A Niger Delta-based militant group, ‘Movement for the Emancipation and the Defence of the Niger Delta’, (MEND), has declared a total war on the ‘Fulani Jihadist’ group which threatened to invade and bomb Asaba, the state capital and Agbor.
There were media reports about a letter purportedly written by a Fulani group to Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta state which threatened to invade and bomb the state capital, Asaba and Agbor, headquarters of Ika South Local Government of the state.
The group gave Governor Ifeanyi Okowa 72 hours to withdraw his stand and support for the ban of open grazing, which was collectively supported by Southern governors during a meeting held in May and hosted by Okowa in Government House, Asaba.
The state police commissioner, Ari Muhammed Ali, has, however, assured that all modalities had been put in place to forestall such an occurrence.
Another Fulani group, the Fulanis of Usman Dan Fodio Leadership, claimed responsibility for the fire incident that gutted the Federal Secretariat complex along Okpanam Road, Asaba.
Reacting to the faceless group’s threats, MEND vowed to launch a disastrous reprisal on the faceless Fulani Jihadist group, should it carry out its threats to invade and bomb Asaba and Agbor if Governor Ifeanyi Okowa fails to drop his stand and support for the ban on open grazing in Southern states.
In a statement released on Sunday night, MEND threatened to launch reprisals that are 10 times as disastrous as any attack that comes from the so-called ‘Fulani Jihadists’.
Mend said, “The attention of the Movement for the Emancipation and the Defence of the Niger Delta has been brought to the threat of some Fulani terrorists who have given a 3-day warning to the governor of Delta state because of his support for the ban of open grazing across the Southern States. We also saw your taking responsibility for an explosion at the secretariat in Asaba.
“We are warning that if your threat is made to come to fulfilment, no Fulani will ever exist across the Niger Delta and all oil facilities linked to a Fulani will be brought down. If one soul is lost, ten Fulani souls will pay for it. If one facility is destroyed, ten Fulani facilities will be destroyed. We will respond proportionately ten times to whatever you give, the corresponding response will not be limited to the Delta, it may be with your politicians or with your rulers.
“We will launch three rocket launchers and ballistic missiles at any facility of our choice as a warning in seven days if you make bold your threats. We don’t make cheap our threats. We have shut down the country and we can at any time shut you down. We are the Niger Delta, We stand for the interest of the Niger Delta and we will not allow any coward to threaten us. We fight without running.”
