Posted by By Emma Ujah, Emma Amaize, Samuel Oyadongha, Jimitota Ononyume, with agency reports on
PRESIDENT Umaru Yar'Adua has directed security agencies to stop the incessant cases of hostage taking in the country forthwith. However, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) has made fresh threats over the reported arrest of a militant, "Jomo Gbomo", in far away Angola.
* Yar'Adua orders action against hostage takers
* MEND threatens over Jomo Gbomo
ABUJA - PRESIDENT Umaru Yar'Adua has directed security agencies to stop the incessant cases of hostage taking in the country forthwith. However, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) has made fresh threats over the reported arrest of a militant, "Jomo Gbomo", in far away Angola.
The president who departed for the United States of America (USA) yesterday on an official visit was said to be unhappy that rather than abating, hostage taking had spread from the South-South to the South-East.
However, confusion still pervaded the air yesterday over the reported arrest of Jomo Gbomo, leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), in Angola.
Although some sources said it was Jomo himself that was arrested, a MEND statement signed by 'Jomo Gbomo" said it was 'one Henry Okah" described as 'a silent player in the Niger Delta struggle" and one other that were arrested.
On the President's directive on arresting hostage taking, sources said: 'Mr. President gave very clear directives on this matter and we have gone back to meet to re-strategise on the most effective approach to resolving the problem permanently."
The Federal Government, sources said, was determined to halt the menace before Christmas as a well articulated measure is being put in place to make hostage taking unattractive to the criminals involved in it.
The meeting came to the conclusion that ransom payment was one of the most frustrating issues that came up.
'If you pay a ransom, then you turn it into a big business but when employers and families of hostages cooperate with security agencies, and we all say, no to ransom, then the perpetrators would have a rethink before undertaking such a dangerous venture," sources said.
It was gathered that those genuinely involved in the agitation for a better deal for the Niger Delta were not the ones involved in the criminal acts but some other people who were merely taking advantage of the struggle.
MEND on Henry Okah's arrest
Meanwhile, MEND yesterday shed light on the arrest of one Henry Okah in Angola. Although it could not be authenticated if the arrested Okah was the same Jomo Gbomo, MEND in an online statement signed by 'Jomo Gbomo" described the former as a silent player in the Niger Delta struggle and part of the on-going peace process.
Alleging that the arrested Okah was framed by the Nigerian government in collaboration with some oil majors notably Chevron which have always seen his position as uncompromising, the group said its commanders and fighters were watching the unfolding conspiracy closely, warning that 'there will be unpleasant and dire consequences if this matter is not handled with fairness."
The statement reads: 'On Monday, September 3, 2007 at about 1400hrs Angola time, two Nigerians were arrested at the Luanda airport on their return to South Africa from a business trip where they had gone to enquire about the purchase of a fishing trawler. One of the individuals, Henry Okah, a silent player in the Niger Delta struggle and part of the on-going peace process, was framed by the Nigerian government in collaboration with some oil majors, notably Chevron, who have always seen his position as uncompromising.
'According to Henry's account, they were led away from their hand luggage under the pretext that the checked-in luggage had to be searched for excess foreign currency leaving Angola. By the time they returned, officials claimed they found some alleged incriminating literature written in Portuguese, a language none of the men speaks inside Henry's hand luggage.
'On the two court appearances following the arrest, the judge threw the case out for lack of merit. After this frame-up failed, another case was quickly manufactured, this time that he should be repatriated to Equatorial Guinea to face charges of sponsoring a failed coup attempt. This we consider ludicrous considering he was never declared wanted by that government or even the Interpol before this time. Henry Okah is not aware that there was even a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.
'The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta wishes to serve as a warning to those behind this plot that a repeat of the Ken Saro Wiwa type set-up will fail this time around. For the sake of the on-going peace process, the Nigerian security agencies, the multinational oil and construction companies and their local and foreign collaborators should not take actions that will jeopardise the peace process and take us back to an era everyone is moving away from.
'Commanders and fighters of MEND are watching the unfolding conspiracy closely. There will no doubt be very unpleasant and dire consequences if this matter is not handled with fairness."
A report yesterday said the arrested man had been extradited to Equatorial Guinea where he could likely stand trial on allegation of sponsoring a coup attempt. This is coming after an Angolan judge reportedly threw out the case for lack of merit.
But some leaders of MEND who were contacted on the arrest, yesterday, were very cautious in their response with one of them saying: 'I don't know yet whether it is actually Jomo Gbomo that was arrested, and moreover, Jomo Gbomo is not the name of any real human being, it was a pseudonym, which we used to send our email messages to media houses in particular.
'The real Niger Delta militants have ceased hostilities since the past few months and that was why the Federal Government granted Presidential amnesty to us. I expect, therefore, that nobody should be arrested, whether he is Jomo Gbomo or not on the account of militant activities in the Niger Delta because we have all decided to put our house in order."
Another MEND activist told Vanguard: 'We have not spoken since first the week of this month when we heard about the arrest because we are not very sure of the information. You know that some people are using the name of the MEND to do many things and we have called on them to retrace their steps but they refused. So, we have been watching them and I cannot say now that this Jomo Gbomo you are talking about is the one representing us in the past, even though, we had warned him several times to stop acting on our behalf.
'We have been waiting for him since and he had been invited to many of our meetings that were called to explore ways of cooperating with the present Federal Government to restore peace to the Niger Delta but he did not attend the meetings. So we can't really say anything for now but if he is the one, I don't think the Nigerian government should be talking about granting amnesty to militants on one hand, and arresting them in another breath. You can see why we are not sure yet until we have authentic information," he said.
Evah confirms Jomo Gbomo's arrest
National Coordinator of the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Comrade Joseph Evah, yesterday, said it was Jomo Gbomo that was arrested in Angola by security agents in that country.
Comrade Evah in a statement said the allegation of security sources in Nigeria that Jomo Gbomo was negotiating an arms deal to continue to fight the Federal Government of Nigeria was false.
According to him, 'every department of the Ijaw struggle has decided to lay down their arms to negotiate through peaceful means with the Federal Government since our son, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has been elected Vice President to find solution to the Niger Delta poverty, darkness and slavery and, therefore, no Ijaw will go outside the agreement to plan more arm conflict.
'But if our oppressors manipulate Jonathan in Aso Rock not to bring the desired development to the Niger Delta throughout his tenure in office, then the conflict will be worse than Sodom and Gomorrah," he said.
Evah said Jomo Gbomo was not arrested for arms deals and that the arrest was a set-up against one of the powerful voices against injustice in the Niger Delta.