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****** Nigeria: Review Disarmament Process, MEND Advises FG ******
Onwuka Nzeshi
11 August 2009
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Abuja — A faction of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND),
yesterday urged the Federal Government to review ongoing process of disarmament
and allow militants under its command to return their arms directly to the
Presidency without going through third parties at designated arms recovery
centres located in the Niger Delta region.
MEND said the current process was prone to abuse, alleging that politicians in
the volatile region have already positioned agents in the centres to purchase
large quantities of recovered arms, with a view to building their personal
armouries ahead of the 2011 elections.
The faction, which claimed strong links with Government Ekpemupolo (aka
Tompolo), said the current plan where militants are expected to submit their
arms without any financial reward was not feasible, as no real militant will
part with weapons worth millions of naira and walk away empty handed.
Leader of the group, Prince Joseph Harry, said those expecting militants to
give up arms without a clear post amnesty plan were making a grievous mistake.
Addressing newsmen on the issue yesterday, he said since most of the militants
have been involved in illegal oil bunkering with the aid of these sophisticated
weapons, the only way to ensure total disarmament is to provide a viable means
of livelihood for them in a post amnesty programme.
Harry, who is also Chairman of the Rumuola Elders Patriotic Forum, Rivers
State, lamented that government seems to have placed so much emphasis on return
of arms without a commensurate plan to rehabilitate the militants.
According to him, the original amnesty plan which his group submitted to the
Federal Government included allocation of plots of land in each local
government area in the Niger Delta for establishment of industrial estates
where the disengaged militants would be rehabilitated.
It also included establishment of a petroleum product marketing company where
some of the militants could retire after their demobilisation from the creek
wars.
Harry also faulted the current arms recovery arrangement, which he said left so
many loopholes in terms of not being certain as to the quantity of arms to be
recovered from each group, adding that every item recovered ought to be marked
and recorded with its serial numbers, to avoid their being diverted to other
areas and re-cycled.
He warned that under the current process, a lot of arms were likely to
disappear between recovery points and their final destination in Abuja. He said
groups under his control were prepared to submit 50 per cent of their arms,
including 7,000 AK 47 rifles, 1,000 GMP guns and about 30 gunboats. Also to be
returned in the first phase of the disarmament process are land to air
missiles, several explosives, as well as police and military uniforms.
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