Training Church Leaders to take Alpha to the Militia in the Niger-Delta

To give you all some background to this training event, Nigeria is the world's sixth largest producer of oil, with most of the countries reserves being in the Niger Delta region in the South.

Paradoxically, despite the countries wealth, poverty is prevalent in most regions but none more so than the Niger Delta. Consequently militia groups have formed to fight against the injustice by striking at the pockets of the oil companies. The most prominent of these groups is MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta).The exact number of militia operating in the Niger Delta is unknown but it is thought to be several thousand. They have been responsible for the kidnap of approximately 200 foreign nationals in the past two years, as well as the sabotage of oil pipelines and installations, including a relatively sophisticated attack on an off-shore installation. The militia who are also embroiled in other forms of criminal activity are predominantly from the Ijaw tribe and are adherents of a tribal religious practice that involves the worship of Egbesu, the Ijaw God of war. They believe that Egbesu will make them invincible.

The Niger Delta is made up of three states: Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers. The Governor of Bayelsa state, Governor Timipre Sylva, is a Christian man who is committed to demobilising the militia. Many of the militia are war weary and have expressed a wish to leave the marshland camps where they live in order to be reintegrated into society.It is estimated that 750 - 900 militia are ready to come out of the 'creeks'.The plan, in the first instance, is to put them through re-orientation camps lasting three weeks; Alpha will be a major part of the syllabus on these camps.

At the invitation of Governor Sylva a team from Holy Trinity Brompton went to the Niger Delta to run a three day training event for church leaders. The purpose of the event was to train church leaders from Bayelsa state to run Alpha, and to train a select group of leaders to run Alpha for the militia in the proposed re-orientation camps.

We were met in Lagos by Rev Precious Omuku who organised the event from the Nigerian side. From Lagos we flew to Port Hartcourt in Rivers state and met up with two armed guards who would remain with us for the duration. The journey from Port Harcourt to the conference venue in Yenagoa took about two hours; it would have taken longer but the driver decided to spice it up by driving as if we were in a high speed pursuit! We passed through numerous impoverished villages and police check points before arriving at the venue.

The first day was opened by a representative of Governor Sylva who read a moving speech penned by the Governor. Initially the 120 delegates seemed as if they were unsure what to expect or what to make of us, although they participated wholeheartedly in the programme. By the beginning of the second day the conference was in full swing and everyone was relaxed and extremely enthusiastic. The twenty strong worship group did much to lift the spirits and they played a mixture of traditional hymns and contemporary African worship. In fact at the end of the conference all the delegates and the team were up on stage dancing.

We would like to thank: Governor Sylva, Rev Precious Omuku, Mr Von Kemedi, Cannon Dr Stephen Davis and Mr Michael Afenfia for making this training event possible and for having such a bold and hopeful vision for the future of the Niger Delta.