Vanguard (Lagos)
Emma Amaize
29 May 2007
Warri — FIVE members of the Niger Delta Freedom Fighters (NDDF), aka Egbema One, the militant group that abducted four American oil workers of Global Industries, May 8, have been kidnapped following a gun battle in the early hours of Sunday with militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND). MEND members had invaded the den of the Egbema One in the creek in a daring bid to rescue the hostages.
The five Egbema One fighters who were captured by MEND operatives were reportedly being held by the MEND in its own den. An unconfirmed reports yesterday said two or three others escaped from their captors while they were being taken to MEND's campground.
Vanguard learnt that before the raid by MEND, which accused the NDDF of undermining the Niger Delta struggle by allegedly demanding payoff for the release of the hostages, its high command had made an overture to the NDDF to release the hostages but the latter refused, saying they did not know the motive behind MEND's action.
MEND reportedly went back to the NDDF den after the Sunday offensive to ask for the handover of the hostages but the Egbema One called its bluff, resulting in a stalemate that has now put the life of the four hostages-- Messrs. Mike Roussel (anchor operator), Chris Gay (anchor operator), Kelvin Faller (barge foreman) and Larry Plake (anchor operator)-- in serious jeopardy.
MEND threatens to hand over militant hostages to JTF
A competent source hinted, yesterday, that MEND might consider handing over the NDDF captives to the Joint Military Task Force (JMTF) in the Niger Delta if NDDF refused to release the hostages.
NDDF confirms MEND attack
A member of the NDDF confirmed to Vanguard when contacted on Sunday that MEND operatives actually invaded their camp, asking them to release the four American oil workers, who work for an oil servicing company to the Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL).
"But they were trying to use force and we cannot succumb to that. If they want them released without meeting our demands, we want to know why but I want to assure you that nobody can take them by force from us or everybody will die, including the hostages. In fact, they are endangering the lives of the hostages with their action..
"They (MEND) sent some people to our camp in the early hours of Sunday. They took five of our men away and damaged our boat without provocation but we did not want to reply them, otherwise there would have been cataclysm in the creek.
"We are brothers and we don't want to fight our brothers but we cannot release the hostages to them and nobody can take the hostages away alive from this camp without discussing with us," he said.
Why we attacked NDDF - MEND
A top official of MEND who spoke to Vanguard on the development said the group had received complaints from Egbema One leaders and other Ijaw leaders in the Niger Delta on the activities of the NDDF, which was allegedly asking for money to release the hostages, saying: "MEND is against that. We don't kidnap for money and we have restated this point over and over.
"Some of these boys are giving a bad name to the struggle and we don't want that. In fact, we want to sanitise the system and stop all these people who are giving Niger Delta a bad name. MEND has never kidnapped without a reason. Never mind those who do all manner of things and say they are from MEND, it is not true. We only take hostages when it is necessary and we don't attach monetary demands to their release," he said.
Vanguard confirmed that some Ijaw leaders from Egbema kingdom actually complained to MEND on the activities of the NDDF and it was following their complaints that the group intervened.
However, the leader of the NDDF dismissed the allegation that the group was asking for ransom before the release of the hostages, saying: "You (Vanguard) came to our den, we allowed you and we told you our demands, we never mentioned money. We told you that we want development and that the Chevron Oil Company should sign agreement with us on what they want to do to develop our area with the government as an observer."
He said it was not true as reported in one of the national dailies that the NDDF was asking for N500 million ransom before the hostages could be freed.
Commander of the JMTF, Brigadier-General Lawrence Ngubane, told Vanguard when contacted on phone, yesterday, that he was not aware of the offensive by MEND against the NDDF, saying he would be happy if the militants realised on their own that taking of hostages was not doing the image of Niger Delta any good.
Officials of the CNL who were also reached by Vanguard said they were not aware of the raid by the MEND on the NDDF camp in its bid to release the four American oil workers.
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