The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ex-militants leaders

  • Ex-militants raise the alarm over stockpiling of arms

    Ex-militants’ leaders in the Niger Delta region have raised the alarm over stockpiling of arms and ammunition in the region ahead of next month’s general elections.

    The ex-militants accused politicians of stockpiling the weapons to unleash terror and mayhem against political opponents for the purpose of rigging the election.

    Speaking under the auspices of ex-agitators Leadership Forum, the ex-militants said they learnt about the proliferation of arms through their intelligence gathering.

    They called on all ex-militants not to allow themselves to be used by desperate politicians as thugs to undermine the elections.

    In a statement by National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Godstime Ogidigba, the ex-militants said what the region need is sustainable peace and development.

    According to him: “Most politicians had used the Christmas festive period as an avenue to smuggle illegal fire arms and ammunition into the region as part of preparations for the 2019, general polls.

    “We have resolved to carefully trace the locations, where they are kept and the politicians behind this criminal Act after thorough information gathering. We will expose them to the whole world.

    Read Also: 269,000 PVCs yet to be collected in Kogi, says INEC

    “We want to use this medium to advice our brothers in the Niger- Delta region especially the ex- agitators and those who surrendered their arms to the federal government of Nigeria and are yet to be captured in the amnesty programme not to allow themselves to be used as political thugs, during the forthcoming elections, as there is still room for them to be absorb into the scheme programme.

    “We urge Niger Delta politicians and stakeholders to abide by the rules of the electoral Act to ensure hitch free, fair and credible election in the region.

    “As we the ex- agitator’s leadership forum in the Niger Delta cannot afford or continue to lose our brothers and loved ones during elections as been experienced in the previous polls”.

  • Count us out of threats to attack CBN branches – Ex-militants

    Count us out of threats to attack CBN branches – Ex-militants

    Former Niger Delta militants, under the auspices of the Second Phase Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Saturday, distanced themselves from a report that they threatened to attack branches of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over unpaid stipends.

    The ex-militants, however, pleaded with the Federal Government to pay their three months arrears of outstanding stipends.

    The Chairman of the phase in Bayelsa State, Ebina Salvation, in a statement urged President Muhammadu Buhari to view the amnesty programme as a security programme.

    He said the amnesty programme brought the fragile peace in the region lamenting that the delay that the delay in the payment of stipends to ex-militants was heating up the region.

    The ex-militant leader pleaded with the government to release adequate funds to the Amnesty Office for effective implementation of the programme.

    Salvation also called on the Federal Government to go back to the blueprint of the amnesty programme and implement its content by interfacing with the Coordinator of the scheme, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd.) and the ex-agitators.

    He discountenanced his from a statement purportedly written by factional leader of the programme, Stephen Ebisintei, who allegedly threatened to shut down all CBN branches.

    Salvation maintained that the Amnesty Office under the leadership of Boroh was doing well and therefore should not be blamed for the delay in the payment of their stipends.

    He said: “We, therefore, describe the allegations of the faction as false, baseless, mischievous and wicked. The allegations lack substance and should be thrown to the dustbin of history by all right thinking persons.

    “We, therefore, urge members of the group to discountenance Stephen Ebisintei’s display of falsehood which is a figment of his imagination and that of his co-travellers.”

    Salvation added that the CBN is not Amnesty Phase 2 Office but a bank accountable and rendering services to all Nigerians, both nationally and internationally.

    He called on the security agents to be alert, urging them to find out from amnesty office the recognised leadership of the Phase to enable them stop people using the name to issue unnecessary threats and publications.

    “That is the only way to hold people responsible if anything happens. Our leadership is enlightened, reasonable, law abiding and has respect for elders and the government,” he stated.

  • Ex-militant leaders meet, ask avengers to embrace peace

    Ex-militant leaders meet, ask avengers to embrace peace

    Former creek warlords, Saturday, rose from an emergency meeting in Yenagoa and urged the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to stop unnecessary destruction of pipeline and national assets in the Niger Delta region.

    The former ‘generals’ under the aegis of Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI), told the avengers that their actions would only compound the suffering in the region.

    The ex-militants in a statement signed by the National President, LPCDI, Reuben Wilson, popularly known as ‘General Pastor’ said that the use of violence to agitate for the betterment of the region was no more necessary and had been overtaken by events.

    Wilson, asked the NDA to channel their grievances to President Muhammadu Buhari through the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd.) to achieve better results.

    He warned the avengers that their violent campaign was not in the best and collective interest of the Niger Delta.

    He said their violent disposition would rather impoverish the people of the region, attract unnecessary hardship and worsen their plight.

    Wilson urged the Niger Delta people to give President Buhari the opportunity to fulfill his promise to the region by maintaining peace.

    He insisted that there would not be any meaningful development in an environment ravaged by violence.

    He said: “The Niger Delta struggle has advanced beyond the use of violence. We had in the past used violence to attract the entire world to the plight of the region.

    “We, therefore, need to utilise other peaceful and civil means to build on the sympathy of the world towards the Niger Delta for more effective results rather than resorting to violence.

    “That the current resurgence of militancy is an unnecessary distraction to the current administration.

    “That all groups and individuals actively involved in the Niger Delta struggle should channel their grievances to Buhari through Paul Boroh for more effective coordination and positive resolution of their grievances.

    “That every Ijaw group or persons involved in region’s struggle that for any reason is unable to utilise the office of the SA to President on Niger Delta Affairs to resolve issues bordering on the betterment of the region or Ijaw ethnic nationality should utilise the platform of Ijaw Youth Council or reach out to Victor Ebikabowei, aka General Boyloaf, to mediate in the resolution of such issues.”

    He hailed security agencies involved in curtailing the uprising the region, particularly the Joint Force, Operation Pulo Shield, for their efforts to enforce sanity and arrest criminal elements.

    But Wilson appealed to security agencies to apply the highest degree of professionalism in their operations.

    He urged them not arrest innocent people and to desist from destroying innocent communities as obtained in the past.

    Wilson said: “The security agencies should instead improve and be more effective in their intelligence gathering system in order to apprehend the real culprits.

    “The mass destruction of communities, properties and arrest of innocent people should be discouraged as such will only aggravate the already tensed situation in the Niger Delta.

    “They should rather collaborate with known and credible leaders and activists from the region to facilitate the arrest of criminals and enthronement of peace in the region.”

    The new militant group in the region, the Niger Delta Avengers, has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks on the Shell platform at Forcados, the Chevron Okan platform at Abiteye in Escravos, and the pipelines transporting crude oil to the Warri and the Kaduna refineries.

    The Federal Governmment has since ordered the military to unmask those behind the recent bombings of oil installations in the region.

  • …declare now, ex-militants’ leaders tell President

    …declare now, ex-militants’ leaders tell President

    Ex-militant leaders in the Niger-Delta yesterday challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to formally declare his interest in seeking re-election next year,immediately.

    The Niger Delta Youth For Democracy led by ,Roland  Abanara, Figbele Joseph and Austin Aboh, said Jonathan has done so well in his first term in office that nothing should obstruct him from returning for a second term.

    The militants,at a press conference in Benin,  vowed to resist any  plan aimed  at frustrating his second term campaign, and declared that  alleged politicization of the   Boko Haram insurgency is  designed to portray him as incapable of leading the country.

    Abanara  also made a case for an Ijaw as the next governor of Delta State.

    They said former Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Elder Peter Godsday Orubebe ,fits the bill.

    President Jonathan’s transformation agenda,according to him, has affected the nooks and crannies of the country and was optimistic that he has the ability to take the country to a new height.

    He added: “those who are capitalizing on the insecurity challenging confronting the nation to discredit the President should  remember that terrorism as being witness today never started with the emergence of President Jonathan and the government is not relenting in bringing an end to it. We all know that terrorism is a global challenge, it is sad that it is only in Nigeria that opposition are playing politics with it.

    Decrying alleged marginalization of the Ijaw in Delta State,Abanara said  wondered why no Ijaw has been allowed to rule the state since its inception.

  • Ex-militants leaders chide Kuku over non-payment of allowances

    The ex-militants leaders in the Niger Delta amnesty programme have lambasted the Special Adviser to the President on amnesty, Mr. Kingsley Kuku for the non-payment of their travelling allowances and special salaries.

    One of the leaders of the group, Mr. Francis Muturu, yesterday explained in Ughelli that they returned from the training programme in South Africa in December last year, alleging that Kuku had up till date failed to make available to them the allowances which he promised to release in the first week of January 2013.

    The group alleged that Kuku, during the last flood that ravaged most communities in the country, had deducted the sum of N4,000 from the salaries of the 26,000 ex-militants for the purpose of purchasing relief materials for the flood victims. Muturu said there was no evidence that such items were bought and given to the affected persons.

    Also speaking, Comrade Justice Nwogu said: “At the inception of the amnesty in 2009, Kuku promised the leaders that he would give them special salaries. In January, he fixed an amount that he would give to us, but up till now, he has not done anything about it. The situation where the leaders and their followers are being paid the same amount is unacceptable.”

    The group called on President Goodluck Jonathan to prevail on Kuku to make their entitlements available to them and lamented that the amnesty program was being politicised by those whose duty it is to take charge of its proceedings. “We don’t want to take laws into our hands because we have dropped our arms so that there could be peace in the country. So, Kuku should release to us all that the Federal Government has earmarked for us,” he added.