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Tag: INC

  • Defend Nigeria’s democracy, INC charges Nigerians

    Defend Nigeria’s democracy, INC charges Nigerians

    Apex body of Ijaw nation, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) has called on Nigerians to defend the nation’s democracy from perceived enemies.

    The call followed the unfolding events from the faceoff between the Rivers State Governor, Siminalaye Fubara and his predecessor and Federal Capital Territory, Minister, Nyesom Wike.

    President of the INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, in a statement made available to journalists in Warri, claimed there was a plan to plunge Ijaw communities into a crisis that would justify emergency rule in Rivers State. 

    He, however, commended the Ijaw people for avoiding the “booby trap” and registering their displeasure through peaceful protests across the region.

    Okaba warned of a broader political scheme targeted at democracy in Nigeria, raising concerns about the future implications of such political manoeuvres. 

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    Parts of the statement read: “We call on Nigerians to stand against the enemies of democracy, a group of individuals who are bent on grabbing and retaining power at all costs.”

    The statement commended the women of Abalama for their peaceful protest, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Eastern Zone, for cancelling their proposed meeting at Abalama, and as well, acknowledged the wisdom of King Asari Dokubo for withdrawing his surveillance personnel from the Emouha-Kalabari road to prevent unwarranted confrontation and bloodshed.

    According to him, those attempting to remove Governor Siminalayi Fubara have resorted to inciting violence to justify the imposition of a state of emergency.

    Urging continued restraint, Okaba hinted at a future confrontation if genuine efforts are not put in place and urgently, to stop “this madness,” adding that the lNC should not be held accountable.

    It would be recalled that the FCT Minister, Wike, was hosted at a thanksgiving ceremony at Abalama, Asari-Toru council area of Rivers state, weekend.

  • INC, Fasoranti, Falae, Adebanjo faction of Afenifere endorse Atiku

    A FACTION of Yoruba socio-political apex group, Afenifere, yesterday gave reasons why it is  endorsing  the candidature of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Saturday’s  Presidential election , Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    The group , after taking a cursory look at the composition of the Nigeria state, especially the major trajectories that the country had passed through from 1914 when it was amalgamated,  declared that the way Nigeria is presently constituted politically and geographically did not allow for people-oriented governance.

    Afenifere leaders made this pronouncement in a communiqué issued at the end of a town hall meeting with the theme: “Moving Nigeria Forward”, at Jogor Centre, Oke-Ado, Ibadan.

    Participants at the town hall meeting came from six Southwest states, including Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, Oyo, Osun, and Ondo and representatives from Kwara and Kogi states.

    The meeting was attended by Afenifere leaders, including; Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Olu Falae, Senator Femi Okuronmu, Prince Debo Gbadebo,and Chief Mrs. Bola Doherty among other prominent Yoruba leaders.

    Pan Ijaw Socio-cultiral organisation Ijaw National Congress (INC) yesterday endorsed the candidacy of Atiku.

    INC, at the end of its meeting in Yenagoa x-rayed the manifestoes of the two leading aspirants and thereafter alligned with Atiku, on the issues of restructuring and others.

  • IYC, INC…Far away from peace

    IYC, INC…Far away from peace

    Two important Ijaw organisations, the Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC) and the Ijaw National Congress (INC), are miles away from finding peace and being able to stand up for the Ijaw Nation, writes MIKE ODIEGWU

    NINE days ago, a faction of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide led by Mr. Oweilaemi Pereotubo took over the National Secretariat of the council in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

    Some officials of the state government led by a former Commissioner for Culture and Ijaw National Affairs, Dr. Felix Tuodolor, led the Pereotubo council of IYC to the secretariat and handed the building over to them.

    But the faction led by Mr. Eric Omare protested the development, saying it smacked of illegality and urged Ijaw youths to disregard the handover.

    Succession crisis has crippled the IYC as the two factions fight over the leadership of the council.

    A committee set up by Governor Seriake Dickson to resolve the crisis chose the Pereotubo-led faction but Omare and his executive committee rejected the decision describing it as premeditated and unconstitutional.

    In a statement shortly after the secretariat was handed over to the Pereotubo faction, Omare described the “purported handover a display of mockery of the IYC constitution and processes”.

    He said: “For the records, the immediate past President of the IYC, Udengs Eradiri had handed over the leadership of the IYC to Eric Omare since March, 2017.

    “And it is customary in the IYC just like similar organsations for the immediate past President and leader to hand over to his successor.  Therefore, what is happening at Ijaw House is nothing but display of impunity and invitation to anarchy.

    “It is important to note that Felix Tuodolor, who is supervising the purported hand over, and some former leaders of the IYC are already in court with the Eric Omare-led National Executive Council of the IYC in a suit challenging the legality of the purported Okrika convention called by former leaders of the IYC, which produced the factional IYC leadership.

    “Consequently, we call on the Ijaw nation and the general public to disregard the factional leadership which Dr. Tuodolor purportedly handed over to while reiterating our call on Ijaw youths to be peaceful no matter the level of provocation”.

    The crisis in the IYC is just one of the signs that the Ijaw Nation is divided. The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has also been in limbo for some time. No thanks to conflicting interests.

    The INC used to be the only outstanding vociferous organ of the Ijaw. It presented a common and united position of the fourth largest ethnic group on national issues. But not any more. INC is long dead, torn apart by rivalries and conflicts. But Governor Seriake Dickson is making some efforts to resurrect INC. Dickson recently assembled Ijaw leaders in Government House, Yenagoa, to deliberate on issues that had crippled INC.

    Rising from the deliberation, the governor inaugurated a 20-member committee with a mandate to make peace in INC. Dickson observed that all was not well with Ijaw lamenting that conflicts and disagreements had polarized the nation.

    To Dickson, a divided house cannot stand. He said the time had come to fashion out ways to holistically address all the challenges confronting the unity of the nation.

    He said: “A number of things are not right about ourselves, about our zone and also the contradiction in our nation. And in all of these our people? must develop a coherent approach as to how we can resolve these issues and move forward.

    ” Interestingly you all are not new to these challenges. All of you have been saddled in one form or the other and always to protect the Ijaw national interest”.

    While admitting that disagreements were normal in every relationship, Dickson said such healthy rivalries should lead to an acceptable position of strength. But he said the crisis in INC had weakened the body and derailed it from its mission.

    He said: “The INC as a proud organization with so much hope and promise which some of the leaders have laboured so hard to keep in existence. We wonder why drastic steps should not be taking to make it bounce back to national reckoning”.

    Dickson, who gave the elders and leaders a two-week period to come up with a peace document, also issued six terms of reference to them. The governor said he was optimistic that the committee would resolve the crisis.

    “We may be down but by the time the leaders will be through with their work, it will be very clear that we were only down but not out”,  he said.

    In his acceptance speech, the Chairman of the? Ijaw National Reconciliation Committee (INRC) and Amayanabo of Twon Brass, King Alfred Diete-Spiff commended the governor for his timely intervention and assured him that they would work to reconcile all aggrieved parties.

    A former Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Sir, GTG Toby will serve as deputy chairman while Dr. Felix Tuodolo is the secretary of the committee which also has Gen. John Yeri (rtd) and Senator Inatimi? Rufus-Spiff as members.

    Other members are. Gen. Cletus Emein (rtd), Dr. Amba Ambaowei, Prof. Kimse Okoko, Prof. Ayibaemi Spiff, Chief Francis Doukpola, Prof. Nimi Briggs, Prof. Joseph Ajenika, Arch. I.E.I Ette and Mrs Rose Obuoforibo.

    Also on the committee are Dr. Silas Eneyo, Chief Joshua Fumudoh, Wing Comdr. P.Y Biakpara (rtd), ?High Chief Francis J. Williams, Prof. Christopher Dimie and Barr. Felicia Ajagu.

    But some Ijaw leaders have expressed doubts over the ability of the governor to restore peace in INC. They recalled that Dickson’s efforts to resolve the crisis in the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) created more problems among the youths.

    A group under the aegis of the Amalgamated Ijaw Federation Assembly (AIFA), Worldwide, said the newly established committee by Dickson held no hope and future for the Ijaw nation. The Leader AIFA, Izonegbere Wycliffe, said they had no confidence in the committee.

    He said: “There is nothing to celebrate in Governor Dickson setting up a committee to resolve the conflict in the Ijaw National Congress (INC). We do not have the confidence that the committee set up by Gov. Dickson would reconcile aggrieved parties and return peace to the INC considering the way and manner the earlier committee set up by Gov. Dickson on the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) went about its work.

    “It is on record that the Chief Joshua Fumudoh committee on the IYC crisis did a very bad job which has left the IYC further polarized. The Fumudoh committee woefully failed because the committee’s work was politicized at the expense of the peace and unity of the Ijaw nation.

    “Instead of the Fumudoh Committee on the IYC to reconcile Ijaw youths, Bayelsa politics, party affiliations and fake rumors were the factors that influenced the Committee’s report.

    “Therefore, we of the Amalgamated Ijaw Federation Assembly Worldwide are of the view that just like the Dickson/ Fumudoh IYC Committee, nothing positive would come out of the Governor Dickson’s committee on the INC because Bayelsa politics and rumour mongering would decide the outcome of the committee’s work.

    “Until Governor Dickson right the injustice of the Fumudoh’s committee on IYC and rise above politics, we would neither support nor have confidence in whatever he is doing in the name of Ijaw national interest.

    “As far as we are concern, the Ijaw national platforms have suffered retrogression and crisis under Gov. Dickson more than any other Bayelsa State Governor despite the fact that Dickson is a product of the Ijaw struggle”.

    Wycliffe further said that some of the Ijaw elders, who bungled the IYC peace committee were also members of the new INC peace committee.

    He said: “How can such persons’ who are part of the disunity in the Ijaw nation resolve or return peace to the INC and the Ijaw nation?

    “We want to state categorically that if Dickson is truly sincere and has the Ijaw Nation at heart he would have consulted the Chairman of the Ijaw Elders Forum (IEF), Chief Bukazi Etete to incorporate the forum to this committee to make it easier because they have gone very far to reconcile the various interests groups in INC.

    “If the governor has so much money to throw around, such money should be used for other purposes like paying workers salaries. The committee you set up is of no of use whatsoever and is null and void”.

  • INC condemns attack on Briggs

    The Ijaw National Congress, (INC), Eastern Zone, has condemned the harassment of a rights activist, Ms. Ann-Kio Briggs, who led a peaceful rally in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, condemning the allocation of land to herdsmen for grazing.

    Briggs was allegedly assaulted by hoodlums and lost her phones and other belongings to the thugs.

    The activist  blamed Governor Seriake Dickson for the attack and urged him to tell “his boys to return my phone”.

    The INC leadership, led by the caretaker chairman of the zone, Ken Robinson, visited Briggs yesterday.

    The group described the attack as barbaric and urged the government to “immediately identify the culprits and bring all of them to justice”.

    “Bayelsa is the Jerusalem of all Ijaw people and the governor must protect the interest of the Ijaw people and not to attack them.”

    Robinson called on the  government to pay Briggs’  medical bills.

    INC encouraged the activist, who is the spokesperson of the Ijaw Republican Assembly (IRA), not to be deterred or intimidated.

    “Let this action not deter you from the good works that you are doing for your people and country. Ijaw land belongs to all of us. Please, continue in that good work.”

  • INC opposes military force against militancy

    INC opposes military force against militancy

    The Ijaw National Congress (INC) yesterday disagreed with the Federal Government on the use of force against restive youths in Niger Delta.

    The Ijaw nation’s socio-cultural organisation said those advocating the adoption of Boko Haram approach against Niger Delta militants should know that the demand for justice was not an act of terrorism.

    INC President Boma Obuoforibo, who led other executive members of the group at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, said Niger Delta youths were asking for equity, fairness and justice.

    The Ijaw leader noted that such agitation could not be equated with terrorism.

    Obuoforibo said it was imperative for people to think of dialogue, which will stimulate peace and national development, instead of the use of force.

    The INC president urged President Muhammadu Buhari to disregard calls for military campaign against Niger Delta youths, adding that peaceful discourse remains the best option to resolve the region’s crisis.

    He said adoption of Boko Haram approach against restive youths would aggravate the crisis, adding that the Federal Government should demilitarise the region and withdraw its troops from the communities.

  • Insurgency is counterproductive to Niger Delta’s economy, says inc

    The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has described the ongoing wave of insurgency and its resultant effect on the nation’s economy as counterproductive to the Ijaw nation, condemning the destruction of national assets by insurgents.

    The apex Ijaw socio-cultural organisation expressed the resolve in a position paper, signed by the National President of the body, Barr. Boma Obofuoribo.

    While reiterating its support for the federal government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, it urged government to go about managing the escalating situation with restraint, noting that only dialogue and negotiating could yield the best results.

    While calling on those behind the insurgency to call their activities off with immediate effect, the INC called the federal government to start taking steps that will positively impact on the people of region.

    “The Ijaw ethnic nationality pledges its support to the federal government of Nigeria, led by President Muhammadu Buhari. This support has been made in various fora. We are non-partisan and apolitical and we will support any popularly elected government.

    “”We condemn the present resurgence of bombings of pipelines and oil installations in the Niger Delta as this ultimately, is counterproductive to the Niger Delta and the Nigerian state.

    “We appeal to the federal government to show restraint in its pronouncement and actions to crush the Niger Delta militants. We believe that this will not bring any lasting solution to this complex problem. The options of dialogue and negotiating are worthwhile and therefore, should be pursued.

    “While we urge the perpetrators to immediately stop these unwholesome actions, we appeal to the federal government to restructure the amnesty programme for better impact on the people and the community to assuage the plight of the people of the region and remove, from focus, some of the issues that have been responsible for these behaviours.

    “We appeal to the federal government to urgently enter into dialogue with stakeholders in the region in a bid to safeguard the interest of the nation”, it said.

     

  • INC cancels Ijaw Day

    INC cancels Ijaw Day

    The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has postponed its annual Ijaw Day celebration.

    The ceremony was to hold on February 23.

    The postponement is in honour of the 11 women politicians from Bayelsa State and loyalists of First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who died in  multiple motor accidents near Ahoada on the East-West Road on Valentine’s Day.

    INC’s President Boma Obuoforibo spoke yesterday when he led members of the congress, President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Mr. Udens Eradiri, and leaders of other ethnic nationalities on a condolence visit to Governor Seriake Dickson at the Government House in Yenagoa.

    Obuoforibo described the death of the women as a big loss to the state.

    He urged the Ijaw to accord the deceased a special recognition.

  • Ogbomoso Ajilete for Christ crusade begins

    THE yearly Greater Ogbomoso Ajilete for Christ Gospel Celebration is to hold from December 7 – 12.

    It is hosted by Covenant of Peace Evangelistic Association (INC) in conjunction with churches in Ogbomoso and its environs.

    A statement by Pastor Mark Debo Taiwo on behalf of the hosts, Evangelist and Mrs. Job Alabi, said the event would hold at Ijeru Baptist Primary Day School, Caretaker Area, Ogbomoso by 5pm daily.

    The host, Evangelist Job Alabi, is the main speaker. Other guest ministers are Bishop Ponle Alabi, Rev. Segun Babalola, Rev. Obaloluwa Osuolale, Rev. Oyekola Babalola and Evang. Doyin Olayiwola.

     

  • Court stops Ijaw elders from cancelling IYC election

    The State High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has issued an order stopping the Ijaw National Congress (INC), the umbrella body of Ijaw elders, from cancelling the elections of its youth body, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC).

    The court presided over by Justice Rapheal Ajuwa said INC should stay action on its intention to cancel the election in which Mr. Udens Eradiri, was declared the President of IYC.

    Eradiri, the claimant, had approached the court seeking an exparte order restraining INC from cancelling the poll in which he had been inaugurated as the president.

    The order specifically restrained principal officials of INC including its President, Chief T.J Sekibo, from setting aside the results of the election.

    The Vice-President and National Secretary INC, Charles Ambaiowei and Theodore Ezonfade, were joined as defendants.

    The court ordered that the election “should not be cancelled by the defendants or their agents, cronies, pending the determination of the motion for interlocutory injunction.”