• MEND, others bicker over roles in death
• Gunmen attack Maiduguri church
• Controversy persists over planned amnesty for Boko Haram
AMID efforts by the police authorities to unravel the killing of 12 of their officers in Bayelsa State at the weekend, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) Sunday claimed responsibility for the tragic incident in Azuzama community.
MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said the attack was predicated on government's dismissal of its threat to launch fresh attacks on unspecified targets in the country. Gbomo said that security agents had described the group's planned attack, tagged Hurricane Exodus, as an "empty threat."
But another group of militants led by one Adaka Boro (Jnr) claimed responsibility for the killing, dismissing MEND's position.
The Bayelsa State Police Commissioner, Mr. Kingsley Omire, Sunday confirmed the attack but insisted that the policemen were only missing and could not be declared dead until the final outcome of the ongoing search and rescue operation in the sea.
Among the 12 declared missing were two inspectors, four non-commissioned officers and six constables.
And in Borno State, gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram, attacked the Ekilisiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN) Church in Bulunkutu Ward of Maiduguri and shot a policeman at 11.12 a.m., while the pastor was preaching.
The gunmen, according to a church member, came in a tricycle and fired at men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) attached to EYN Church.
He said this was the first attack launched on EYN by the suspected Boko Haram gunmen, one year after several churches were attacked in Gambouru, Zajeri and Polo-Jiddari wards in 2011 and early last year.
At the weekend, suspected Boko Haram members shot dead the district head of Auno (names withheld) and a policeman on patrol on the outskirts of Maiduguri in separate attacks.
Auno is 22 kilometres west of Maiduguri. The gunmen, according to an anonymous resident of Auno, came in two unmarked Golf Volkswagen cars at 8.35 p.m. on Friday and drove straight to the district head's palace and fired several gunshots to scare away people in the village.
And worried about the endless orgy of violence and killings, particularly insurgent groups in the northern part of the country, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has called on lawyers to assist by giving learned opinion on how to end the crises.
Speaking at the weekend during the presentation of a book, Essays on Contemporary Issues in Law, which was written by the Imo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Soronnadi Njoku, he noted that the victims were mainly innocent Igbo resident in the north.
Okorocha spoke just as the traditional ruler of Ajatanigu in Ikwuano Local Council of Abia State, Eze King Larry Ogbomnaya Agwu, endorsed the Federal Government's reported plan to grant amnesty to Boko Haram members provided that doing so would end their hostilities.
Also, a top cleric and National President of Christian Welfare Initiative (CWI), Archbishop Magnums Adeyemi Atilade, has advised the Federal Government to consider amnesty for the Boko Haram if it would stop the mindless killing of innocent Nigerians.
However, another ruler who preferred to remain anonymous, queried why members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have remained in detention awaiting prosecution, and were not considered for amnesty even when they did not kill anyone or destroy public property.
According to him, the case of MASSOB members and other groups suffering a similar fate across the country should also be addressed for the sake of justice.
Meanwhile, Omire disclosed that "50 policemen set out on the assignment to Azuzama. On their way, one of the boats' engine developed a fault and was isolated and became a soft target." He added that the police had launched an investigation into the incident, with Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr. Tuesday Asayamor, in charge.
According to Gbomo, heavily armed MEND fighters, at about 5.00 p.m., on Saturday, intercepted and engaged government security forces in a fierce gunfight lasting over 40 minutes at Azuzama, Southern Ijaw.
"The clash, which happened in the river, left over 15 security forces dead as we also lost two of our fighters in the battle," Gbomo said. "We hope this encounter will serve as a lesson to the Joint Task Force (JTF) from making careless utterances that cannot be backed as we remain resolute in our resumption of hostilities."
MEND advised "all oil companies and the public to ignore the false sense of security being peddled by the JTF as well as the false comments from "Comrade Azizi" who claims to be the spokesman for the group.
"Azizi is not known to MEND, does not speak for MEND and his utterances and style do not reflect the group's plans and actions."
A leading member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Wanteregh Paul Unongo, yesterday stoutly defended President Goodluck Jonathan's decision to explore the possibility of granting members of Boko Haram amnesty.
In an interview with reporters, he insisted that there was no harm in having a dialogue with the insurgents that have been unleashing mayhem on the citizenry.
Unongo also faulted the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who is opposed to the proposed amnesty for the insurgents on the basis that Christians were mainly the ones at the receiving end of the violence unleashed by the insurgents in the North.
Also, a group operating under the aegis of Association of Northern Youths for the Advancement of Peace, Harmony and Development, has praised the Federal Government for its move to declare amnesty for Boko Haram members.
In a statement made available to journalists in Jos by its President, Melvin Ejeh, the group said that the move was highly commendable and that it would bring peace to the region.
The Senate Vice Chairman on National Planning, Economic Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Olufemi Lanlehin and the Bishop of Ibadan Diocese (Anglican Communion), Archbishop Joseph Akinfenwa, has appealed to Boko Haram sect members to cease fire before the planned amnesty plan by the Federal Government.
The duo said if the group continued to perpetrate its evil act and kill defenceless citizens, there would not be any meaningful dialogue.
They spoke at the third session of the 20th synod of the Anglican Diocese, held at All Souls Church, Bodija, Ibadan.
The Guardian
That is very expected. Such news would definately attract several confusions all over Nigeria