MEND announces ceasefire in N-Delta

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(Nigeria) Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, declared a temporal ceasefire with effect from Friday in the Niger-Delta, saying that it was extending an olive branch offered by President Goodluck Jonathan in his Democracy Day speech.
MEND in a statement by its spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said  "Initial discussions will be facilitated through your Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr Kingsley Kuku who we will be comfortable to work with.”
 It requested a presidential pardon for some its members already tried and convicted, further demanding “the release MEND fighters still in detention facilities, including the Okah brothers, Henry and Charles, who will feature prominently in the new dialogue team.”
It said  "Our doors remain open to them (aggrieved armed groups) for dialogue and reconciliation if they renounced terrorism (armed struggle and embrace peace.
"Since that slight, your government has known no peace from our region in spite of billions poured into propaganda and security. This slight was also responsible for the Independence Day attack of October 1, 2010, carried out to counter the impression that MEND has ceased to exist just because a few greedy, short sighted and misguided elements within and outside our ranks chose to betray their people.
“Unfortunately, avoidable lives, which we regret, were lost on that day due to the security agencies refusal to act on our advanced warning ahead of the attack.
“Although it is a natural instinct to support one’s own, our struggle has never been about a Niger Delta President or 2015. We are looking at 2060, when our oil wells may have run dry and the future consequences to that generation yet unborn,” the group stated.
“We hold you to your words, as MEND declare a ceasefire effective 0700Hrs, Friday May 30, 2014 by calling off our ‘Hurricane Exodus’ campaign and other acts of sabotage; especially our incessant attacks on gas and oil pipelines, erroneously or mischievously attributed to oil thieves.
 “Your (Jonathan’s) response to us in the coming days and weeks may discourage or encourage other insurgent groups to follow suit, bringing about the real peace in our country that comes only after justice.”

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