. Every single article I've seen about the Ijaw rebels who have recently begun attacking oil platforms in the Niger delta is careful to make the point that the Ijaw people are generally Christians or animists. It's true.
.
So, when Ijaw rebels begin to take hostages, we are to draw the conclusion that since most Ijaw are Christians or animists then the group responsible for the kidnappings must also be composed of Christians and animists. Except that mostly doesn't count in this case:
If the rising cost of the world's oil can be blamed on any one man, a portly African militia leader with a poster of Osama bin Laden glowering from his wall is the most likely culprit.
Al-Haji Mujahid Dokubo Asari, the leader of a motley collection of gunmen styling themselves the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, managed to push the world oil price above $50 a barrel last year....
"Our struggle is like those in Chechnya, Kosovo, Palestine and South Africa. That is how we are going to fight. We are not going to just sit down. We are capable of defending ourselves."
Mr Asari, 40, who shuns military fatigues and sports a trilby and a silver-topped cane, is an unabashed admirer of bin Laden. Songs praising his "gallantry" echo from a stereo in his spacious home in Port Harcourt, the Delta's largest city.
Yup. Those pesky Christians and animists are the most likely culprit behind the string of attacks on oil platforms, the series of hostage takings, and the rise in world oil prices. FYI-
is a name taken by Muslims who have made the trip to the infidel-free city of Mecca.
1
Oh yes that leader is a big fan of Osama bin Laden But he is not the leader of the group that recently kidnapped and then released the hostages. The charming man in the photo says that his group is the NIGER DELTA PEOPLE'S VOLUNTEER FORCE. Hawkins and the other workers were seized by militants from the MOVEMENT FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF THE NIGER DELTA I do not have much to offer in the way of info on them other than that one of their important stated goals is the release from jail of Diepreye SOLOMON PETER Alamieyesesigha. He was governor of the mainly christian state of Bayelsa in southern Nigeria and is most famous for having slipped out of Britain dressed as a woman while charged with monetary offenses. (Wikipedia)
Posted by: john ryan at March 02, 2006 09:46 AM (TcoRJ)
2
of course I would be willing to admit that the man identified in the photo does have a passing resemblance towards some of the later depictions of reincarnations of buddha, what with his big belly and jovial demeanor.
Posted by: john ryan at March 02, 2006 09:52 AM (TcoRJ)
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Dayumn. How about some linky, linky??
Posted by: Rusty at March 02, 2006 10:02 AM (JQjhA)
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The leader of the Niger Delta Peoples' Volunteer Force, Alhaji Dokubo Asari, converted to Islam from Christianity. His tribe, the Ijaw tribe, is one-percent Muslim.[1]
---------
[1]Our Links With Biafra, 20 Sep 2004. All Africa dot com (see comment link)
Posted by: Mark James at March 02, 2006 10:11 AM (3XwHO)
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well I will post the links in a minute but my trail went from CNN to wikkipedia.
Posted by: john ryan at March 02, 2006 10:20 AM (TcoRJ)
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A lot of times these groups are 'related', if you know what I mean. There can be a larger umbrella group, with specific cells going by different names. It's common in Iraq, but I don't know enough about Nigeria to know if this is the case here.
Posted by: Rusty at March 02, 2006 10:27 AM (JQjhA)
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Well I think it is a lot like in Iraq also. I do not see a lot of co-operation amongst the groups taking part in the insurgency. The people of southern Nigeria do not receive the benefits of the oil taken from there. The money all seems to go to the muslims in the north. Just like the Kurds deserve their own government so do the people of the south of Nigeria. Oil makes for strange bed companions "We the People" must really watch out for with whom our govenment chooses to sleep.
Posted by: john ryan at March 02, 2006 11:10 AM (TcoRJ)
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MOVEMENT FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF THE NIGER DELTA is an amalgam of numerous guerrilla groups. NIGER DELTA PEOPLE'S VOLUNTEER FORCE is one of several groups that come under MEND's umbrella receiving support and funding.
Posted by: Oyster at March 02, 2006 11:54 AM (zCI3+)
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Or it's the other way around. I read it somewhere several weeks ago. I'll look for the source.
Posted by: Oyster at March 02, 2006 11:57 AM (zCI3+)
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Here's the paragraph I was looking for:
"The statement signed by one Cynthia Whyte on behalf of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said: "On behalf of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and after due deliberations facilitated by the Ijaw Institute of Strategic Studies (Ijaw ISS) and with the supreme consent and guidance of the Supreme Leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, I Cynthia Whyte, hereby announce that the four hostages will be released any time in the next few hours to the government of Bayelsa State."
http://ijaw-iss.com/html/news_letters.html
Posted by: Oyster at March 02, 2006 12:09 PM (zCI3+)
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Any links to this Oyster ? I am a bit sceptical that they, MEND, share the $$$$ that they receive in ransoms. http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=14670 In this link to International Security Network MEND is discribed as "a previously unknown group" Using google I can not find anything about them as an umbrella group or really anything about them before Jan 2006. I have also tried to place some other links I found using a simple google querry but rejected for "questionable content"
Posted by: john ryan at March 02, 2006 12:13 PM (TcoRJ)
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Just to think most of this Bin Laden memorabilia is created, and distributed by our GWOT alley, Pakistan.
There isn't anything vile enough to make they don't sell: including cigarette lighters cast in the form of the World Trace Center, as you depress the igniter the flame comes from the towers - to Bin Laden T-shirts etc.
Just don't make a image of their "Prophet"!!!
Posted by: dave at March 02, 2006 12:23 PM (CcXvt)
13
I didn't say specifically that they share $$$ from ransoms. But they do in fact work together and I'll also now try to find the link that discusses the funding part.
You're trying way too hard to pin this on a Christian group. The point is, there may or may not be Christians scattered withn these various guerilla groups, but they're not who run it.
Or maybe I'll just leave you to fend for yourself with your query skills. Because I'm finding scads of stuff.
Posted by: Oyster at March 02, 2006 12:23 PM (zCI3+)
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No Oyster I am not trying to "pin it on" the christians. This is taking place in the south where they are by far the majority. Quite frankly I would like to see the "christians" win their rights, just as I would like to see the muslim Kurds have there rights. In fact I would like to see the USA support these (christian) groups in the south. But also trying to pin it on the muslims is well, silly. After plowing theu the ISi document, tedious reading, I also came across their reference of "giving to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar" it does seem to reinforce my personal belief that these are mostly christians. I find some difficulty in believing that a muslim spokesperson would be a woman quoteing from the bible.
Posted by: john ryan at March 02, 2006 01:18 PM (TcoRJ)
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Have you tried to google her name? Have you done much research at all on names of people associated with these groups? You question that Cynthia Whyte says,
"...give to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar," and that it sounds like something a Christian would say.
Would this be the same Cynthia Whyte, a "Martyrs Brigade" leader in Nigeria?
here
I knew a Muslim girl in Vermont years ago named Frances Bugg. I understand your reasoning, John, but things are not always what they seem. And it would do us all some good to not take what
"seems to be" as irrefutable or even likely these days. Muslims are not adverse to using verses from the Christian bible. In fact Muhammed used all manner of stories from the Old Testament and the Talmud in the Koran. He just bastardized the stories to fit his whims. An it's not unusual for women to hold high positions like hers in Islam. There are many women in Iran (yes, Iran, where women are generally considered chattel) who hold such positions and are every bit as warped as the men.
Posted by: Oyster at March 02, 2006 04:34 PM (zCI3+)
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i get the feeling I'm being avoided.
Posted by: Oyster at March 02, 2006 07:02 PM (YudAC)
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