MEND NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE 50th ANNIVERSARY ABUJA BOMBS” – PRESIDENT JONATHAN

News Agency of Nigeria

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that terrorists were responsible for the bomb blasts that rocked Abuja yesterday contrary to claims that the act was perpetrate by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

Mr. Jonathan made the claim in his opening address at the colloquium, organised today in Abuja by the ECOWAS Parliament, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of some African countries.

``What happened yesterday was a terrorist act and MEND was just used as a straw; MEND is not a terrorist group," the President said.

``The Niger Delta people are aware of the government's noble efforts to assuage the suffering and deprivation in that region.

``I am from the Niger Delta, my father's house is few metres from an oil-well, so nobody can claimto be a Niger Deltan than myself."

MEND, yesterday, claimed responsibility for the attacks. A few minutes before the blasts, the group sent an email to journalists and media companies warning of the impending violence.

"With due respect to all invited guests, dignitaries and attendees of the 50th independence anniversary of Nigeria being held today, Friday, October 1, 2010 at the Eagle Square Abuja, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is asking everyone to begin immediate evacuation of the entire area within the next 30 minutes. This warning expires after 10.30Hrs," MEND spokesperson Jomo Gbomo said in the mail.

However, Mr. Jonathan has said this was a diversionary tact by the real perpetrators of the crime. He argued that no Niger Delta group would carry out such an act as it would affect the region's chance for development.

``It is erroneous to think that my people who have been agitating for good living will deliberately blow up the opportunity they have now,'' Mr. Jonathan said.

He also said the country's security agencies will be restructured to become proactive to guarantee the safety of lives and property.

``I pray for the souls of those who died to attain peace and fervently pray for those who sustain injuries in the blast to be healed,'' he said.