Posted by By Okafor Ofiebor /Port Harcourt on
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has denied buying weapons from the six soldiers convicted by the military court martial.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has denied buying weapons from the six soldiers convicted by the military court martial.
The group, in an e-mail sent to PMNews in Port Harcourt, and endorsed by its spokesman, Mr. Jomo Gbomo, claimed that the military authorities lied to Nigerians that the convicted soldiers supplied arms to its detained leader, Mr. Henry Okah, and by extension the rebel group.
MEND also accused the federal government of 'double standards over the charges levied against the soldiers as against the charges brought against Okah, which led to the conviction of the six innocent soldiers by a court martial.'
The group argued that 'If the men supplied weapons to militants and MEND as claimed, the charge ought to have read treason and terrorism as charged on Henry Okah.'
According to the rebel group: 'MEND never got its weapons from the Nigerian military except for those seized during fighting or those abandoned by soldiers.'