The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta MEND has claimed that it is behind a deadly attack on Friday evening which left 12 Policemen missing probably dead.

Twelve (12) police officers were reported missing, presumed dead, after gunmen attacked a police boat in the creeks of the Niger Delta, officials said

The group purportedly circulated an email to reporters that the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta MEND was responsible for the ambush in southern Nigeria on Friday evening.

The group has been inactive since 2009 after the Federal Government entered into agreement of which the government pledged to give them monthly salary plus granting them amnesty.

Local reporters say while some of the former commanders have grown extremely rich out of the deal with the Federal Government, some of the junior militants have not received what they are due probably prompting this latest development.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta is one of the fearful militants group in the south of the country after Boko Haram in the north.

The group fought a guerrilla war with the Federal Government over the proceeds of the oil as they claimed that the State has been neglected despite the fact that Nigeria’s majority of oil comes from the Niger Delta state.

The boat carrying some 50 policemen was on its way to a funeral when it developed engine trouble in one of the creeks.

“The officers became soft target for some hoodlums, who we have confirmed were part of a militant group that was supposed to be enjoying an amnesty,” police commissioner Kingsley Omire told reporters.

Mr. Omire said that the group was linked to a former Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta militant, and that the assailants alleged that the ex-militant had not been properly distributing amnesty payments very well.

He added that except the missing 12 Policemen, all the rest are in safe condition and pledged that investigations are underway to bring the perpetuated of the crime to book.

The group leader Charles Okah was sentences to 24 years in prison last month for masterminding bomb attacks in the capital, Abuja, in 2010.

President Goodluck Jonathan this week ordered a committee to look into the possibility of making a peace deal with Islamist militants in northern Nigeria, where they have carried out numerous bombings and shootings in recent years.

Analysts say resumption of violence in the Niger Delta State could hit Nigeria’s vital oil industry and will be a big blow to the country hence the need to swiftly curb the insurgency.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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