Mama,
I think the following statement carries more credibility then those been released up til now:
From MEND
We wish to deny reports of our involvement in the kidnap of filipino seamen off a cargo ship in escravos, delta state, on saturday january 20, 2007.
These misleading reports were carried in the vanguard edition of sunday January 21, 2007 and some other national dailies.
It is pathetic that these dailies feed the nigerian public with such falsehood without bothering to verify the authenticity of their information. We do not attack cargo vessels, issue ultimatums nor do we execute hostages in our custody without good reason. The continued detention of asari and alamieseigha does not in our opinion, constitute sufficient justification for taking a human life.
This action was carried out by a community in the vicinity of the
abduction, for reasons they will explain. To our knowledge, this abduction was carried out by individuals working on behalf of dubious groups in the delta who have in recent days been losing their relevance to the nigerian
government and oil companies. These individuals it is hoped will shortly emerge to effect the release of these filipinos who are not involved in the oil industry in any way then again, appear relevant to the oil companies and the nigerian government.
If by some miracle this abduction is related to the struggle for justice in the delta, it is a welcome development especially as that community in the past, has worked closely with shell to sabotage the struggle of the
niger delta people, exchanging their birthright for generators from shell and personal gratification from oil companies and the nigerian government.