Presidency dismisses MEND support for Buhari

The Presidency on Thursday alleged that members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta  (MEND) made attempts to kill President Goodluck Jonathan on two occasions.

It said on the two instances, members of the group launched 'murderous assaults' on places where the President was present.

The Presidency made the allegation in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, in which it warned the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to be weary of the group's recent endorsement of his candidature.

Although the Presidency did not disclose when and where the two attempts were made on Jonathan's life, it will be recalled that the group launched an attack near the Eagles Square, venue of the nation's 50th independence anniversary, in 2010.

Jonathan and some visiting Heads of State were present when bombs were detonated near the venue.

Abati said the Presidency had noted with amusement, the vituperations against Jonathan by 'the renegade faction' of the group, headed by the convicted terrorist, Henry Okah, in a statement issued to endorse Buhari.

He said the latest assault on the President by Okah and his stooges did not come as a surprise, but rather an expected one.

The statement reads in part, 'While we thank all the people of the Niger Delta, including the former militants whom MEND claims to represent but who have already disassociated themselves from the statement issued by the faceless Jomo Gbomo and reaffirmed their unflinching support for President Jonathan's re-election, we will like to state that the latest assault on the President by Henry Okah and his stooges did not come as a surprise to us at all.