ASARI DOKUBO BLASTS MEND

Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force ( NDPVF), Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, has described the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) as a group not interested in the emancipation of the people of the Niger Delta.

He spoke against the recent bomb blast in Abuja on Nigeria's golden independence anniversary allegedly linked to MEND.

Asari-Dokubo, who had earlier posted a note 'You Stand Condemned' on the social network, Facebook to condemn the incident, in an interview with Daily Sun from his base in Cotonou, Benin Republic,  said MEND tactics were out of tune with the desire of the Niger Delta people.

According to him, the bomb blast was not perpetrated by genuine freedom fighters but Jomo Gbomo and his group, who were desperate to corrupt the Niger Delta struggle. While commiserating with the families that lost their loved ones in the blast, Asari- Dokubo blamed Nigeria's security system for failing to act when they were given prior notice of the explosion.

He disclosed that aside the British Intelligence that gave them the information, he also alerted them but they refused to act, calling him a rabid critic of Henry Okah. He insisted that only the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference would serve as panacea to the problems besetting the country.

Meanwhile, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Bayelsa State chapter, has also condemned the bomb explosion, expressing worry that a group could decide to cause pains and embarrassment to the country on the day of its independence anniversary. The party, in a statement by its Chairman, Mr. Miriki Ebikibina, said there should be a proper investigation on why Nigerian security agencies could not foil the attack.

'It is even more disturbing to note that the competence of those saddled with the security of lives and property of the country is in doubt and could not detect and prevent the dastardly act despite the purported notice claimed to have been issued by MEND.