Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)

Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

The ostensible goal of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is to improve the political and economic prospects for the ethnic Ijaw people in Nigeria. MEND seeks to gain Ijaw control over the substantial oil resources and revenues in the Niger Delta. In effect, MEND has leveraged its ability to cripple oil production to force the Nigerian government to give Ijaw representatives a place in the political power structure.

Unknown; estimates range from several hundred to several thousand. MEND is one of the leading dissident groups in Nigeria and functions in part as an umbrella agency for other groups, including the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), the Coalition for Militant Action in the Niger Delta and the Martyrs Brigade -- which are all opposed to foreign oil activities.

Unknown. MEND and affiliated groups are thought to be completely indigenous.

MEND and related groups have engaged in kidnappings for ransom; sabotage, raiding and laying siege to oil facilities; and puncturing and siphoning oil from pipelines. At least one attack has involved a car bomb. Hostages are typically released after the granting of concessions, such as ransom payments or physical improvements to infrastructure.
 
MEND and its associated groups averaged three attacks per month during 2006 and early 2007. The rate of attacks slowed after the mid-2007 election of new President Umaru Yar'Adua, who named an ethnic Ijaw as vice president.
 
As of September 2008, Nigerian oil production had slipped by an estimated 25-40 percent since MEND began its attacks in 2005.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) became notorious in 2006, in part as a successor to the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF). MEND is an active terrorist group, ostensibly formed to support the rights of the ethnic Ijaw people in the Niger Delta. Fourteen million of a total of 138 million of Nigeria's population are Ijaw. Many in the Delta region have complained of being neglected by the government or exploited by oil companies. This has led to the proliferation of more than 100 local militant groups. MEND is one of the largest of these, and the organization works closely with other militant groups, coordinating and conducting joint operations. MEND's structure is highly decentralized. MEND has joined forces with the NDPVF, the Coalition for Militant Action in the Niger Delta and the Martyrs Brigade.
 
When Alhaji Dokubo-Asari, the leader of the NDPVF, was apprehended by the government in September 2005, he asked his followers to suspend violent activities. Since then, NDPVF has been dormant, and some members of the group drifted into MEND, which continues to sponsor acts of violence. MEND has been successful in one endeavor: pressuring the government to demand the payment of $1.5 billion from Shell Oil for damage allegedly done to the local environment. Shell has appealed. MEND also called for Asari's release, which was granted in mid-2007 after the inauguration of new President Umaru Yar'Adua.
 
MEND has gradually escalated its tactics from kidnapping for ransom into more sophisticated and effective methods. These include combining hostage-taking and bombings accompanied by local and international propaganda campaigns. The organization usually targets key points in oil pipelines and facilities in the Delta to maximize disruption and cost to oil producers. Those kidnapped are generally foreign specialists, thereby further disrupting the companies' ability to produce oil. The group has also set off a car bomb at a military barracks in Port Harcourt, the regional capital, perhaps indicating the expansion of tactics and targets.
 
After declaring "total war" in February of 2006, MEND launched a sustained campaign on foreign oil facilities. The government has addressed some of the concerns of Delta people. An Ijaw was named as vice president in mid-2007. MEND has continued its sporadic attacks.

President Umaru Yar'Adua launched an amnesty program for former MEND fighters in 2009. At least 8,000 militants surrendered thousands of weapons and renounced violence.

The country's new president Goodluck Jonathan pledged in 2010 to revive the plan. MEND has expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of progress.

1990s
Tensions mounted over the exploitation of petroleum resources in Nigeria. Acting on behalf of dissidents, playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa formed the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). The group conducted a non-violent campaign in 1990 against the government and Royal Dutch/Shell to protest alleged environmental degradation and the area's economic neglect. The group's efforts led Shell to cease production in the Ogoni region in 1993. The government responded with a crackdown on the dissidents. Saro-Wiwa and eight other MOSOP members were executed by Nigeria's military regime in 1995.
 
1998
December: A group of 4,000 Ijaw activists issued the "Kaiama Declaration," which demanded that all government armed forces withdraw from Ijaw areas and that oil companies stop all production by the end of that year. The declaration asserted that the Delta region belonged to the Ijaw.
 
1999
January: The government lifted a state of emergency that had been put into effect at the end of 1998.
 
2003
October: The NDPVF proclaimed it would begin a new offensive (dubbed "Operation Locus Feast") against oil workers unless multinational companies in the Niger Delta shut down oil production. The group said it would not try to damage the oil installations.
 
2004
The United States provided special boats to Nigerian authorities to help fight piracy, arms and oil smuggling.
 
2005
September: The government apprehended Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, leader of the NDPVF, and charged him with treason. After his arrest, Asari called on his supporters to suspend attacks against the Nigerian government and the group became much less militant.
 
2006
January: A group of MEND militants raided a Shell offshore rig and kidnapped several workers. The militants demanded that Shell pay $1.5 billion to local communities in compensation for alleged environmental damages. They also called for the release of NDPVF head Asari from jail. Later in the month, MEND released the oil workers.
 
February: Militants attacked a barge operated by a U.S. company. They also blew up a Shell oil pipeline and a gas pipeline operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. In addition, the militants bombed Shell's tanker-loading platform, resulting in a suspension of shipments from the facility. Closure of the Shell facilities reduced total Nigerian oil output by more than 20 percent.
 
April: MEND militants detonated a car bomb at the Bori Camp military base in Port Harcourt, killing two people.
 
June: MEND militants attacked a Shell gas plant near Port Harcourt, killing three Nigerian soldiers. The militants kidnapped five South Koreans who were working for Daewoo and Korea Gas Corp. The attack forced Shell to shut down the plant. All of the South Korean hostages were later released.
 
July: In an e-mail to Reuters, MEND said it would resume "an all-out war" to wipe out oil fields and export terminals.
 
August: Nigerian forces killed 15 MEND militants who were on the way to negotiate the release of a kidnapped Shell worker. The incident terminated a brief truce between MEND and the government brokered by an Ijaw political group to discuss a demand of $1.5 billion from Shell.
 
December: MEND claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of three Italians and one Lebanese from a residential facility.

2007
March: MEND leader Jomo Gbomo pledged to suspend activities during the Nigerian election period scheduled for April. He also vowed to continue attacks on oil production facilities in the future.
 
April: The Royal Dutch Shell Group manager for Nigeria reported that the company would resume oil production during 2007.
 
May 1: MEND members attacked a Chevron oil tanker offshore, killing a Nigerian sailor and abducting six oil workers.
 
May 29: President Umaru Yar'Adua took office. Yar'Adua, considered a moderate, pledged to pursue peace and security in the Niger Delta. Ethnic Ijaw Goodluck Jonathan was named vice president and put in charge of managing Delta issues.
 
June 2: MEND called a one-month cease-fire to allow Umaru Yar'Adua to formulate a new plan for the Niger Delta region. The group also released six oil workers abducted on May 1.
 
June 14: The government released former NDPVF leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari on bail.
 
July 3: Saying it had been sidelined in government discussions, MEND allowed its one-month cease-fire to expire.
 
Sept. 3: MEND leader Henry Okah was arrested in Angola on arms-trafficking charges.
 
Oct. 20: MEND struck a Shell Petroleum Development Co. vessel offshore of Bayelsa state, abducting seven contractors. The workers were preparing the facility to resume production suspended since militant attacks in February.
 
Oct. 30: MEND militants attacked the Nigerian navy ship Obula. One navy officer was killed and several others were injured. The Obula was deployed to protect Shell oil fields in Bayelsa state.
 
2008
Feb. 14: Okah was extradited by Angola to Nigeria, where he was subsequently charged with treason.
 
April 18-25: MEND turned violent again, launching a series of attacks against pipelines in the Niger Delta.
 
April: Angola supplanted Nigeria as Africa's top oil producer ecause of the interruptions to production in the Niger Delta.
 
June 19: MEND fighters attacked Shell's Bonga oilfield, located in the Gulf of Guinea 75 miles off the Nigerian mainland. The facility was previously considered beyond MEND's reach.
 
July: Plans for a Niger Delta peace summit collapsed after the government named Ibrahim Gambari as summit chairman. Gambari, who once served as Nigeria's U.N. representative and undersecretary of the U.N., was rejected by Niger Delta rebels, who see him as a representative of Nigeria's northern interests who are opposed to sharing with the Delta.
 
July 28: MEND responded to the summit collapse with a new round of pipeline attacks.
 
Aug. 20: President Yar'Adua replaced ethnic Ijaw Gen. Andrew Azazi as Nigeria's chief of defense staff.
 
Sept. 10: Yar'Adua reorganized the government and created a new ministry for the Niger Delta, charged with improving conditions in the region and promoting peace efforts.
 
Sept. 13: The Nigerian military assaulted MEND positions in the Niger Delta. The attacks included warplanes, helicopters and gunboats, according to MEND.
 
Sept. 14: MEND declared an "oil war" in response to attacks by Nigerian security forces.
 
Sept. 20: MEND called a cease-fire after a conducting a week-long series of attacks in response to actions taken by Nigerian troops.

November: Nigeria launched a campaign against the theft of oil from petroleum facilities.

December: Government forces arrested militant leader Sabomabo Jackrich. The government's recommendations to reduce violence in the Niger Delta included the appointment of a mediator to facilitate discussions with militants; granting amnesty to some militant leaders; launching a disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation campaign; and channeling 25 percent of the country's oil revenue to the Niger Delta, up from 13 percent.

2009
January: Militants said they terminated a cease-fire they had declared in September 2008 because the government had launched an offensive on the camp of rebel member Ateke Tom.

February: Militants attacked a civilian helicopter for first time. MEND did not take responsibility for striking the helicopter, which was operated by an oil company, but did issue a statement warning oil companies against the use of civilian helicopters to transport military personnel. The helicopter, which did not have any military personnel aboard, landed safely.

March: The president declared the government would consider a conditional amnesty for militants in the Niger Delta.

May 12: Clashes between government troops and militants erupted. MEND subsequently claimed it had destroyed several oil pipelines. Oil producer Chevron said it had to cut its production by 100,000 barrels per day.

May 14: MEND militants captured at least 15 hostages, but government forces eventually freed most of them. Thousands of Niger Delta residents have been displaced in the fighting.

June: Umaru Yar'Adua revealed details of a militant amnesty program in the Niger Delta. MEND rejected the plan, and said it would continue its attacks until the "injustice" of the oil-rich region was corrected. At least six attacks on oil wells, offshore platforms, pipelines and pumping stations followed. MEND claimed that at least 20 soldiers were killed in one of the attacks on a Shell offshore platform. Chevron evacuated hundreds of workers from the Niger Delta after the attacks.

July 12: The Nigerian federal government dropped all charges against MEND leader Henry Okah and released him. A senior MEND official claimed that if Okah were freed, the group would disarm. Okah's lawyer said that his client had accepted the amnesty agreement. A MEND spokesman said the group approved Okah's decision in view of his failing health.

July 13: MEND announced a unilateral 60-day cease-fire and released six crew members it had seized from a foreign oil tanker. The same day, MEND attacked an oil offloading facility in Lagos, the group's first attack outside the Niger Delta in several months.

August: The government's 60-day amnesty program for the Niger Delta went into effect. Militants who surrendered their weapons were promised training, employment assistance and a government pardon. The government announced it would give 10 percent of Nigeria's joint oil ventures to Niger Delta residents.

Sept. 15: MEND extended its two-month cease-fire by 30 days, but dismissed the government's amnesty program.

Sept. 29: MEND appointed a team of negotiators, including Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, to discuss its issues with the government.

Oct. 4: The government amnesty for militants expired. At least 8,000 militants surrendered thousands of weapons and renounced violence between August and October. MEND reinstated its cease-fire.

Oct. 19: Umaru Yar'Adua met for the first time with MEND leader Henry Okah. The government announced a US$1.3 billion development plan for the construction of roads, schools and hospitals.

Dec. 19: MEND attacked a major crude oil pipeline in the Niger Delta. The group complained that peace talks had been stalled due to the failing health of President Umaru Yar'Adua. "A situation where the future of the Niger Delta is tied to the health and well-being of one man is unacceptable," MEND said in a statement.

2010
Jan. 30: MEND terminated its cease-fire and threatened an "all-out onslaught" on the oil industry.

Feb. 2: Nigerian Minister of Defense Maj. Gen Godwin Abe asked MEND to observe the cease-fire it had declared the year before.

May 6: Goodluck Jonathan assumed the presidency of Nigeria after the death of President Umaru Yar'Adua on May 5. Jonathan was raised in the Ijaw territory, the focal point of MEND activity.

June 11: MEND claimed responsibility for an attack at an oil facility in Niger. Six soldiers were reportedly killed, a claim disputed by the government. The clash occurred when MEND militants were confronted by a joint military task force patrol on the lookout for boats carrying stolen oil.