors Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Imoke of Cross Rivers State, Theodore Orji of Abia State, Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state and Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa state not present at the occasion? They also did not send representatives. Or, were they not invited? The entire mystery shall soon be uncovered.

The time has therefore come for a new crop of leaders to begin to spring up in the region. The present crop of leaders must therefore, as a matter of serendipity, begin to dust their feet in readiness for their exit and fresh blood, as well as new crop of leaders emerging. Only when this happens can the people have hope of having a sigh of relief.

Most importantly, the Niger Delta region, Nigeria and indeed the entire universe must wake up from their slumber and recognise, embrace and worship God who is in their midst as the only sure solution to the problems of the region, the Country and the unprecedented calamities that are befalling the world today.
The International Community must at this juncture intervene, before the Country witnesses another round of Civil war.

As the 2011 general elections draw near, care must be taken to avert an ‘Armageddon war’ in the Country. Political Parties must begin to shop for fresh breed of Politicians to take over from the present crop of self serving leaders as any mistake to attempt to play the ‘carry go’ kind of politics shall spell doom for the Country.

In Delta State, the battle line appears to have already been drawn. The incumbent governor, Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan must reconsider his second term agenda. There is this common belief that after the next dispensation, the Urhobo ethnic nationality shall take over the governorship of the state in conformity with their conventional zoning understanding. Governor Uduaghan comes from the smallest tribe in Delta-Itsekiri. It is also believed that his second term agenda could deny other tribes sharing the same [Delta South] senatorial zone with it an opportunity of ruling before power shifts to another zone. The two other key contending tribes in Delta South Senatorial zone are Isoko and Ijaw. It is also expected that the Urhobo tribe will have its turn after the next dispensation. However, whether the above permutations shall come true shall be determined by the unfolding events and developments.

This latest attack by MEND is a danger signal that must be taken seriously by all.
Oil and gas Companies in the Country, especially, Total Nigeria that thought that deep water exploration is a licence to safety must have a rethink. Efforts must be intensified by Multinational Companies in Nigeria to be socially responsible and sensitive to the plights of the people.

The time to act is now!