THERE was an unusual tight security at the National Assembly in Abuja yesterday following rumours that Niger Delta militants plan to blow up the legislative complex.

A detachment of armed policemen were drafted by the police authorities to the major entrances of the complex. This led to heavy traffic jam along the six-lane roads from the Eagle Square and into the Legislative building.

The security personnel stopped, searched and questioned visitors into the National Assembly area.

Members of the House of Representatives had last week passed a resolution supporting the Federal Government's decision to employ the military option as solution to the crisis in the oil-rich region, an action that was sharply opposed by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), South-South elders and lawmakers from the area under the aegis of the South-South Parliamentary Caucus of the Lower House.

Also yesterday, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) came under scathing criticisms over its endorsement of the ongoing military action in the Niger Delta.

MEND spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, in an online interview with The Guardian said the group would have been surprised if the ACF had acted otherwise. He said the Northern elders' group represents a section of the country spoiled by 50 years of having a free meal and have not yet come to terms with the fact that times had changed.

"How many riots have occurred in the North with deadly consequences to soldiers as well as southerners, yet the Air Force was never deployed to drop bombs and missiles on communities with ground troops burning houses of civilians indiscriminately. The signal they have passed toughens our resolve that we are on the right track to put an end to parasitic behaviours and bring out the best in every region with the practice of fiscal federalism," said Gbomo.

According to him, the ACF feels threatened by the fact that they may lose the cash cow which is the Niger Delta. MEND insisted that for any section of the country to turn a blind eye to the genocide that is happening and the extra-judicial killing of young men at an alarming rate confirms Arewa's level of desperation and callousness.

Gbomo noted that the North had been extremely selfish and myopic when it comes to power. According to him, they are holding on tenaciously to something that would soon slip away because times were changing.

He said: "The JTF is attempting to frighten the people and turn them against each other by destroying their homes and killing them at will. There is only a growing resentment in the North, whose troops are in the majority. They are in the region with an attitude of superiority of language, culture and class, but the people are not subjugated in the inside even though they may obey the commands from the outside. They know it is just a matter of time."

MEND also accused the police in Bayelsa State of extra-judicial killing of one Mr. Ken Niweigha, who was accused of being one of the kingpins of the gang that attacked and killed 12 policemen in Odi in 1999.

Gbomo said: "The Nigerian government, in authorising extra-judicial killings, is sending a clear message to youths from the region that it is better to die fighting for freedom than being killed by a lawless system of government."

The Ijaw National Congress (INC) also described as unfortunate the failure of the northern elders to appreciate that hundreds of innocent persons had been killed and thousands displaced in the military offensive in Delta State.

INC spokesperson, Victor Burubo, in a chat with The Guardian observed that from every statement that had been made by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, a member from Kebbi, Mohamed Ibn N'Allah and now the ACF, it was apparent that the attack on Delta communities was a premeditated one.

"In 1995 when the late Gen. Sani Abacha killed Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni activists, the Arewa people endorsed it openly because as far as they were concerned, these were minorities. However, in less than two years, Shehu Musa Yar' Adua was killed by the same government. So, if they think it's a Niger Delta affair, then they are wrong. What goes round comes around. Everybody will feel and taste this injustice."

Burubo added:" Anytime there is genocide in any part of Nigeria, they come out and endorse it. They will forget to remember that there are innocent people who have no hand in what is going on. What they are interested in is to plunder the system, take advantage of what they have to and bury their heads in the sand as if nothing is wrong."

INC noted that the ACF admonition that the JTF should be mindful of civilians in the region smacks of hypocrisy and insincerity. He expressed regrets that the ACF was the only organisation in the country that endorsed the military attack on Delta communities.

Burubo said: "The whole world should bear witness that they opted to stand on the side of injustice at this time. They opted to stand on the side of murderers because of their vested interest. When injustice is done, as long as that injustice does not affect certain people directly, they are not bothered. We understand their position. This is not the first time the people in question will be saying and doing the things they are doing."

Also, women from the embattled Gbaramatu kingdom and adjourning communities in the Niger Delta were yesterday sent back from the gates of the National Assembly.

They had come to protest the sacking of their communities by the JTF and called on the Federal Government to halt military actions in the region.

The leader of Concerned Ijaw Women, Christine Kasikoro Tonbra, said the recent bombardment had left women and children dead and others homeless.

Said the leader of the women delegation yesterday: "All we are saying is that our communities have been turned to war zones. Now, we do not have villages again in our places. We have been displaced, so many people are in the bush. We have pregnant women, children, our parents and the others have been in the bush. We have recorded a lot of innocent deaths.

"We are here in order to carry out a peaceful demonstration to appeal to the Federal Government and the international communities to come to our aid. What is happening here today we are not happy. We know that the Federal Government is not happy but we are appealing to it to release the ceasefire decree by JTF in our communities. We do not have problem with them. They should please forgive us even if our children have offended them. they should please forgive us. We are appealing to it to forgive us and remove military personnel from our villages."

She added: "We tried (our representatives in the Assembly) but they refused to pick our calls. We tried his number when we came in here but the number did not go through. We appeal to the militants to drop their weapons and embrace the amnesty granted by the Federal Government."

However, Action Aid International has blamed the ongoing crisis in the Niger Delta on the inability of security agencies to live up to expectation.

The body has, therefore, offered to assist in resolving the current stand-off.

In a statement in Abuja, the Action Aid warned the Nigerian government against handling the current situation in the Niger Delta like a civil war.

Country Director, Hussaini Abdu, said: "Given our familiarity with the terrain, our knowledge of the people of the region, conversance with all stakeholders and the confidence that these have in us as a result of our interventions in the region, we hereby offer to intervene in this current face off."