The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, has said that Edwin Clark, an elder statesman, does not have the moral authority to negotiate with the federal government on behalf of the people of the Niger Delta.
MEND was responding to Saturday’s statement by the so called Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, militant group, that it would consider negotiating with the federal government only if Clark would be part of the negotiations.
The NDA had said in the statement that “We are going to support any collective/negotiation team emerging from the Chief (Dr.) Papa Edwin Kiagbodo Clark Niger Delta elders and genuine stakeholders conference to engage with the federal government of Nigeria, representatives from the home countries of all multinational Oil Corporations and neutral international mediators that will be focused on achieving the short, medium and long term frameworks and objectives to de-escalating conflicts in the Niger Delta.”
But in reaction to the development, the spokesman of MEND, Jomo Gbomo released a statement on Sunday, urging the federal government not to take neither the NDA nor Clark serious.
The statement said that “throughout the six years that his (Clark’s) ‘son’ former President Goodluck Jonathan was in power, the elder statesman kept mute and actively participated in the economic dismemberment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
It also reminded Nigerians that “Chief Edwin Clark was recently named by the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) as a major supporter of the NDA.”
“Chief Edwin Clark lacks the moral authority to lead a discussion on the so-called “re-structuring” of the Nigerian Federation, at this critical point in the country’s history,
“Consequently, MEND reiterates its full support for the ongoing military presence in the Niger Delta region, even as we prepare to tour the region to drum support for the current administration in an exercise code-named “OPERATION MOSES”.
“MEND shall continue to insist that, so long as these elders and stakeholders do not categorically and publicly denounce the NDA, the Federal Government should also continue to ignore them,” the statement concluded.