Bassey Anthony, Uyo and Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
NIGER Delta Conscience Coalition (NDCC) has admonished Ijaw youths against intimidating appointees from Akwa Ibom State heading the Niger Delta affairs.
The group specifically warned that no harm should come to the Niger Delta Minister Godswill Akpabio, and interim administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Effiong Akwa.
President of NDCC Aniefiok Obot, who addressed a news conference in Uyo yesterday, said the antagonism expressed by Ijaw youths against Akwa’s appointment was ‘uncalled for, sectional, divisive and unacceptable’.
The group said it would not watch certain groups, sections and communities in other Niger Delta states ‘harass’ Akpabio and Akwa and other appointees from Akwa Ibom.
He said: “This group takes exception to the entitlement attitude displayed by certain groups, sections and communities against and towards our appointed representatives in running the Niger Delta, whether it is at the centre or at the regional level of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
“The voiceless and faceless orchestrators of anarchy towards Akpabio and Akwa should either desist or think twice because sometimes the lion that would consume the deer may not even be the one that roars.
“We are watching events keenly, and no harm should come to the persons and offices of both men through these orchestrated protest or their faceless sponsors.”
The group pledged its unalloyed support to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, and urged all Niger Delta people to align with Akpabio and Akwa to move the region forward.
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Akpakip Oro Special Chapter (Eastern Zone), has congratulated Akwa on his appointment as Sole Administrator of the NDDC.
The group described Akwa’s appointment as well deserved, and praised President Muhammadu Buhari for giving such responsibility to a member of the council.
A statement by Vice Chairman Christian Okponung, and Secretary Samuel Edem, said Akwa’s appointment was in recognition of his dedication and meritorious service to the country.
Read Also: N/Delta students oppose IYC’s protest against NDDC boss
It reads: “The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Akpakip Oro Special Chapter (Eastern Zone), congratulates our own son and member of the council, Effiong Akwa, as the Sole Administrator of the NDDC. We also thank President Buhari for the well-deserved appointment.”
An Akwa Ibom-based activist, Steve Ntukekpo, has urged the Federal Government to tighten security around Akwa.
Ntukekpo, in a statement yesterday, said Akwa should be protected from danger which may emanate from threats by those opposed to his appointment.
According to him, the recent orgy of protests against Akwa, and invasion of the Ministry of Delta Affairs Secretariat in Abuja, by the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), was distasteful and against the spirit and unity of the Niger Delta.
He said: “…the so called protest is laced in the garbs of small-mindedness, micro-ethnic blindness, and reckless sense of entitlement from a sect which is a fraction in the Niger Delta mix.
“It also portrays the fact that those who partook in that kangaroo ‘chasing out’ do not have any inkling of what constitutes the Niger Delta, but blindly acting out scripts of their sponsors whose illegal racketeering had been halted with Akpabio’s sincere intentions to clear the Augean stables of corruption and funds diversion in the Niger Delta affairs.”
