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Tag: Ijaw Youth Council (IYC)

  • Court dismisses suit seeking to sack IYC boss, Spokesman

    Court dismisses suit seeking to sack IYC boss, Spokesman

    The Sagbama State High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has dismissed a suit seeking to unseat the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide and the council’s Spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare.

    The suit, which was filed by Mr. Elvis Donkemezuo, the council’s Mobilisation Officer, Wisdom Ikuli; National Secretary, Bristol Emmanuel, Mike Edonkumor and Felicia Ngere, asked the court to stop Eradiri and Omare from parading themselves as IYC president and spokesman.

    But the defendants through their lawyer, Nelson Nwanogho, filed an application asking the court to dismiss the suit for violating the principle of estoppel of res judicata.

    Nwanogho argued that the actions of the plaintiffs were against a subsisting judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, which on November 15, 2015 gave an order restraining the plaintiffs and other IYC stakeholders from removing the defendants.

    He prayed the court to dismiss the suit relying on res judicata since it was similar in content and motive to the matter which informed the 2015 judgement.

    In his ruling at the weekend, the presiding Judge, EG. Umukoro, said the 2015 judgment which interpreted the tenure of the IYC president was binding on all members of the council including the plaintiffs.

    The judge argued that since such judgement existed, it would continue to subsist and estop the plaintiffs and members of the council from challenging the tenure of the president and spokesman till their term’s expiration in March 2017.

    He said: “The party relying on res judicata must prove that the subject matter, the case and issues are the same. The capacity in which the first and second suits were instituted is the same and the contention that the parties are the same have merit.

    “Without any doubt whatsoever, the present suit is premised on the fact of purporting to remove the first and second defendants in a meeting of IYC contrary to the judgement of a Yenagoa High Court.

    “The decision of Yenagoa court has not been appealed and as such continues to subsist and binding. The parties are estopped from questioning the tenure of the first and second defendants”.

    The judge derided the plaintiffs describing their suit as abusive and offensive in all respect “in so far that the first judgment continues to subsist”.

    He said the society should at all times discourage prolongation of litigation adding that it was wrong for parties in a concluded judgement to bring a similar matter before a court of equal jurisdiction.

    The judgement has put to rest the temporary leadership crisis that rocked the council and affirmed Eradiri and Omare as indisputable president and spokesman of the IYC.

  • Militancy: Youth leaders lament silence of N’Delta governors

    Militancy: Youth leaders lament silence of N’Delta governors

    …Resolve to mount pressure on governors

    …Ask FG to stop invasion of communities

    Youth leaders of Niger Delta ethnic nationalities, Wednesday, criticised governors from their region for not doing enough to complement the efforts of the Federal Government in resolving the crisis in the Niger Delta.

    The leaders, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, after an emergency meeting at Ijaw House, urged the governors to synergise and evolve an economic plan to rescue the region from poverty and militancy.

    The leaders who met under the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities Leaders Council (NDENLC) described as unacceptable the silence of the governors and their nonchalant attitude towards some burning issues of development in the region.

    The meeting was attended by the leaders of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, Udengs Eradiri; Urhobo Youth Council (UYC), Terry Obieh; Urhobo Progressives Union, Esimaje Aweni; Ibibio Youth Council (IYC), Imo Okoko; Efik National Youth (ENY), Capt. Bassey Henshaw among leaders from Anioma, Ogoni, Edo and others.

    Eradiri, who spoke after the meeting, said the leaders resolved to mount pressure on the Niger Delta governors to undertake practical steps to lift the region out of poverty and militancy.

    He said: “The governors in the Niger Delta should do more internally to resolve the militancy in the region. They should set up an economic plan to take the region out of poverty. We are saying this because liberation itself cannot come externally.

    “It must be internally driven. What are the Niger Delta governors doing on their own to end the crisis? Everybody is just waiting for the Federal Government. State governors in this region must meet, engage stakeholders and begin to resolve the problem.

    “The country is facing economic crisis, what are our state governors doing to come up with an economic plan to take this region out of poverty and militancy. As we speak, the condition in the region is getting out of hands. There is widespread poverty and criminality is going up every day.

    “We are suffering more from what is happening in the region. All our youths are unemployed and things are getting from bad to worse. So, we call on the governors to provide economic, political and developmental leadership, so that when we are talking about the federal government, we would have started our own.

    “We are too rich to be poor. We talk about diversification through agriculture, what are our governors doing on that area? So that we can use rice cultivation, fish farming and cassava to change the economic situation in the country”.

    Eradiri also said the leaders called on the Federal Government to quickly set up its negotiation team to immediately resolve the crisis adding that the silence of the government after meeting with the Niger Delta stakeholders on November 1 was worrisome.

    He further said the leaders condemned invasion of Niger Delta communities by soldiers and appealed to the government to adopt better and more civil ways of resolving the crisis in the region.

    “In fact, intelligence apparatus has recorded more success than military option. The casualties are more of women and children”, he said.

    He added: “The government should quickly resolve the legal issues surrounding the maritime universities. So that youths will no longer use that as an excuse to attack oil installations.

    “We call on the Federal Government to look at the EPZ projects in Delta State, the Brass Fertilizer Project in Bayelsa, the Bonny Phase Seven Project in Rivers State as well as the Quantum Project in Akwa Ibom.

    “The government should integrate the EPZ project because it will create over 150,000 jobs for young people. The Brass Fertilizer Project could create close to 100,000 jobs; other projects will create jobs for young people. If you are talking about revolution in the gas sector then you must first integrate existing projects into your plans because all these projects are gas-driven projects.

    “Sea ports in the Niger Delta must be activated so that jobs can be created. There is a port in Warri, Port Harcourt, Calabar, but they are lying fallow. Yet there are over 5000 vessels waiting for berthing space in Lagos when the ports in this part of the country are empty. Any time a vessel gets to a port it creates over 10,000 jobs overnight.”

  • Ijaw youths to militants:  Give Buhari a chance

    Ijaw youths to militants:  Give Buhari a chance

    …Youths hail President for seeking more funds for amnesty office
    Ijaw youths, Wednesday, urged militants operating in the Niger Delta region to sheathe their swords and allow President Muhammadu Buhari to implement his developmental projects in the region.

    The youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, said they were excited at the recent letter the President sent to the National Assembly seeking more funding for the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

    Speaking in Yenagoa, the state capital, the President of IYC, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, said the request for more funds for the Amnesty Office portrayed Buhari a listening President.

    Eradiri said though the action of the President came later than expected, it would go a long way to calm the frayed nerves in the region adding that it was in conformity with the position of IYC.

    He advised the President to show similar commitment in improving the lots of other institutions created to develop the region such as the Niger Delta Ministry and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    He said: “The President just sent a letter to the National Assembly requesting for more funds especially to support the amnesty programme. The breakdown of law and order in the Niger Delta is largely attributed to shortage of funding to the office.

    “We want to commend Mr. President and thank him because once we have this kind of commitment, Niger Delta question will be resolved. We look forward to doing everything possible on our part to ensure that there is peace.

    “We are appealing to the President to in the same spirits look into the Niger Delta Ministry as well as funds that are owed NDDC”.

    Eradiri further asked the President to activate his anti-corruption drive in the monitoring and tracking funds allocated to Niger Delta interventionist agencies.

    Apart from ensuring discipline in the usage of allocated funds, he said Buhari should ensure that the funds were managed by people who understood the issues and problems in the region.

    He said: “We want to also state that while approving funds to institutions like this, the anti-corruption drive must be activated to ensure that the institutions live up to expectation to ensure that funds are not diverted.

    “Those in the position to manage the amnesty office and other institutions addressing the issues of the region must be people who have knowledge of the issues. If he doesn’t have the right people to address the issues, even the funding will be misplaced”.

    While asking militants to give the president a chance, he said: “Yes, the militants should give the government a chance. But the government needs to be proactive and not falling into this stereotype attitude.

    “The President may be doing the right thing but when there is delay, his body language may be misinterpreted. Like if this current step of the President had come earlier and other steps we expect like pronouncing the resumption of the maritime university, l don’t see any sane agitator going against him.

    “The President has taken an action. But did we have to lose all these lives, economy and all the constraints and emotional crisis before such a letter should be transmitted.

    “Sometimes when you do something late, it has repercussions. If the actions Mr. President is taking now had been taken earlier, we wouldn’t have gotten to this point where the economy will be lying prostrate. We need more proaactive steps from the President”.

    To ensure general peace in the country, Eradiri further advised the President to extend Olive branches to other parts of the country and ethnic nationalities causing distractions for him.

    He suggested that Buhari should look into the issues of the detained Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Shia Muslim cleric, Ibrahim Zakzaky to ensure total reconciliation and peace in the country.

    “We want to commend Mr.President for the bold steps; he should extend it to other parts of the country. He should make decision that will bring everybody to the roundtable.

    “The issue of El Zakzaky, the IPOB leader and other issues that are creating more divisions and distractions for the President should be looked into in the spirits of reconciliation.

    “He had negotiated with Book Haram. He is negotiating with the Niger Delta. He should extend the Olive branch to other facets of the polity creating distractions for him. We desire him to succeed because if he does, Nigeria will succeed. If he fails, all of us will fail”, he said.

  • Stop linking IYC to avengers – council secretariat

    A faction of executive members of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, on Tuesday, frowned on the linkage of the youth body to the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).

    A splinter group of NDA, Reform Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) named the President of IYC, Mr. Udengs Eradiri among leaders it accused of belonging to the NDA and sponsoring bombings of pipelines in the region.

    Though Eradiri had since denied the allegation, some members of council claimed that he was no longer the President and should not drag the name of IYC into dishonourable activities.

    The Secretary-General of IYC, Mr. Bristol Emmanuel, condemned linking the IYC into militancy claiming that Eradiri had since ceased to lead IYC.

    Eradiri and most members of his executive council have been at loggerheads over the leadership of the council, a battle that had shifted to the court.

    But Emmanuel who spoke in Yenagoa said: “We condemn any attempt to drag the name of IYC to issues relating to militancy and avengers. The organisation has no activity that has to do with avengers.

    Eradiri is not the President of IYC. I am the Secretary-General of the IYC and the Head of Administration. I am the custodian of all the documents and everything of the council. Eradiri is not the President.

    “He has been released from that office. IYC for now is consulting with stakeholders and discussing with relevant institutions to put an end to the crisis in this region.

    “The IYC President remains Elvis Donkemezuo and that is the true reflection of Ijaw people and the position of the council. We are not speaking in the defence of Udengs, we are only defending the integrity of IYC.”

    Also speaking on the matter, Donkemezuo said it was unfair to rope IYC into violent agitation insisting that the council remained committed to the development of the Ijaw nation.

    He said: “We don’t want anybody to rope IYC to any issue that has not been approved by IYC. We don’t want people to associate the council to unending  arms struggle.

    “For the sake of clarity, we want to state unequivocally that Udengs Eradiri is no longer the President of the IYC. A court of competent jurisdiction sitting in Sagbama Bayelsa State has summoned him for continuoisly parading himself as IYC President.

    “IYC is not Udengs Eradiri’s private estate. Therefore, we urge those who have personal or business quarrels with him not to drag the name of the council into their tussles. We distance ourselves from the Niger Delta Avengers and any splinter group from it as well as all their sponsors.

    “Moreso, for the avoidance of doubt, we want the world to know that although we do not know who the NDA members are, we are confident that they are not Ijaw people and do not speak for the Ijaws or the Niger Delta Region.

    “They have identified that as a nation, we have an unresolved problem and they are trying to exploit that for their own personal aggrandisement. The abject state of the Ijaw man and the Niger Delta is no longer breaking news.

    “The whole world is aware that the Niger Delta is underdeveloped despite the huge resources that have been taken from it. So these people masking as freedom fighters are trying to cash in on this to exploit our plight as a tool to enrich themselves. Their actions do not reflect the true spirit of the Niger Delta Struggle. Our struggle in the IYC is in line with the principles of our illustrious forebearers like Isaac Adaka Boro,  Harold Dappa-Biriye, the Brave authors of Kaiama Declaration,  Ken Saro-Wiwa among others. The character, actions and antics of the NDA and their co-travellers,  like the so called RNDA do not reflect the yearnings and aspirations of our land and people. This is because they are actually impoverishing our region and degrading our environment with their mindless destruction of Oil Facilities.

    Finally we call on the Security Agencies to intensify efforts to fish out the real faces behind the NDA mask, just as we advise our youths to be law abiding and go about your lawful business. These are trying times, but we shall overcome with God on our side.  We must not allow profiteers to exploit our collective pains for their private gains.

    “We thank the Nigerian populace for their cooperation. IYC has nothing to do with the activities of NDA. We demand an apology for dragging the name of the council to such activities because our struggles are guided by the overall interest of the Ijaw nation”.

  • Avengers: Buhari sets to meet with Niger Delta stakeholders

    Avengers: Buhari sets to meet with Niger Delta stakeholders

    Baring any change in plan, President Muhammadu Buhari, will meet directly with governors, elders and other stakeholders from the Niger Delta region as part of efforts to end ongoing nefarious activities of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and other militant groups in the region.

    The President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mr. Udens Eradiri, who confirmed the development at the weekend said the Presidency contacted some of the elders and stakeholders to inform them of the meeting.

    Though he did not disclose the date of the meeting, he said the gathering of the stakeholders to deliberate on the crisis and the way forward will take place very soon.

    Eradiri commended President Buhari for heeding the advice of the IYC which had on many occasions called on him to take the driving seat in resolving the crisis in the region.

    He insisted that the issues and problems in the region required direct intervention by the President adding that Ijaw youths would not be part of any dialogue without the President in attendance.

    Eradiri said: “We want to commend the President because I heard from the grapevine from one of our formost governor and leader of Ijaw land this morning when he said they had been invited by the President for an engagement with respect to the Niger Delta crises.

    “So, I want to commend the President for hearing our cry and for taking the right approach because there is no other approach than what the President has decided to do.

    “Mr. President is a very meticulous man who keeps a lot of things to his chest and Nigerian and people who are always around take advantage of his silence and misinterpret the body language of Mr President in various ways.

    “That body language that has been misinterpreted has created a lot of confusion that has further worsen the situation in Niger Delta. Therefore we thank God Mr President will be coming out boldly to address the issues and body language will no longer be misrepresented.

    “We want to thank the president for that bold steps and look forward to the right leaders going to sit down with the President to properly articulate the position of Niger Delta”.

    But he said the Ijaw would continue to advocate for true federalism and restructuring as the permanent solutions to issues affecting different parts of the country.

    Eradiri maintained that restructuring would solve the problems of Fulani herdsmen, constant attacks on pipelines, agitation for Biafria and other matters arising from the lopsidedness of the Nigerian state.

    He said: “We are of the opinion that Nigeria needs to be restructured so that we can solve problems of tomato price, dollar prices, insecurity, herdsmen crises, insecurity in the middle belt, armed robbery cases and others.

    “The only solution to Nigeria’s problems not just Niger Delta problem is that we restructure this country to the point where people sit down and agree that we should go forward as a nation. It is only on that spirits that we will solve avengers’ problems once and for all.

    “We want a holistic approach to the problem so that tomorrow an avenger will not arise or a destroyer will not arise or another pseudo group will not come and be destabilising the region.

    “We have said this because the same issue the Willink’s Commission talked about was the same issue Isaac Borro came out to declear the Niger Delta Republic and eventually fought for Nigeria and died for it; the same issue Ken Sarowiwa was killed for.

    “It is the same issue that led to the formation of IYC to non-violently address issues of underdevelopment and marginalization in the Nigeria state and the same issues that led to MEND and the same issue that led to avengers. So, if we want to move forward it’s only common sense that we address those issues and we think that those issues are holistically embedded in a restructured Nigeria.

    “And so we want to thank the President for the opportunity to sit down and hear from the people so that he who is the President that is holding the knife and the yam would be able to cut it to the happiness of Nigerians in general”.

    Eradiri added that former President Olusegun Obasanjo adopted a coastal-meeting model where he constantly sat with the Niger Delta governors and stakeholders, as his direct approach to tackle issues in the region.

    He said that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and his successor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan were also directly involved in dealing with Niger Delta matters.

    He said such direct approach led to peace in the region and increased the country’s oil production.

  • Ijaw youths predict more hostilities in Niger Delta

    Ijaw youths predict more hostilities in Niger Delta

    The umbrella body of Ijaw youths, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, yesterday, said there would be more hostilities in the Niger Delta region if President Muhammadu Buhari failed to probe “unfair allocation of oil blocs in the country” .

    The President of the IYC, Mr. Udengs Eradiri,  who spoke at a press conference in Yenagoa, as part of activities to celebrate this year’s Isaac Boro Day said much of the indiscriminate sharing of oil blocs were allegedly carried out when Buhari served as Petroleum Minister and Head of State.

    Business outfits in Yenagoa were closed yesterday following a directive by the IYC that shop owners should not operate in honour for Isaac Adaka Boro.

    Eradiri’s warning came about five days after the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) listed some oil blocs allegedly owned by former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma, ex-Minister of Petroleum, Alhaji Riwalnu Lukman, other Northerners and South-Westerners in Niger Delta region.

    The new militant group among other threats gave the Oil blocs’ other a two-week ultimatum to shut down operations at the Oil fields and evacuate their workers from the locations or have them blown up.

    Eradiri accused the President of denying Niger Deltans ownership of oil blocs while allegedly allocating same to his kinsmen and their cronies like a bazaar.

    He said : “One of the most salient issues that if not addressed will lead to more crisis is the issue of the oil blocs.

    “President Buhari was one time Petroleum Minister and Head of State in this country. Let us go and do an assessment of that time. The time when criminally they shared our oil blocs was under his watch either as Petroleum Minister or as Head of State. It is in one of those times.

    “Oil blocs were shared to one group. Look at it, either the person (owner of oil bloc) was a former military president or relative of the military president  or an in-law to a military president”, Eradiri said.

    The youth leader insisted that the allocation of the oil blocs did not follow due process outlined by the government.

    He called for a total review of the oil blocs to redress the injustice that such a manipulated process had brought against oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta.

    “And that is one of the biggest issues that if not addressed, there will be more Niger Delta Avengers, you will see groups and groups that will spring up until the issue is addressed”, he said.

    Eradiri described Boro as “an intellectual and fearless comrade” who stood up for the Niger Delta despite the oppressive tendencies of the government at the time.

    The IYC president noted that the issues of underdevelopment of the region for which Boro took up arms against the Federal Government “were still hunting us till today”.