MEND, FG strike deal to end N-Delta crisis

The Movement for the  Emancipation of the  Niger Delta (MEND) and the Federal Government, currently engaged in a dialogue through the oil companies and security agencies  to end renewed bombings in the oil-rich Niger Delta, seem to have reached far-reaching compromises, including the possible release of a  former militant leader, Henry Okah, from  prison in South Africa, and his brother, Charles Okah, incarcerated in Nigeria

They were also said to have agreed that ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo , alias Tompolo, would not be harassed by government if he makes himself available as a delegate on MEND Aaron Team 2, while the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, would be released on condition that he renounces the agitation for “Biafra Republic.
MEND, in a statement by spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, yesterday, announced the  resolutions to  end  the revolt in the South-South and South East regions. The statement came on  a day security forces were said to be deploying into strategic positions in the Niger Delta to prepare to use force against militants if peace talks failed. However, MEND  said the recalcitrant Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, still has opportunity to embrace peace, failing which a   combination of military forces and volunteers in the region  would smoke them out. The statement  said: “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is the only militant group from the Niger Delta region presently engaged in a dialogue with the Federal Government of Nigeria – through oil companies and security agencies – with a view to resolving the current Niger Delta crisis.
Thus far, the deliberations have been fruitful, various concessions and guarantees have already been secured, some of which include but  not limited to the release of Henry Okah, Charles Okah and Obi Nwabueze; review of the life sentence handed to Mr. Edmund Ebiware based on a proposal put forward by the Aaron Team representative for Abia and Imo states, Senator Adolphus Wabara; conditional release of IPOB leader, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and others if they renounce their agitation for a ‘Biafra Republic’”. Furthermore, MEND said they agreed  that Mr. Government Ekpemupolo shall not be arrested, harassed and/or intimidated whenever he makes himself available as a delegate of the MEND Aaron Team. The statement went on: “That international arbitrator and conflict negotiator, American Dr. Judith Asuni, shall be accepted as the representative of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) on the MEND Aaron Team; that the criminal charges against Urhobo freedom fighter, Mr. Kelvin Prosper Oniarah, shall be reviewed.