Olalekan Adetayo and Bayo Akinloye
Despite the Federal Government’s
decision to de-escalate (reduce) military operations in the Niger Delta
communities, military personnel will still remain on the region’s
waterways.
This was one of the decisions reached at
a meeting Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had with the nation’s service
chiefs and governors of oil-producing states on Tuesday at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting was called to discuss the
renewed attacks and destruction of oil facilities by militants in the
Niger Delta, which had crippled crude oil production and power supply.
Governors, who attended the meeting, are
Nyesom Wike (Rivers); Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta); Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom);
Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia); Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa); Adams Oshiomhole
(Edo); and Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo).
Cross River State was represented by the
deputy governor while the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr.
Ibe Kachikwu; the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usoro Uguru; and the
Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, also attended.
At the end of the meeting, Okowa addressed State House correspondents.
The governor said while the military would reduce its presence in communities, the waterways would be properly manned.
He said the process of consultation with the people of the area would start immediately.
“We have also agreed that there is a
need to distil military operations directly in communities, but the
military needs to actually remain on our waterways to ensure that we
adequately man the waterways itself, while we engage the communities and
that engagement process is starting any moment from now,” he said.
Describing the meeting as a fruitful
one, Okowa said the forum identified synergy between the Federal
Government and the state governments as very important.
He stated that while the meeting raised a
lot of issues, it was resolved that the collaboration would help to
tackle the issues in the Niger Delta.
The governor added that having been
briefed by the service chiefs as well as contributions of the governors
and Kachikwu, decisions that would mitigate the situation in the areas,
particularly Bayelsa and Delta states, were taken.
Okowa, who believed that a lasting solution would be found, said the Presidential Amnesty Programme had not been stopped.
“I think the process is still ongoing, we have a Special Adviser in charge of Amnesty and he is doing very well.
“I am aware that he did come to talk
with some of the communities and along with the advocacy team that was
set up in Delta State. He did brief us today and I believe it is going
to be maintained,” he said.
Oshiomhole later told reporters that despite the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers, Nigeria was not at war.
“Nigeria is not at war and we cannot be
at war with ourselves. If we have conflicts, we will talk through those
conflicts. There are laws that have to be enforced.
“I think that in all of these, the whole
idea is to find peace that is functional, that creates environment for
very decent Nigerians to live their lives,” he said.
The governor said all of them at the
meeting agreed that they should work together to refocus on development,
economic, military and community issues.
He also said the amnesty programme was still ongoing.
He said, “I believe the government
recognises that the amnesty programme has to be sustained but also we
can improve on it because we have trained people.
“People have been sent for training and they have come back and they should be able to apply those skills.”
Meanwhile, the United States Government has expressed worries over the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta.
The US, however, expressed support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in resolving the crisis in the region.
“The United States Mission to Nigeria is
monitoring reports of attacks and other incidents in the Niger Delta.
We share the concerns of all Nigerians about these attacks.
“Furthermore, the United States remains
supportive of efforts, including the promotion of dialogue, to address
grievances in the Niger Delta,” it said in a statement on Tuesday by its
embassy in Nigeria.
It urged the Federal Government and
Niger Delta militants to resolve their disputes through peaceful means,
adding that human rights of all Nigerians must be protected.”
Also, a former Director at the Defence
Headquarters, Brig.-Gen. Ayodele Ojo (retd.), has called on the Federal
Government to consider the underlying factors responsible for the
resurgence of violence in the Niger Delta.
“For an appropriate response by the
Federal Government to the activities of the Joint Niger Delta Force and
the Niger Delta Avengers and any other militant groups that might come
up, since there seems to be no end to the formation of militant groups
in Niger Delta, there is a need for the government to look deeper for
the real reason behind this current agitations,” the former DHQ director
said.
He told one of our correspondents that
Buhari should look in the direction of the country’s major opposition
party, the Peoples Democratic Party, for a solution to the crisis.
Ojo added, “It seems to me that as part
of the PDP strategy to frustrate the All Progressives Congress
government after losing at the centre was to ensure that none of the
oil-producing states is won by the APC. It was therefore not a
coincidence that PDP won all the oil-producing states governorship
elections except Edo State.
“Following from this analysis, my
suggestion to the Federal Government is to hold the state governors in
that region responsible for militant activities in their domains. There
is no way a state governor, who is the chief security officer of his
state, will claim not to know those behind the formation of these
militant groups when they are not ghosts.”
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