The group's spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, in a press statement, said: “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) wishes to confirm that indeed it has been in preliminary talks with the Federal Government through oil companies and law-enforcement agencies as revealed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, July 21, 2016.”
“These preliminary talks are the precursor to a wider dialogue between the Federal Government and the MEND Aaron 2 peace initiative, which will seek to find solutions to the short, medium and long-term future of the Niger Delta region. “The Federal Government made it clear during our meetings that a negotiation with criminals is out of the question,” MEND said.
It added: “The Niger Delta Avengers, internet-based ‘militant’ groups such as Joint Revolutionary Council, Ultimate Warriors etc., are all Ijaw opportunistic tribal assembly, which were compromised to keep silent during the six (6) years of Goodluck Jonathan’s misrule and neglect, pirates, pipeline vandals, oil thieves, commercial kidnappers, waterway robbers, political thugs and miscreants all fall under this category.”
Niger Delta Avengers, which claimed to be the main militant group in the region, had, last Friday, denied Buhari’s assertion that government was discussing with militants.
“If there is any such peace talk, it means the President is talking to their mercenaries set to disturb the genuine struggle of the agitators. President Buhari led government is not sincere to the Nigeria people and their foreign allies,” it pointed out.
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