Nigeria: Niger Delta’s MEND Claim Ambush on Police Boat
Abuja--At least 12 policemen are missing and presumed dead after armed militants ambushed a police boat in Nigeria’s oil-rich region of Delta.
Police officials said on Sunday the boat ferrying 50 police officers to a funeral on Friday developed a engine problem in one of the winding creeks of the swampy delta region, rendering the officers vulnerable to the militants.
"The craft that developed engine problem was now isolated and the officers became soft target for some hoodlums, who we have confirmed were part of a militant group that was supposed to be enjoying an amnesty," saidPolice Commissioner Kingsley Omire.
A Nigerian security source who sought anonymity said the 12 were likely dead althoughall others on the boat were safe.
An email purportedly from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it was responsible for the ambush of the police vessel.
MEND which had initially been fighting for a greater share of the region’s oil wealth, agreed to an amnesty deal in 2009 that saw its fighters lay down arms in exchange of monthly stipends.
Earlier last week MEND had said it would resume attacks after its leader, Henry Okah was jailed in South Africa. Police have denied the attack had anything to do with the threat saying it involved a payment dispute.
Okah, was sentences to 24 years in prison last month for masterminding bomb attacks in the capital, Abuja, in 2010.
However Omire said the ambush was carried out by gunmen once loyal to KileSelkyTorughedi who formerly headed MEND’s southern wing. He said the attack was due to a dispute between the gunmen and the government over their payments.
Peace in the region stands tested following the recent threats of peace that has been achieved in the delta that has seen resume of oil production that was cut by half during the unrest.
Any resume of attack will deal President Goodluck Jonathan, who helped broker the agreement a great blow, bearing the amounting insecurity threats in the country.
Jonathan is viewing the possibilities of granting an amnesty deal to the country’s dreaded Islamist group Boko Haram that has sought violent attacks in the north in its pursuit of Islamic rule in the region.
Doha, Qatar
Qatar Hosts Sudan Darfur Donor Conference
The oil-rich gulf state of Qatar is hosting a donor conference to raise support for the development and reconstruction of the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan.
Hundreds of delegates from across the globe are meeting in Qatari capital of Doha during the two-day conference seeking to raise $ 7.2 billion aimed at making Darfur more self-reliant.
Some 300,000 people have been killed and over 2.6million displaced since 2003in fighting in Darfur when two rebel factions took up arms accusing the government of oppressing the native African communities in favour of Arabs.
The conference which begun on Sunday follows a July 2011 peace deal signed in Doha between the Sudanese government and an alliance of rebel groups.
The deal sought a development strategy requiring $7.2 billion for a six –year effort to transform Darfur from food handouts and other emergency aid, laying the foundation for lasting development through improved water facilities, roads and other infrastructure.
The strategy also calls for agricultural upgrades, access to financing and other measures to help Darfuris support themselves under a more effective system of local government.
Several nations have pledged their support for the war-ridden region in which the aid will go directly to funding projects within region’s communities.
“The host Qatar has pledged an amount of $500 million as grants and contribution for rebuilding Darfur” the Qatari minister of state for cabinet affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmud said.
The UK announced it would contribute at least $16.5 million annually over the next three years, aimed to assist communities to grow their own food and improve their chances of finding work.
"Our aid will help the poorest to get the help they need to stand on their own and make them better able to cope when crises occur," UK international development minister Lynne Featherstone said in a statement.
On Friday demonstrations against the Qatar conference took place across Darfur over what protesters called lack of security that has made reconstruction efforts hard. Some rejected the 2011 peace deal signed in Doha but rejected by major rebel groups.
Long-drawn conflicts between government troops and rebels formations among inter-tribal and splintering groups’ clashes have hindered efforts in finding a permanent solution to the conflict.
Darfur’s two main rebel groups the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) pulled out of the Doha talks in 2010 accusing the Khartoum government -which they regard as unrepresentative of Sudan’s political, ethnic and religious diversity- of acting in bad faith.
The Hague based International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant of arrest against President Omar al-Bashir alongside three others for charges of genocide and war crimes in the region.