The
Federal Government has appealed to the Movement for the Emancipation of
the Niger Delta not to plunge the region into another round of
violence, following the conviction of its leader, Mr. Henry Okay, for
terrorism.
A South African court had last Monday
found Okah guilty of masterminding the October 1, 2010 bomb blasts in
Abuja, among other terrorism charges.
Following the conviction, MEND, in a statement on Saturday, threatened to renew attacks on targets across the country.
It said, “Nigerians as a whole will feel
our presence when we finally decide to carry out our targets which will
not be restricted to the Niger Delta alone; MEND has become more
sophisticated than the level of mere IED or car bombs, and reached
capabilities which will take the Nigerian Military another 10 years to
catch.
“To the Nigerian Government, you have
seen nothing, the disintegration of Nigeria will start through us and by
us, we are well equipped for this task. We have details of all the
family members of the Government (1999-2013).”
The FG, however, called on the group to give peace a chance and allow the transformation of the region to continue.
The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran
Maku, who made that call at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, said
it was not right for MEND to truncate the development of the Niger Delta
because of the travails of its leader.
Maku, who responded to questions on the
threat, said it was shocking that a group of Nigerians would issue
threats over Okah’s conviction by South Africa, stressing that acts of
terrorism against the country should be condemned by everyone.
He said, “Henry Okah was tried in South
Africa under due process and found guilty of committing acts of
terrorism; South Africa convicted him. It is very shocking for any
group of Nigerians to issue threats.
What we expect is for all Nigerians to show patriotism and support to the government.”
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