Warri — There was pandemonium yesterday in the oil city of Warri, Delta State, as four governors escaped death when two bombs planted by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) exploded at the government house annex, venue of the Vanguard Newspapers post-amnesty dialogue.

But eight passers-by were not all that lucky as two women were burnt beyond recognition in the Mercedes Benz car they were traveling, while six were said to have been rushed to the hospital for different degree of injuries suffered during the explosives.

Some of the dignitaries already seated include, Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta State), Ikedi Ohakim (Imo State), Adams Oshomhole (Edo State) and Minister of Niger Delta; Ufot Ekaete. Others included Gen. Andrew Azazi, Patrick Utomi, the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) Ayo Oritsejafor, the Olu of Warri and other traditional rulers. The fourth governor who could not be identified had to make u-turn.

The programme came to an end after the second successive explosion shattered the louvers in the hall and the governor's office.

The first bomb went off seconds after the governors and other top dignitaries convoy had just passed the scene on their way to the venue of the programme which had over a thousand dignitaries seated.

Though the impact of the explosive shook the whole venue, the arrival of the dignitaries who were looking worried however calmed the situation and the curiosity of the people.

Chairman of the occasion Gen. Azazi gave his address immediately after the national anthem, but barely two minutes after the host Mr. Sam Amuka took his turn another bomb went off this time few meters away from the government house. The impact shook the whole hall shattering all the glasses and even that of the governor's main office.

Pandemonium broke out immediately after the second explosion as governors, invited guest and security operatives took to their heels.

Daily Champion gathered that the explosives were planted in two cars parked on the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) express way, the route leading to the government house and very close to the venue of the conference.

When the first explosive went off which apparently was targeted at the convoy of one of the governors, two cars that were passing by were hit, resulting in the death of the occupants, while a commercial motorcyclist and his passenger were injured.

The second bomb which went off also affected another car and injuring four persons who incidentally were close to the spot of the incident.

Meanwhile, MEND has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its action was to refute Uduaghan's assertion that the militant group was "a media creation."

In a statement by its spokesperson just before the event, the militant group said: "After receiving the baton of ignorance from his Bayelsa State counterpart, the governor of Delta State declared in the Vanguard Newspaper of February 22, that MEND is a media creation. This assertion coming from the same person who claimed publicly that an oil pipeline can be destroyed by one man armed with a bottle of petrol, is hardly surprising.

"Thinking of no better way to announce our continued presence in the Niger Delta to Uduaghan, operatives of MEND today (yesterday) successfully breached the security at the Delta state government house in Warri and planted three explosive devices in and around this compound which is the venue of the Vanguard Post Amnesty Dialogue organised by the Vanguard newspaper.

"The conference is one of such tools of deception. The Niger Delta has been partitioned into oil blocks which have been distributed amongst mostly northerners while indigenes of the Niger Delta can barely survive. One such example is General T.Y. Danjuma.

"It is common knowledge that no southerner can lay claim to an inch of land in the north so why should we continue to talk as the occupation of our land and theft of our resources by the oil companies and Northern Nigeria persists?

"The governors of the Niger Delta are shameless and visionless stooges who are more concerned with looting their state treasuries and seeking a second term in office, even against the wishes of their people.

"MEND will attack any such gatherings designed to propagate more falsehood. Members of the public are hereby warned to avoid such gatherings as they may not be fortunate to have a warning before detonation.

"In the coming days, we will carry out a number of attacks against installations and oil companies across the Niger Delta and will spread out to companies such as Total which have been spared in the past," MEND said.

Reacting, the Delta State government said it will not be deterred the incident but will continue to provide the dividends of democracy to the people.

A statement signed by the state information commissioner, Mr. Oma Djebah, said: "The people of the Niger Delta will not be intimidated nor be deterred by the cowardly act of a few oppose to a peaceful and non violent approach of resolving the historic grievances of the region".

Organisers of the event regretted the incident, but insisted that the organisation remains committed to peace and development in the Niger Delta.

A statement by Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, Editor-in-Chief of Vanguard Newspapers, read in part: "The dialogue a contribution of Vanguard Newspapers designed to promote sustainable peace and development in Niger Delta region was also meant to ginger governments into action and not misconstrue the current amnesty as the final solution to the Niger Delta agitation for equity and justice.

"For a successful dialogue, Vanguard had lined up all representatives of all tiers of government to come and discuss their scorecards for development in a way that must ginger all to action.

"These were supposed to be discussed by the militants, members of the civil society, international organizations and the road map for development clearly re-defined with stated deliverables and timelines.

"It is therefore most regrettable that this noble project was aborted by the same people for whom it was designed to elevate.

"Vanguard, as a public trust had diligently invited all, including the known leaders of the militants to this proactive event.

"Vanguard remains committed to peace and development in the Niger Delta and shall purse this noble initiative after due consultation with all stakeholders. We shall not relent in our pursuit of common good, equity and justice in our federation," Adefaye stated.