Sunday, February 12, 2012

Return of MEND: The politics, the intrigues


Tribune
10 February 2012

Written by Lasisi Olagunju,

Nigeria appears to be right now in a very deep se-curity mess. Even those who felt the security issues that largely defined the last year would fizzle out in 2012 are beginning to have a second thought. As the Boko Haram sect intensifies its deadly push in the far North, the relative calm in the Niger Delta has also got ruffled by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) which detonated a number of bombs as signature tune of a promised resumption of activity of violence in the oil-rich region.

Analysts believe the twin problems of Boko Haram and MEND, simultaneously pummelling Nigeria and its stability, are definitely scary, portending no good for national cohesion. As it is now, the Boko Haram-induced exodus of people down South is racking other zones apart from the sects' traditional spheres of influence in the North. Very soon, if the movement of Yorubas and Igbos from the North back home continues, Nigeria could face another serious problem of internal refugees which is already manifesting in some localities.

It is feared that when this is combined with a MEND problem that could bring the economy to its knees, the nation could be in a deep social, political and economic mess. But the matter could also have international dimensions

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