Nigeria: MEND Threatens Attack On Army Generals

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has threatened to carry out random attacks on senior military officers from the rank of Brigadier-General, if Mr. Henry Okah, deported from Angola over alleged terrorism, is manhandled by the authorities.

The MEND said it gave the threat based on information that the military authorities were poised to use the instrument of torture to extract confessional statements from Okah who they alleged was shackled and illegally extradited to Nigeria from Angola.

The method, they alleged in an online statement by Gbomo Jomo, is that the military wanted to use was barbaric which they were going to ensure they get even through repaying those humiliating their leader from trumped-up charges.

The Movement claims that its agents in the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) informed them of the intention to bend the mind of Okah to achieve a predetermined end of implicating him in a phony criminal activity.

"The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has been reliably informed by its informant inside the Directorate of Military Intelligence of plans to conduct a severe torture regimen on Henry Okah in order to extract information from him.

Declare Nigeria a "war zone", says world ship union

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The world's biggest seafaring union said on Friday it wanted Nigerian waters declared a war zone after an alarming rise in attacks and kidnappings on merchant shipping by rebels.
The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), which represents 186 maritime unions and some 700,000 seafarers worldwide, said it was pressing shipping associations and major shipping firms to recognise the dangers of operating off Nigeria.
"This is in response to an increasing number of attacks and kidnappings by the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)," ITF spokesman Sam Dawson said.
He said it was the first time the ITF had recommended such a course of action for the West African nation.
Dawson said declaring Nigeria as a war zone would change terms and conditions for seafarers operating there, including paying them higher wages, which he likened to danger money.
Insurers have already raised hull war-risk rates for shippers who operate in the area in the last month, following a spate of attacks onshore and offshore.
Oil companies operating in Africa's top producer have been struggling to cope with a wave of violence in the vast wetlands, fuelled by widespread poverty, corruption and lawlessness.
The latest round of violence began in early 2006 when the MEND, a new rebel coalition, blew up oil facilities and abducted dozens of foreign workers in a series of raids.
Since the initial onslaught, which cut 20 percent of national oil output, violence has ebbed and flowed.
One of MEND's most violent factions has claimed responsibility for last Saturday's raid on a navy outpost that killed three soldiers, a remote controlled bombing of an oil tanker in January, and dozens of other attacks. (Reporting by Stefano Ambrogi, editing by Anthony Barker)