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Tag: Ijaw group

  • Ijaw group urges govt to formalise refineries’ activities

    A group, the Ijaw Professionals Association (IPA), has urged the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to formalise the activities of artisanal refineries, to create jobs in the Niger Delta.

    IPA President Iniruo Wills in a statement in Yenagoa urged NCDMB to convert unregulated artisanal refining into a standardised and sustainable local economy of mini-refineries.

    The body congratulated Simbi Wabote on his appointment as NCDMB executive secretary and advised him to enhance the participation of indigenes of host communities in the petroleum industry.

    IPA enjoined the board to address pollution control in the petroleum sector, to ensure that the sector operated in an environmentally- sustainable manner.

    Wills said there was need to develop indigenous and in-country capacity for dealing with environmental disasters inflicted on host communities by the petroleum industry over the years.

    According to him, indigenous capacity building by NCMDB was required in organisational, logistical, human and financial capacities of oil-bearing communities to participate and compete well  in the sector.

  • N’Delta attacks plot to frame Tompolo – Ijaw Group

    N’Delta attacks plot to frame Tompolo – Ijaw Group

    Ijaw kinsmen of Government Ekpemupolo (AKA Tompolo) in Warri area of Delta state have accused enemies of the former MEND leader of trying to smear his name by embarking on destruction of oil facilities in Delta state.

    The Warri Ijaw Peace Monitoring Group, in a statement by its chairman, Chief Patrick Bigha, condemned the renewed wanton destruction of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region. It urged the Federal Government to enlist Tompolo’s assistance to fish out the masterminds of the attacks.

    He said, “The government should make peace with Tompolo so that he will be of great help to the government in managing such situations as well as not to allow the matter to lead to resumption of hostilities in the Niger Delta.

    “Mind you,Tompolo is a force to reckon with, in terms of peace building in the Niger Delta region,” the statement added.

    The Ijaw group said they are not happy over the incident, stressing that it looked like a smear campaign against Ekpemupolo, because of his position in the Bayelsa State governorship elections as well as the issue with the EFCC.

    “ It is worthy of note that Tompolo will not embark on such self destructive mission as one that fervently believes in the Nigeria project, and has contributed to peace building and development of Nigeria.”

    It could be recalled that it was this same Tompolo that was protecting oil facilities in the Niger Delta even though he was not paid for doing that,and so could not turn around to be one that is destroying oil facilities.

    “And as he was doing that he stepped on many powerful toes and such people were not and still not happy with him. Therefore such people can carry out this act and point accusing fingers on him because of the present condition he find himself in.

    “There is urgent need for the Federal Government to look inward as some APC chieftains may likely be involved in this incident as some of them have been involved in such acts in the past.”

  • Bayelsa: Accept defeat, Ijaw group tells Politicians

    Bayelsa: Accept defeat, Ijaw group tells Politicians

    An Ijaw group, Eye of Niger Delta (END) Saturday called on Politicians contesting the supplementary governorship election in Bayelsa State to accept the outcome of the election if Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the end declared one of them as winner.

    The group said accepting defeat and congratulating the winner at the end of the election will be of solidarity to promote peace in the state without unnecessary escalation of anarchy.

    The leader of the group, Comrade Victor Tari Ben spoke Saturday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital while briefing journalists on the effort of his organization to sensitize the youths of Southern Ijaw on the need to give peace a chance.

    Tari said his organization had already sent a message to the security agencies advising them to arrest any `politician who tries to subvert the will of the people during the supplementary governorship election taking place in Southern Ijaw and others wards in the state.

  • Ijaw group demands free, fair election

    Ijaw group demands free, fair election

    An Ijaw group, Eye of Niger Delta (END), yesterday called on the youths in the Bayelsa State to shun violent acts in today’s governorship election.

    END, which ended its three-day sensitization rally against violence in today’s election, warned the youths in the state to desist from acts that could undermine the election in the state.

    Addressing its members on the last day of the rally in Ekeki community, Yanagoa Local Government Area, the leader of the group, Comrade Victor Tari Ben, said his organisation places high premium on the unity and development of the Niger Delta region.

    Ben said Bayelsa, being one of the states in the region, would not be allowed to be controlled by people without conscience who only believe in what they can get from the tax payers’ money instead of improving the living conditions of the people and the environment.

    He said that when he saw the suffering in the faces of the people of Bayelsa, he realized that there were many wrongs to right, adding that tomorrow is the best day to make history and to right the wrongs that have been hindering them from prospering.

    His words: “The principle of one man, one vote will be applied on Election Day. Don’t indulge in any practice that would sabotage the election, but vote for change. We are tired of hearing one sad story or the other even when our state is blessed with human and natural resources.

    “I want all Bayelsans to come out en masse and not to sit at home, because what we need now is peace and unity and a candidate that can deliver on job creation, infrastructural development and human capacity development.”

  • Ijaw group tells Buhari to be wary of Clark

    Following media statements credited to foremost Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, in which he described former president, Goodluck Jonathan, as weak, a Pan-Ijaw group, the Ijaw Justice Forum (IJF), advised President Muhhamadu Buhari to be wary of the elder statesman.

    In a statement signed by its President and Secretary, Karona Etonye and Ekenwan Akwagbe respectively, IJF also condemned Chief Clark’s comments, saying it casts aspersions on the person of the person of Jonathan, who they described as Clark’s godson.

    The Warri-based group recalled that Chief Clark’s comments were reminiscent of the sort of treatment he meted out to past governors of Delta State, from whose administrations, they said he allegedly made immense gains.

    “We wish to state that this anti-Jonathan utterance from this self-styled Ijaw national leader is not a surprise to us because this is his stock in trade. To us who are from the same constituency with him, we know him as utterly ungrateful and destructive. Here is a man who often referred to Dr. Jonathan as his son right from his days as governor of Bayelsa state till he relinquished power as President and Commander In-Chief of the armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “When Dr. Jonathan was in power, Chief Clark did not see anything wrong with him, including his perceived weakness to fight corruption, because he was gaining immensely from the Federal Government.

    “What Clark is doing to Dr. Jonathan today is exactly what he did to former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori. He was one of those who benefitted most from Ibori’s administration, but turned round to stab him at the back when the man left office.

    “President Buhari should watch the likes of Chief Clark with eagle’s eyes and beam the brightest anti-corruption search light on the likes of Clark

  • We’re tired of Jonathan, says Ijaw group

    We’re tired of Jonathan, says Ijaw group

    An Ijaw group, President Goodluck Jonathan’s kinsmen, has said nothing has changed for the better under his administration.

    The Ijaw group is clamouring for change, which it said the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, would provide.

    The group, under the aegis of the Southsouth/Ijaw People United forum, spoke at a forum in Lagos through its Chairman, Isaac Emiyede, ahead of its preparation for the Lagos State governorship election on February 28 and other polls.

    Emiyede noted that change was inevitable in life, adding that it would eventually happen in Nigeria.

    He said: “It will not be business as usual in the 2015 polls. Nigerians are not ready to be deceived again.”

    Speakers at the forum regretted the economic woes bedevilling the nation, with insecurity and corruption escalating.

    The said poor governance had become the norm under the Jonathan administration.

    Emiyede said: “…Gen. Buhari has shown leadership by example. We don’t need a microscope to see through him. He has shown integrity and discipline. This is a man who retired as Head of State and has no building in Abuja or Lagos. He has only a storey-building in Kaduna. He does not give out money to people.

    “So, already, you know he is not corrupt. He has given a sign of where he is going. He is incorruptible. When the head is good, the body will be good. But when the head is rotten, the body cannot be good. So, if they say Gen. Buhari’s followers are not good, let us wait and give him a chance. It is the head that will drive the rest of the body. He is the one that will be in charge of appointments.

    “In 2007, Jonathan and former President Umaru Yar’Adua met 3,000 megawatts (MW) on the ground. In 2014, we are producing only 3,450 MW after spending more than $50 billion. That is trillions of naira. So, Jonathan and Yar’Adua combined could only produce 450 megawatts of electricity. Can we continue with this system?”