Armed Movement in Niger Delta: Israel wants a confrontation with Boko Haram

Armed militants in oil rich Niger Delta yesterday accused Israel of wanting to confront the armed group Boko Haram to free the girls they had detained and which the Nigerian government is dedicated to reaching a peaceful agreement to the crisis.

Jomo Gbomo, spokesperson for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, said in a statement: “From our experience, it is impossible to execute any successful operation by force in the forests or at the tables.”

He added: “Israelis that encourage this step must know that the Sambisa forest is different to Entebbe international airport.”

Gbomo was referring to the operation executed by the Israeli forces in the Entebbe International Airport in Uganda in July 1975 to free the Israeli hostages. The operation left one Israeli soldier dead as well as all the kidnappers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of over 200 girls from a school in the northeast of the country last April and considered them war hostages in a step that sparked international anger and demands for the students’ release.

The total area of Sambisa forest is approximately 60,000 square kilometres and falls to the northeast of Nigeria.

There are currently Israeli experts in Nigeria as part of the international support to help rescue the kidnapped girls.

A number of states, including the US, Britain, France, China and Israel are participating in the operation to determine the location of the kidnapped girls and release them. None of the countries has revealed the tasks carried out by their experts there.

No Israeli official was immediately available for comment with regards to these charges.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has in the past taken Nigerian and foreign hostages in the years 2005 and 2009.

The rescue operations barely succeeded by force, and in many cases there was an exchange of prisoners for a large ransom.

Gbomo urged the Nigerian government to accept the new offer from the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, to exchange the kidnapped girls for the militants arrested by the Nigerian authorities.

He said: “The resistance Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta supports the initiative of a prisoner exchange with Boko Haram to release the girls, considering that this is the only safe way that could be implemented and the start of maintaining contact, as well as a ceasefire and peace in the long term and, ultimately, security in the region.”