NIGER DELTA CONFLICT. Leaders
{1}Henry Okah
{2}Dokubo-Asari
{3}John Togo
{4}Ebikabowei Victor
{5}Godswill Tamuno
{6}Ateke Tom {Major}
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GOVERNMENT
{1}Ekpemupolo.
{2}Soboma George.
{3}Brutus Ebipadei.
{4}Solomon Ndigbara.
{5}Tubotamuno.
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HEADQUARTERS
{~} Port Harcourt
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AREA OF OPERATION
{~}Niger Delta
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STRENGTH
{~}20,500 (2006)
{~}15,000 (2012)
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ORIGINATED as the MOVEMENT for the Survival of the OGONI People
IJAW.
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BATTLES AND WAR.
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Conflict in the Niger Delta
Operation Hurricane Barbarossa
October 2010 Abuja attacks.
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The MOVEMENT for the Emancipation of the NIGER DELTA {MEND} is one of the largest militant groups in the NIGER DELTA region of Nigeria.
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The organization claims to expose exploitation and oppression of the people of the NIGER DELTA and devastation of the natural ENVIRONMENT The partnerships between the Federal Government of Nigeria and corporations involved in the production of oil in the NIGER DELTA.
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The Economist described the organization as one that portrays itself as political organisation that wants a greater share of Nigeria’s oil revenues to go to the impoverished region that sits a top the oil. In fact,it is more of an umbrella organisation for several armed groups, which it sometimes pays in cash or guns to launch attacks.MEND has been linked to attacks on petroleum operations in Nigeria as part of the Conflict in the Niger Delta,engaging in actions including {1}sabotage
{2}theft
{3}propert
{4}destruction
{5}kidnapping
MEND's stated goals are to localize control of Nigeria's oil and to secure reparations from the federal government for pollution,caused by the oil industry.In an interview with one of the group's leaders, who used the alias Major-General Godswill Tamuno,the BBC reported that MEND was fighting for "total control" of the NIGER DELTA. oil wealth, saying local people had not gained from the riches under the ground and the region's creeks and swamps."
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In a January 2006 email, MEND warned the oil industry, "It must be clear that the Nigerian government cannot protect your workers or assets. Leave our land while you can or die in it....
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Our aim is to totally destroy the capacity of the Nigerian government to export oil."Additionally MEND has called upon President Olusegun Obasanjoto free two jailed Ijawleaders — Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who is jailed and charged with treason, and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, a former governor of Bayelsa State convicted of corruption. Obasanjo's successor, President Umaru Musa Yar'Aduaauthorised the release of Dokubo-Asari and Alamieyeseigha in 2007.
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Edited by chima toye
on **/**/**** CASUALTIES & LOSSES
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2,500 killed
3,642 surrender
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The conflict in the Niger Delta arose in the early 1990s over tensions between foreign oil corporations and a number of the Niger Delta's minority ethnic groups who feel they are being exploited, particularly the Ogoniand the Ijaw. Ethnic and political unrest has continued through out the 1990s and persists as of 2013 despite the conversion to democracy and the election of the Obasanjo government in 1999.
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Competition for oil wealth has fueled violence between many ethnic groups, causing the militarization of nearly the entire region by ethnic militia groups as well as Nigerian militaryand police forces {notably the Nigerian Mobile Police}. Victims of crimes are fearful of seeking justice for crimes committed against them because of a failure to prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses.
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