1. the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
Gracia Gadju

2. Origins
The Niger Delta is the oil rich basin that serves as the countries primary site for oil operations. In 1997 there was a major conflict with the Nigerian government and the Ijaw people over who owned “ Warri’ ’the government created headquarters in the Warri region which enraged the Ijaw people because essentially it was their land to begin with. People wanted some of the oil profits, because the oil was coming from what they believed was their land. Citizens within oil producing communities’ felt excluded from “benefits of the oil industry, the lack of social development, good governance, widespread poverty ( the population lives below the poverty line, 32 million people live in the Niger Delta, 43 percent live in poverty and 75 percent perceived themselves as poor), and high levels of unemployment in the region in spite of more than fifty years of oil production. People also felt robbed of their natural recourse. Mend was born due to these concerns. Grievances arose towards oil companies, and occasionally to the government. Mend was officially created in December 2005, formed in the Niger Delta shortly after the arrest of an elite member on treason charges.

3. Doctrine
Mend has no official covenant but does make several pledges. Mend pledges to increase attacks against oil interests in protest to what it feels is a corrupt government and an unfair distribution of wealth in the country. The group believes in non-violent protest and demonstrations to occupations, sabotage, vandalism, and outright organized armed assault. They are totally against going to war with the local citizens, their main focus is crumbling the economy. The group has a few demands from the government within their protest; including freeing Asari Dokubo as a condition for any peace deal. The government was forced to listen to them because of the chaos (violence and kidnapping of foreigners).

4. MEND Today
Mend today is mainly focused on targeting oil tycoons and the government, demanding that all of their request are made or else. Their focus isn’t on other humans, explaining that fighting people will distract them from their main focus, which is crumbling the economy . The group is still pushing for all of their elite members to be released from detention while holding hostages as leverage. The group today is more disciple, goal seeking, and driven than it was in 2005, this group poses a big threat to the Nigerian government