MEND And Okrika Pipeline Explosion

A recent pipeline explosion near the Nige
rian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) Refinery jetty in Okrika, Rivers State was reported to have claimed 10 lives, among other casualties. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it was responsible.
A statement attributed to spokesman of MEND, Jomo Gbomo states that the attack was part of its ongoing operation ‘Hurricane Exodus’ which is mainly aimed at protesting against the Federal Government’s mismanagement of the Amnesty programme for ex-Niger Delta militants.
Part of the statement reads: “We will persist with our attacks on the Nigerian oil industry due to the inaction of President Goodluck Jonathan who continues to rely on an unsustainable and fraudulent Niger Delta Amnesty programme which is only a guise to line the pockets of some persons whose sudden wealth remains unchallenged …”
MEND was also said to have taken offence over reports from the ongoing National Conference in Abuja to the effect that the principle of resource control had been rejected. This was only a comment at one of the committees and not the recommendation of the National Conference.
Contrary to its claims, some concerned groups including the NNPC, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Federal Government’s Amnesty Office discredited MEND’S claim.
While attributing the Okrika pipeline explosion to the activities of pipeline vandals and oil thieves, they accused MEND of trying to take credit for what its militia did not do. Even so, no other group had claimed responsibility yet for the attack, while the reasons given by MEND appear to add up.
Even so, The Tide thinks that all well-meaning persons should condemn the avoidable act and call members of MEND and all youth groups in the Niger Delta to order. They should be law-abiding and careful not to engage in any further killing and maiming of innocent residents of the region.
It is sad that with the calibre of persons behind MEND, we are surprised that they are not able to understand that the National Conference is yet to complete its work nor has the outcome of its dialogue been conclusive as to warrant any person or group to react based on mere suggestions.
Not only has MEND become too hasty, it has disappointed a lot of people who think that the attack on the pipeline was ill-timed. Besides, if its members really love Nigeria and the Niger Delta, they would see how avoidable their actions were.
At a time the country is being confronted with series of Boko Haram attacks in parts of the North is certainly no time to also make the South unsafe. It must be clear that if Nigeria burns, they will get burnt too and have nothing to agitate over.
We believe that there are better ways of expressing anger and resolving differences. MEND or any other youth group for that matter, should be careful not to start what it cannot finish. For every Nigerian, irrespective of their grievances, should be patriotic enough now to rally round the government against external aggression such as the one posed by Boko Haram.
We are unhappy that the persons who died and those injured in the recent pipeline explosion are Niger Deltans, the environment that got polluted is also that of the Niger Delta. The act of inflicting more harm on the region over perceived injustice from the centre should stop.
The fate of the Niger Delta and its people is in the hands of God. The on-going National Conference has a lot of promise for the region, indeed, one of the greatest challenges of the conference is to redress the Niger Delta question, which incidentally accords with the trend across the world.
To love the Niger Delta is to love Nigeria and help her out in times of crisis. The fact remains that if the National Conference fails to take the glory of bringing peace and justice to the region, God will send another. The bottomline is that things cannot continue to be business as usual. Interestingly, no violence would be needed to make the Niger Delta actualise her dreams.