The Nation Newspaper

Tag: militancy

  • Resurgent Niger Delta militancy?

    This is an unwelcome development and must be nipped in the bud

    Just as Nigerians are beginning to heave a sigh of relief at the obvious substantial downgrading of the protracted Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, the effective crippling of the destructive efficacy of the insurgents and the imminence of a return to normalcy in the area, a combustible scenario is developing in the Niger Delta region. An emergent shadowy group that calls itself Niger Delta Avengers has launched a violent campaign of vandalising pipelines and blowing up critical oil facilities in parts of the oil-rich region. So far, the Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for the destruction of oil facilities in Warri, Delta State. These include a Royal Dutch Shell production facility, Eja OML 79, a Chevron Valve Platform in Abiteye, Warri North Local Government Area as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) crude and gas lines in the state.

    These attacks have had a debilitating impact on the country’s petroleum industry at a time of grim economic hardship, arising from the sharp fall in international crude oil prices and a marked decline in petroleum revenues. Production has been halted in the affected facilities, reducing the country’s daily export capacity while nervous oil firms are evacuating their staff for fear of future attacks. The purported spokesman of the group has reportedly said that the Niger Delta Avengers “shall continue blowing up pipelines until the Niger Delta people are no longer marginalised by the Nigerian actors”.

    It is difficult to find any rhyme, reason or logic to this kind of nebulous and vacuous statement. This must be just a gang of intellectually puerile bandits who are not motivated by any ennobling cause.

    Niger Delta armed militancy began during the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo presidency and intensified under the late President Umaru Yar‘Adua. The militants kidnapped oil workers for ransom and attacked oil facilities in protest against the marginalisation of the region, the extensive destruction of the environment by oil firms, without compensation, and the abysmal poverty of the people.

    At that time, the militants enjoyed the support of the people of the Niger Delta as well as the sympathy of people outside the region who did not support the violence of the militants but recognised the justice of their cause. The Niger Delta insurgency was brought to an end through the Amnesty initiative of the Yar’Adua administration, which saw the militants giving up their arms in exchange for financial compensation. Some of the benefits of the struggle included the 13 percent derivation revenue enjoyed by oil-producing states, the creation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of Niger Delta to accelerate development in the area as well as the Presidential Amnesty Programme, which provided entrepreneurial training and empowerment as well as academic scholarships for thousands of ex-militants in the region.

    If the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers signal the resurgence of militancy in the region, the development is a severe indictment of the preceding President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. An Ijaw man from the Niger Delta, Jonathan had ample opportunity to utilise the immense powers of his office to actualise genuine fiscal federalism that would have tremendously benefitted the Niger Delta, where the petroleum resources that constitute the mainstay of the economy are derived. Unfortunately, he chose to empower and pamper a few ex-militants, who became multi-millionaires and are still a law unto themselves even today.

    Equally culpable are the political elites across the region that did not maximally utilise the resources at their disposal to promote development and alleviate the poverty of the people. The numbing poverty that pervades the Niger Delta stands in sharp contrast to the obscene opulence of a minority who have had access to public offices and resources.

    Neither the federal nor the Niger Delta state governments have been able to exhibit the requisite moral authority or political will to compel the international oil firms to live up to their responsibilities to the communities from which they make so much wealth with devastating environmental and health consequences. These companies operate here in ways they would never dare contemplate in their home countries.

    While there is still much more to be done to reverse and compensate for decades of degradation and exploitation in the Niger Delta, resurgent militancy at this time can only worsen the plight of the region and erode the modest gains of the recent past. We thus commend such groups as the Ijaw Youth Council, Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative as well as the Foundation for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption, which have urged all aggrieved Niger Delta groups to shun violence and pursue their objectives within the ambit of the law.

    The reiteration by the military high command of its determination to vigorously defend oil facilities and deal decisively with criminals is in order. But this must be done in accordance with stipulated rules of engagement and scrupulous care not to endanger innocent lives.

  • Senate condemns fresh militancy in Niger Delta

    Senate condemns fresh militancy in Niger Delta

    The Senate Thursday condemned the blowing up of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta area by suspected militants.

    The upper chamber asked the Federal Government to take necessary measures to safe guard the pipelines in the interest of the country.

    Chairmen of four committees of the Senate including committees on gas, petroleum (downstream and upstream) and media and public affairs stated this at a press briefing in Abuja.

    Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who read the position paper of the committee, said that the activities of the vandals who blew up the pipelines should be condemned in their entirety.

    Alasoadura described as most unpatriotic the action of the vandals who decided to blow up pipelines especially at this time of national emergency when the dwindling price of oil and the insurgency in the northeast of Nigeria is confronting the country.

    He said, “It is very disheartening that at a time when all hands should be on deck to revive the economy and ensure the survival of the country, some people could decide at this point in time in the history of the nation to further sabotage the efforts of the present administration to bring some sanity into our country.

    “It is therefore apt for the Senate to condemn strongly and make an ambiguous statement about this dastardly act that portends to send the hands of the clock backwards.”

    He noted that “this sabotage has led to the shutting down of two refineries that had just started working few months ago.

    The militants, he said should give respite to Nigerians “so that we can see some governance.”

    He added, “It is not good enough for an administration to be fighting one war there and they are waging another there, when will he have time to govern? So please help us appeal to them so that Nigeria can move forward.”

    He appealed to the militants to stop “this mindless act by giving Nigerians necessary respite to allow this present administration to stem the tide of poverty and want ravaging our people.”

    Chairman Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Albert Bassey Akpan noted that the explosion affected major gas pipelines in the country.

    Akpan said that the committee on Gas had invited the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) who explained that the country will lose over 200 million score of cubic feet of gas on a daily basis with low supply of electricity.

    He said, “This is the gas terminal that supplies Egbin and most of the NIPP along the South Western region of this country.

    “In a period where we are grappling with the challenges of domestic gas supply, we believe very strongly that the act of vandalism should be condemned.”

    Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (downstream) Senator Barau Jibrin, said that members of the committee are highly worried about the development especially when two refineries that recently came on stream had to be shut down.

    Jibrin said that Nigerians should appeal to those behind the act of sabotage to stop their unpatriotic act in the interest and well being of country.

    He commended the assurance of the NNPC to restore normalcy as soon as possible.

  • How society, govt caused militancy, by Amaechi

    How society, govt caused militancy, by Amaechi

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, during the inauguration of Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital 2014, spoke with reporters on his administration’s commitment to education  and other issues. BISI OLANIYI was there. 

    Is it true that the Rivers State government is indebted?

    Why have you not seen the name of Rivers State among the states that owe banks in the country? I was talking to one of my friends who works in a bank and I said please, I need you people to approve our N100 billion bond, because we have borrowed a total of N280 billion and we have repaid down to N80 billion and will finish the payment by June this year. Then, we will be free from debts, but I still need N100 billion bond to complete our ongoing projects.

    Are you not surprised that if you borrow N200 or N300 billion, you should be on the list of indebted states? The reason why we are not is because once the money comes, we say take the one we owe you and put the rest on projects. At times, in Government House (Port Harcourt), there will not be food to eat. If we are so indebted, why are banks chasing us around? We want to give you money, despite all the noise the opposition is making. It is because they see the way we pay.

    We receive about N8 billion from Internally-Generated revenue (IGR). We pay all to the banks. The reason why we receive N8 billion is because we blocked all the holes where people receive money and share among themselves in government.

    In fact, if we had met government the way it was before the militancy, we should be making at least N11 billion. The reason why it is ordinary N8 billion is because so many people had left Rivers state. If they had come back, we should be doing N11 to N13 billion. No money for the governor. Do not give money to any big man. Let us use it to work.

    Even if we take the N100 billion bond and decide to use our IGR, in one year, we have paid you the N100 billion, because in one year, N8 billion will give you N96 billion. So, you are left with N4 billion. When they say I will leave the state heavily indebted, it means somebody is not observing what is going on. They should call for our books.

    Will you return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which you left in 2013 for the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), because the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, your former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and the Director-General of Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011, said at Omoku in Rivers State that you were begging to come back to the PDP?

    No, I am not returning to the PDP. That man (Wike), they should check him whether he is okay. I have finished with the PDP. I have told them. I made a promise that if they return the Kalabari oil wells, we will see how it goes, but until that happens.

    Beyond the oil wells, I have told them, they have approached me, if they want, I will call the names of those that approached me, but that is not an issue. There are issues that are fundamentally different between me, the PDP and the APC. If I am a progressive, It must be seen in the type of life I live, in what I do, how I relate with people and the type of governance. We introduced popular free education, gave laptops to children to take home. There so many things we are doing that are contrary to the ideologies of the PDP, but they are wonderful men and women.

    Are you begging to return to the PDP, as alleged by the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike?

    I said people should ignore him (Wike). Are you sure that if I tell the PDP’s leaders that I am coming back in ten days, they will not send a dance party here? One problem with leadership in Nigeria is that when you are a President, a governor or a minister; what you say must be factual. You cannot be part of gossip.

    So, that young man (Wike), who claims to be the Minister of State for Education, who does not know what it means to be a minister, is saying I am begging to come back to the PDP. What is PDP? I beg you, please do not ever ask me question about that young man (Wike), because I will not answer you.

    Port Harcourt is the World Book Capital between April 23, 2014 and April 22, 2015. How has it been?

    Most times, when they congratulate my friend and sister, Koko Kalango (Project Director of Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014), I say to myself, she is doing well, but they should not forget that the Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014 is a Rivers state government project.

    I like the fact that she is also showing prominently, because at the end, when we leave office, she will be able to stand on her own and start up with the relationship she has built with the Rivers state government.

    I ran into Koko Kalango by accident. She asked me to come and read to the children. She was doing her book reading programme. She invited the former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and wanted me to read to the children, which I did.

    I said to her, I wanted you to do one assignment for me: to organise an annual literary festival, to be sponsored by the Rivers state government.

    I reminded my good friend (Kalango) some weeks ago that she got so frustrated that one time, she came to me and said: “I do not want to continue anymore, I want to stop,” and I said no, you cannot just abandon it like that. I told her to do that for me for two or three years. So that we can establish a structure for the literary festival, that will be independent of government.

    Within the one year, we made success. An indication that God wanted to bless her and a lot of things happened. First is that it has moved from the Garden City Literary Festival to Port Harcourt Book Festival. It has also moved on for us to contemplate establishing a book centre, worth N3.5 billion, not owned by the government, but by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), called the Garden City Literary Association.

    The NGO has got land, close to the Golf Course in Port Harcourt and has commenced the construction of the library. I hope other constructions will also commence. That is the first transformation.

    The second transformation is somewhere along line, she (Kalango) brought the idea of competing for the World Book Capital and I said that will not be a bad idea. So, we funded her to compete and we won the nomination. It was wonderful that she did that.

    When she came to me and said we won, I asked her what the World Book Capital is all about and she explained that it is like the Kane Festival by film makers and that is what it is to book readers. She said we should take charge and begin to prepare for 2014.

    Since then, we have gone to several book fairs. I was at the London Book Fair, but I was not able to go to the Frankfurt Book Fair. So, we are trying to create our own book fair, where our writers will write more and the printers will print more.

    What are your administration’s plans for the Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014?

    The Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014 will end on April 22, 2015 and we will hand over to South Korea. We budgeted nearly N4 billion for the Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014, which commenced on April 23, 2014.

    We are building libraries, but I call them reading rooms, in the city of Port Harcourt. They are about seven and we are having 23 in all the local government areas. We will equip and furnish the libraries. The book centre we are building, privately, it does not belong to the Rivers state government, it belongs to an NGO, because Shell (the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited) and others are funding it.

    What benefit will the Rivers State Government derive from having Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital 2014?

    It is about perception. We have been able to put structures on the ground and make books available for people to read. Which means, we will spend more money in the area of education, but what will the state benefit from the global level? How we are able to position ourselves and how much we are able to tell people we have changed and we are no longer the city you used to know about criminality and all that, but now a state that is focusing on academics, books and technology and all that?

    At the local level, we must let people know that we are building seven libraries. I call them reading rooms. Why I call them reading rooms is because I have seen them in the United Kingdom. They are big enough to be libraries, they have the books you are looking for, as it is in the libraries and they have tables and chairs and other facilities. Those ones we will try to establish before we go.

    So, we will not have to go to Bernard Carr (in Port Harcourt) to read. You know we actually have a library near D-Line (also in Port Harcourt), which the Federal Government took over and it is abandoned. The Rivers state government tried to take it over one time and we were blackmailed. So, we left it again for them. When Shell (SPDC) completes the private library it is building for the NGO, I do not think anyone will complain about the standard of the library and the reading rooms we will have scattered all over the place.

    Will it be right to state that your administration’s efforts in education is responsible for nominating Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital 2014?

    I suspect it is one of the reasons they awarded us that. They looked at the level of achievements in the area of education. We have done quite a lot in the area of education. Even in the area of power.

    We have about four power stations. First of all, that of the Federal Government has gone comatose. We have not been able to carry out maintenance work for some time now and everybody is harassing me to bring money for the maintenance of our generating capacity.

    Basically, I will go and look for money for them next week. We sold, but people have not yet taken possession. Once we sign the agreement, our hands are off. You generate your own power. Most people forget that there are other areas and what everybody is saying is education.

    We have completed seven of the model secondary schools, but why we have not opened the doors for the public is because we need at least N800 million per school. We need to pay school fees for all the children and buy every other thing. Remember, we said, bring your child naked. We clothe them and feed them for nine months in a year; send them back for three months on vacation.

    We want to begin the construction of the university (new Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) at the Greater Port Harcourt City), because we want to pursue primary, secondary and tertiary education. It is worrisome when you produce wonderful children that use computer in the primary schools and you see them to secondary schools that do not use computer. What do we do?

    The seven model secondary schools completed so far cannot take all the children that will graduate from the primary schools. They cannot. So, we need to do something. We are trying to renovate the old secondary schools and even when we finish renovating them, we need to equip them with ICT and all that, so that they can transfer that knowledge that they have. If we do not do those things in the secondary education, it means that the children will lose all they learnt in the primary education. How many universities in Nigeria are ICT compliant?

    So, if they go to one local university that does not have all these things, then they may also lose the knowledge they have acquired in the primary and secondary education. That is why we are building a new university, to make sure we do not lose what we have learnt in the primary and secondary schools.

    We need to establish a standard first and that was why we appointed Prof. Otonti Nduka as the Chairman of our Quality Assurance Department. We want to first and foremost establish the standard we are looking for. Then, we will get others to comply with our standard.

    How do you ensure that high quality and experienced teachers are recruited in your schools to maintain standard, considering the fact that some of the newly-recruited teachers are poorly trained, without studying education?

    No, I do not think that you are completely right. We did training for the people who were employed as teachers. I will find out from the Commissioner for Education (in Rivers State), because they need to put an instruction that all of them must obtain minimum of NCE.

    If you have a Bachelor of Arts in Literature, you will not know how to teach Literature. What we are saying is that you have to have a Bachelor of Arts in Education Literature. We did not get enough. We got a large number of qualified teachers, who had gone to either College of Education or University of Education. Those without such qualifications, the way to go about it is that within their six months of employment, they should get an NCE or a Diploma in Education, just to get the basic rudimentary knowledge of education. Then, they can teach.

    What are your expectations of the new writers, considering the fact that most of them are detached from their environment or reality?

    Most of you look at Literature in the manner Shakespeare wrote Literature, which he described as dancing with flowers, when your house is burning with hunger. From what you are saying, I do not think Prof. Wole Soyinka belong to that school. If you look at the way he creates his words, you will think he belongs to the people that believe in the literariness of Literature.

    Literature has to do with the way you arrange your words, arrange your sentences and the manipulation of words and comparison to people like Chinua Achebe, who just wanted to tell the story or comparison to people like Ngugi Wa Thong O, who does not just want to tell the story, but to tell the story from a particular perspective, to change the world positively.

    I have no expectation from the new writers that are emerging, but to create employment and reduce poverty ravaging the country. We are in a country where you and I will be here one day, trying to eat food, but you see people rushing, not to eat the food, but to eat you and I.

    If you do not want them to eat you and I, then we must start now, to utilise the available resources available to the state, to empower people, create opportunities for Nigerians, who live here, not only Rivers people.

    If you listened to the first argument I had with the elders, I said I had nothing against the Protestants, the born-again churches. I support them. Even though people criticise them for the material tendencies that emanate from their preaching, but you must realise that they are also avenues for employment.

    Do you know how many pastors that they have recruited that are now employed? There are those who were not called, but called themselves to the service of God, but they create employment. You see, as they open one branch to another, they create employment for people, by appointing people to head the branches.

    What are your administration’s plans to sustain the achievements recorded in the education sector and do more before the expiration of your tenure on May 29, 2015?

    You cannot plan education without first and foremost knowing what it will cost you to do so. Take the primary education for instance, we had a budget, even the secondary education.  We had a budget of N166 billion for the 24 model secondary schools. Then, it was N4.1 billion. Now, it is N4.5 billion.

    I have forgotten what was the cost of the 750 model primary schools we intended to build. We did not envisage the kind of economic hardship we found ourselves in. We did not envisage that we will have large appetite for projects. I realised that people were urging me to stop and stop. We were strategic. We knew that there will be so many problems to address.

    Take Diobu (in Port Harcourt) for instance; when you go to D-Line (also in Port Harcourt), you will see the wonderful projects that we are doing (roads). We are extending that to Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt. The Diobu people are saying we have to come and do something in Diobu. When I saw the bill, it was huge.

    We have an economic and business plan, but it was linked to socialist realities and the socialist realities were informed by the security crises that we had. I met children who told me they were arrested, their siblings were withdrawn from school and two days after, they were driven away from the houses they were staying. Then, I saw my friends with their Range Rovers, my age-mates, about 18, 19 years, driving around town with girls and I asked them, how did you get this money to buy these cars? They said come and be initiated and I got initiated and I started shooting gun. The society and government are 80 per cent responsible for the so-called Niger Delta militancy, which I referred to as crime.
    I realised that there are social elements that need to be addressed, to enable parents ease the burden of life and one of it is education. So, we said we will bear the burden through free education and free healthcare.
    In some states, when they say free education, they just pay teachers’ salaries and that is all, but we decided to approach the schools and pay all the fees, so that the children could go to school.

  • Exported militancy

    Exported militancy

    THE saying, “You can take the pig out of the mud, but you can’t take the mud out of a pig,” was dramatically concretised by six former Niger Delta militants who lost their Federal Government scholarships for allegedly masterminding a protest at the Nigerian Embassy in Moscow.  The Presidential Amnesty Office announced their withdrawal from the Peoples University in Russia where they were students, with 18 other ex-agitators under a special scholarship scheme for Niger Delta youths. The rebellious six were reportedly implicated in connection with the arrest of 16 Nigerian students by the Russian authorities, following a demonstration over alleged non-payment of outstanding allowances for six months, among other grievances.

    The Nigerian Ambassador to Russia, Ekanem Assam, who said he was in Nigeria when the incident happened,  accused the students of destroying furniture, cars, computers, television sets, communications system and a 17th century artefact donated to the embassy by the Federal Ministry of Culture. Assam stated that the deputy defence attaché was beaten up by the protesters who made demands, including an increase in their housing allowance from $200 (N32, 400) to $1,600 (N259, 000) a month and immediate payment of their monthly stipend. According to him, “Each person is claiming about $7,800 (N1.26 million) and they wanted it paid before they leave the embassy.’’

    It is not clear what sanctions their collaborators, whose identities were undisclosed, would face; but an official statement justifying their withdrawal  said, “For going on the rampage and violently attacking the Nigerian Mission, the students breached the code of conduct for delegates on scholarship, which they all signed before their departure from Nigeria.”

    Curiously, the official repudiation stressed that, contrary to their claim, the affected students were “not being owed their in-training allowance (ITA) for six months”, but conceded that “the only unremitted allowance was for September (2013).”  Arrangements for payment of ITA for September and October were said to be on course, with the information communicated to the students, at the time they attacked the mission.

    The discrepancy in the claims regarding the period of default provided no illumination. However, the students’ resort to self-help was extreme and, in the end, unhelpful. Their action, informed by poor judgment, gave absolutely no credit to their scholastic status. It is shameful that not only did they organise a protest, they also exhibited incredible crudity by employing physical violence, prompting the intervention of the Russian authorities. If indeed they had reasonable grounds for complaint, they spoiled their case by the display of primitive instinct.

    Apart from the disappointment that the six in particular did not allow the expected mediation of reason based on their exposure to higher learning, it is baffling that they showed a lack of appreciation of the opportunity to be better. It is a fact that there are very many of their compatriots back home who desperately desire university education but are hampered by a variety of factors; yet they blew their chance, not only to get such training, but also to have it abroad at government expense.

    Unfortunately, their indiscipline does disservice to the government’s amnesty programme, especially its overseas scholarship content which, incidentally, has been criticised in some quarters as wasteful and wrong-headed. This incident again raised worrying posers about the scheme, as well as its handling by government.

    Certainly, the episode represented yet another dent on the country’s image. However, it is not enough to focus solely on the reprehensible conduct of the protesters, who should have been conscious of the fact that they were unofficial ambassadors, and guided by patriotism. Hopefully, the programme’s managers would have been jolted out of any complacency, for the incident apparently points to possible lapses that need to be addressed urgently.

  • Bayelsa: Supremacy battle, illegal bunkering as fuel for militancy

    Bayelsa: Supremacy battle, illegal bunkering as fuel for militancy

    Barely three weeks after yet-to-be-identified gunmen ambushed and killed 11 policemen in the creeks of Southern Ijaw council area of Bayelsa State, five youths were ambushed and gunned down in Lobia. The incidents have led to fear that President Jonathan’s home state may have become the hotbed of violence and militancy in the Niger Delta. Shola O’Neil reports

     

     

    Visitors to Yenagoa, the capital of President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state – Bayelsa – are greeted by billboards of various hues, sizes and designs urging readers to beware of and shun rumour-mongering. Not satisfied with just paying lip service to the ‘deadly sin’, Governor, Seriake Dickson sent a bill to the State Assembly making rumour-mongering a crime punishable with various forms of penalties.

    However, recent events in the state have shown that violence and resurgence of bloody violence, and not rumour-mongering, are the gravest challenges facing the state. The raging aggression in President Jonathan’s home state, as the clock races towards 2015 presidential election, may enact feelings of déjà vu.

    The insecurity in Southern Ijaw and Nembe Local Government areas are not dissimilar to the violence that led to the bombing of President Jonathan’s Otuoke home in 2007 shortly before the election that brought him in as Vice President then.

    Growing insecurity

    On Saturday, April 6, armed gunmen ambushed a police convoy in Azuzuama, Southern Ijaw LGA of the state, killing at least 11 policemen. Among those killed in the attack were two inspectors, four non-commissioned officers and five constables.

    The incident, which generated widespread condemnation and comments, merely highlighted the state of security in the riverside communities of the state.

    Increasing discontent within the rank and file of former militant leaders and their foot soldiers as well as disenchantment with the management of the amnesty programme, fulfilment of pre-amnesty promises and several other factors are gathering storm and threatening the peace and security of the homogenous Ijaw state and others in the delta.

    Ironically, the policemen were killed while detailed to provide security during a ceremony hosted by a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Mr. Kile Torughedi, known by the moniker ‘Young Shall Grow’. Torughedi was leader of the western wing of MEND.

    The hunters became the haunted when the policemen were ambushed by gunmen near the now infamous Azuzuama community by the gang, who opened fire on them and killed 11 on the spot. A member of the convoy, said to be an Izon (Ijaw) man from the state, jumped into the murky creeks amidst rain of bullets. He was lucky to make it alive, but at a price of up to N1 million ransom.

    “He resurfaced after a long time, unknown to him that the gunmen were waiting for him. They took him in their boat and drove to their camp where he was kept before a ransom was paid to secure his release,” a source, who claimed to be in the know of negotiation, told our reporter.

    The incident unleashed a flurry of activities, claims and counterclaims. It was also auspicious for a faction of the MEND, which had threatened to unleash mayhem in the wake of sentencing of Henry Okah for terrorism in Johannesburg, South Africa. The group quickly claimed responsibility.

    Hours later, it became clear that the Okah-MEND was merely trying to benefit from an unconnected incident. The police fingered disgruntled members of Torughedi’s militant clan. The revelation was no cheery news for security agencies that are battling criminals and militants on several fronts in the region.

    A pensive Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Kingsley Omire, in his reaction, ruled out the involvement of MEND. He said the policemen were only “soft target” for their attackers, adding that they were among 50 men he deployed to Azuzuama to provide security for the burial of the ex-militant’s father. The police chief, however, didn’t explain why such heavy deployment would be made just to secure a former warlord.

    The incidents also fuelled speculations that the policemen were on illegal duty in the creeks, with illegal bunkering activities top on the list of their possible mission. The nature of their deaths also fuelled the rumour. Those who saw their remains said they were charred and riddled with bullets. The corpses were so bad that journalists were not allowed to see them when they arrived at the waterside. However, Omire waved off the allegation.

    Illegal bunkering gangs embedded with some of the so-called repentant militants and security operatives in the area have all but crippled crude oil production from several facilities in the area. Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) were forced to declare force majeur, owing to the activities of the militants. Shell twice within weeks invoked the clause to spare it from contractual obligation to its crude buyers.

    The indiscriminate attack on oil facilities, spike in cases of illegal bunkering and illegal crude distilleries in the state heightened criticism of the multibillion pipeline surveillance contract awarded to ex-militant leaders in the state. The contract may also be one of the fuels firing discontentment among the ex-warlords.

    Among those who claimed responsibility for the massacre of the policemen was ‘General’ Jasper Adaka Boro, a self-acclaimed former foot soldier of Torughedi. He accused his former boss of embezzling up to N80 million of amnesty funds meant for his ‘boys’. Boro, in a text message sent to journalists, said the killing of the 12 policemen was a warning to Torughedi and others who are short-changing their foot-soldiers in the payment of the monthly amnesty stipends.

    Sharing the spoils

    He said his former boss and other leaders of MEND who benefited from the pipeline surveillance contracts largesse refused to allow the benefits to trickle down to junior cadre members of the gang.

    During the height of the confusion, former warlords in the state, including Victor Ebi Ben (aka Boyloaf) and Paul Eris (aka Ogunboss), among others, quickly went underground and resurfaced with even thicker cordon of security guards around them.

    Reacting to the incidents and claims, Sheriff Mulade, National Coordinator, Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), told our reporter that the breakdown of law and order in at least two of the eight local government areas of Bayelsa State was the clearest pointer to the failures of amnesty deal in the region.

    He said, “It is unfortunate that the President’s home state has become a hot bed for militancy. Something has to be done to curtail the excesses of militant leaders who have today turned against themselves. They may turn against the society again tomorrow. That is why government needs to rise up to the challenge.”

    For Mulade and other keen watchers of the unfolding drama, the power tussle between opponents of former MEND leaders like Young Shall Grow and their counterparts portend danger, not just for Bayelsa, but for the peace and stability of the Niger Delta.

    If the killing of the policemen was terrifying, fresh bloodletting in the creeks has sent chill down the spine of everybody. Last Saturday, no fewer than five youths were shot dead at Lobia in Southern Ijaw LGA, under yet controversial circumstances.

    Among those felled in the Lobia killing was Mr. Judah Benabi Wilson, a sibling of Pastor Wilson, a former militant leader in the area. Although initial reports indicated that the deceased were killed during gang violence, the Clifford-Wilson family of Koluama debunked the claim, stating that their son was killed while on a peace mission. They fingered a government official for his death.

    Joseph Wilson, who signed a statement on behalf of the deceased’s family, described the initial report of gang clash as “twisted and distorted”. He said: “The family wants to state categorically that the late Judah is the only one related to Pastor Reuben Wilson and one of his boys, Esau, an indigene of Lobia community.

    “The security agents should review the reported facts surrounding the Saturday killing at Lobia Community main town. To us, who are not security personnel, it appeared that the murdered youths were set up for ambush.”

    Rumours making the rounds in the creeks support the Wilson family’s claim that there was more to the May 4 killing than gang violence. Our sources in the area said it might not be unconnected with the earlier killing of 11 policemen.

    “We are all Ijaws, we know one another in the area and if anything happens it is easy for us to investigate, even better than the police or army, and get to its roots. So, if it is true that somebody feels aggrieved by that incident and he knows those responsible, it is only a matter of time before those behind it are revealed and dealt with,” our source added.

    However, it was not clear how a sibling of a former militant leader, Pastor Wilson, and his ‘boy’ could be involved in the Azuzuama killings. Wilson, who leads a group of repentant militants in the area, was the first to openly condemn the incident.

    He told our reporter on Friday that he strongly believed that the killer of the 11 policeman were those responsible for the killing of his brother and associate. He said, “They have also hijacked my vessel and barge with six members and are demanding N6million before they would release the boat and barge.”

    He advised the police to go after the people and those responsible for the spate of killings in the state before it spreads to other people.

    But Media Coordinator of the Joint Task Force, Lt. Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, insisted that the incident at Lobia was a fallout of a clash between two armed gangs. He decried the prevailing situation in the region where people defend criminals simply because they are relatives or because they benefit from the crimes.

    He said, “We have our men on ground and the information we got was that it was an armed collision between two gangs. If, as the family claimed, they are not armed gangs, how did they come about the arms and ammunition we recovered from the scene?”

    These are also proponents of conspiracy theory, who believe that the opposition may have infiltrated the ranks of disgruntled ex-militants in the state and are now using them to cause problem to embarrass President Jonathan.

    Whatever is the cause of the prevailing insecurity in President Jonathan’s home turf, it is a cause for concern for all residents of coastal states in the region. Like the CEPEJ chief said, there are palpable fears that the canker worm of violence may spread to neighbouring Delta, Rivers and Edo states and plunge the region back into deeper militancy.