A group under the aegis of the Movement for the Emancipation and Defence of the Niger Delta (MEND), has vowed to launch a reprisal attack if the faceless “Fulanis Jihadists” carries out its threat to unleash mayhem on Delta State.
A hitherto unknown Fulani group, which claimed responsibility for the fire outbreak at the Federal Secretariat Complex, Asaba, on Sunday threatened to attack the state capital and Agbor, if Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa fails to withdraw his support for the ban on open grazing within 72 hours.
But reacting to the threat in a statement, the new MEND warned that it would respond 10 times of whatever action the Fulani group takes on the state and it citizens.
MEND was part of the fulcrum of the attacks on oil facilities and personnel in the Niger Delta during the restive years in the oil-producing region. Its members, operating in familiar terrains in the waters and swampy areas, unleashed attacks on oil and gas facilities to cripple the country’s oil production capacity.
“The attention of ‘The Movement for the Emancipation and the Defence of the Niger Delta has been brought to the threat of some Fulani terrorists who have given a three-day warning to the Governor of Delta State because of his support for the ban on open grazing across the Southern states,” the New MEND said in its statement on Monday.
“We also saw your taking responsibility for an explosion at the Secretariat in Asaba.
“We are warning that if your threat is made to come to fulfilment, no Fulani will ever exist across the Niger Delta and all oil facilities linked to a Fulani will be brought down. If one soul is lost, 10 Fulani souls will pay for it. If one facility is destroyed, 10 Fulani facilities will be destroyed.
“We will respond proportionately 10 times whatever you give, the corresponding response will not be limited to the Delta. It may be with your politicians or with your rulers.
“We will launch three rocket launchers and ballistic missiles at any facility of our choice as a warning in seven days if you make bold your threats.
“We don’t make cheap our threats. We have shut down the country and we can, at any time, shut you down. We are the Niger Delta. We stand for the interest of the Niger Delta and we will not allow any coward to threaten us. We fight without running,” MEND added.
Also responding to the threat, the Police had assured Delta residents to go about their lawful duties, saying their safety was guaranteed.
The letter came a few days after President Muhammadu said in an interview aired on Thursday that he had asked the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to locate the old law establishing the grazing routes in the country with a view to recovering the land from encroachers and putting the routes into use.
This has opened another phase to the crisis rocking Nigeria, with killings, abduction and ransom taking rising all over the country.
While the President has given his approval to open grazing, the 19 governors of Southern Nigeria last month reached an agreement to ban the practice in the whole of the south. That decision thus formed the basis of the position of each state government in the region regarding cattle grazing.
