Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday held a closed door meeting with the Minister of Defence , Maj.-Gen. Godwin Abbe (rtd.), over the reported resumption of attacks on oil installations by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. MEND had in an email statement by its spokesman, Mr. Jomo Gbomo, on Saturday, said it had breached major crude oil delivery pipeline in the creeks of Abonnema, Rivers State. The pipeline, which was reportedly attacked by 35 armed militants, belonged to either Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited or Chevron Nigeria Limited. Details of the talks were not disclosed but a source informed our correspondent that the defence minister briefed the vice-president on the incident.

It was unclear if Abbe confirmed the incident, but a source, who did not wish to be named, informed our correspondent that the Federal Government was jolted by the reports that MEND had resumed attacks, thereby reversing the stable situation that had prevailed in the Niger Delta since the militants accepted the amnesty offered by President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The source said the government placed so much importance on the outcome of the amnesty programme and would not want to see it derailed.

He said, “The situation in the Niger Delta is of utmost importance to the government, and the vice-president’s office has been coordinating the peace process; so you can understand the concern.

“The report (of MEND’s attack) came as a shock; it was not expected at all.
“Although we have not been able to confirm it, because even the management of the concerned oil company, Chevron, said it could not be verified, it is still a big threat to the amnesty programme.

“The Federal Government is still celebrating the gains of the amnesty, and we are placing so much hope on increased revenue from oil resources; so this is unacceptable.

“That is why the minister (of defence) had to meet the Vice-President; the Federal Government has to assess the situation and find a way forward.”

The source added that MEND’s claim that the fresh attack was executed by “five gunboats carrying 35 armed militants” had awakened previous concerns over comments by the group’s leader, Mr. Henry Okah, that the militants did not surrender all their arms.

Okah had in an interview with al-Jazeera, a foreign broadcast station, on November 1, 2009, disputed claims by the Federal Government that 15,000 militants had surrendered their arms.
Okah’s comments had prompted Yar’Adua to summon an emergency meeting with Abbe.

The source noted on Monday that the latest claims by MEND, coupled with Okah’s earlier comments, suggested that the situation in the Niger Delta was “still fragile.” He, however, said the government “would not fold its arms and watch the gains of the amnesty programme being derailed as a result of the activities of some lawless people.” MEND had said on Saturday that it would in 30 days from December 19 review the indefinite ceasefire it declared on October 25, 2009.

It said that the resumed attacks were caused by the challenges posed by President Umaru Yar’Adua’s illness and the slow pace of implementation of the post-amnesty programme in the Niger Delta.

Part of the statement reads, “While the Nigerian government has conveniently tied the advancement of talks on the demands of this group to a sick president, it has not tied the repair of pipelines, exploitation of oil and gas as well as the deployment and re-tooling of troops in the region to the President’s ill-health.

“While wishing the President speedy recovery, a situation where the future of the Niger Delta is tied to the health and well-being of one man is unacceptable.”