We never endorsed Buhari – Ex-MEND commanders

Ex-commanders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta have dissociated themselves from a statement saying the group has endorsed the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari, for the February poll.

A former leader of the group, General Reuben Wilson, has therefore called on Nigerians to disregard the said endorsement.

He said that the ex-militants were all for President Goodluck Jonathan in next month’s presidential election.

This runs contrary to a statement by the spokesman of the group, Jomo Gbomo, who lambasted the Peoples Democratic Party and the Ijaw Youth Congress for questioning its credibility and describing MEND as a ghost organisation because of its proclaimed support for Buhari.

Gbomo said: “MEND views the recent question and statement credited to the PDP National publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, as very callous and irresponsible. The question: ‘Explain your connections with MEND’ further confirms and vindicates our views about President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP.

“MEND strongly denies any links with the APC and has never been approached for anything, at any point in time, by the party, as alleged by Olisa Metuh.”

However, in a statement on Thursday, Wilson said: “We have read and heard of reports in the mass media on the purported endorsement of the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari and have decided to inform the public that we, the former leaders of militant camps who owned and controlled the activities of MEND did not and could not have endorsed Buhari as our candidate.

“We are aware that the APC and their presidential candidate are desperate for power and are ready to do anything to mislead the public as part of their desperate efforts to take over power in 2015. But it is criminal to use the name of MEND to score a cheap point and deceive the public.

“For the avoidance of doubt, let us put it clearly that we owned MEND and we never endorsed Buhari. Neither Buhari nor MEND can shave our head in our absence. The people behind it must have been the APC and Buhari agents.

“Let us also state that the name Jomo Gbomo was a pseudonym of a non existent person. We have all left the creeks and there is no Jomo Gbomo or MEND any longer. We suspect that the APC must have been the architect of the so called endorsement. They should stop dreaming. They should stop deceiving Nigerians. Jomo Gbomo was a name that even a monkey could answer while we were in the creeks.

“We challenge the Jomo Gbomo to show his face on a national television the way we will do, as we have always done. Since we left the creeks, we have since integrated into the society, contributing to the development of rhe country. We have stopped all forms of militant activities under any guise, including MEND activities.

“Buhari does not mean well for our country but we do. It is only people that do not mean well for this nation that can suport him. Our support remains for the president and there is no going back on that.

“Buhari and the APC should stop basking in the euphoria of a dream support. That support is a hoax. It remains wishful thinking. It is fake and from fake people. We are detemined more than ever, to secure victory for Goodluck Jonathan because he deserves to be re -elected. We urge members of the public to discountenance the statement. It is only a demonstration of how desperate Buhari and his APC are, to grab power.”