FORMER Niger
Delta militants seem unrepentant on their widely condemned stand that
there will be trouble should President Goodluck Jonathan lose the
February 14 election.
Among those who condemned the former
militants’ stand is one time Defence Minister Lt.-Gen. Theophilus
Danjuma, who said war mongers should be arrested.
But yesterday, former Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) leader Government Ekpemupolo (aka
Tompolo) restated the threat he issued along with other ex-militant
leaders in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The threat, said to have been issued in
the presence of Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and the Special
Adviser to President Jonathan on Niger Delta, Mr Kingsley Kuku, has been
widely condemned.
Tompolo attacked Gen. Danjuma, former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, leader of the All Progressives Congress,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and all perceived enemies of President Jonathan,
who he insisted must win to avert a crisis.
He said: “Gen. Danjuma and his cohorts
should know that I remain resolute on my position in Yenagoa, Bayelsa
State, that President Goodluck Jonathan must win this election for
Nigeria to continue to stay together.”
Besides, Tompolo, in the statement
signed by his Media Adviser, Mr Paul Bebenimibo, in Warri yesterday,
accused the former Army chief of being behind the stoning of President
Goodluck Jonathan in Katsina and Bauchi states.
Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda said
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members were behind the stoning of the
President’s convoy in Bauchi.
Tompolo warned that Nigeria was already
on the brink of disintegration in the wake of the expiration of the
1914 amalgamation treaty, hinting that the defeat of President Jonathan
could be the final nail on the coffin.
Said he: “Gen. Danjuma should be
reminded that the devilish treaty that brought the Southern and Northern
Protectorates together in 1914 expired last year. Danjuma and his
likes, such as Gen. Buhari, Gen. Obasanjo and Mr. Bola Tinubu, should be
grateful to President Jonathan who has been keeping this country
together.
”If not for President Jonathan, Nigeria
would not have been any more. Danjuma and his cohorts should be
reminded of the saying that ‘those who live in glass house should not
throw stones’.
”The call by Gen. T.Y Danjuma (rtd) to
arrest me and other agitators for a better living for the people of the
Niger Delta region is an indication that he is behind terrorism in the
North eastern part of the country as well as the stoning of President
Jonathan’s convoy in Kastina and Bauchi states, because he has never
condemned those acts, even though Boko Haram attacked churches and
mosques in his home town.
”Is Gen. Danjuma not aware of the
peaceful atmosphere when Gen. Buhari visited Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa
(home state of the President) states for campaign? Why is it that
President Jonathan’s convoy was attacked in Kastina and Bauchi states
without any provocation?
“Who is Gen. Danjuma if not for the oil
wealth he is enjoying from the Niger Delta? He should be rather arrested
for being behind terrorism in the North.
“Where was Danjuma when Mallam Ciroma
Adamu threatened to make Nigeria ungovernable, if President Jonathan
defeated the All Progressive Congress Presidential candidate, Gen.
Muhammedu Buhari? Where was this so called statesman when the APC
campaign Director General (DG), Mr. Rotimi Ameachi threatened to form a
parallel government if President Jonathan wins the 2015
elections? Where was this hypocrite when Dr. Junaid Muhammed, Muhammedu
Buhari and Atiku Abubakar all said in separate interviews that the
nation will boil if Jonathan won the election in 2011?
“Is it the interest of Nigeria Gen.
Danjuma is protecting or his oil bloc in the Niger Delta? Is it the
interest of Nigeria Danjuma is protecting or his 50 million dollars
donation to Gen. Buhari for his campaign?
”Let Gen. Danjuma and his cohorts know
that they will not see any Ijaw man, the Igbos and others to fight on
their side if the war that they are planning broke up,” he added.
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), in a
statement circulated by its spokesman, Eric Omare, said the former
defense chief’s call fell short of such expected from a statesman,
expedition viewed against the background of the fact that he failed to
comment while President Jonathan’s campaign train was consistently
attacked in some northern states.
The IYC, which claimed to be in the
meeting in the Bayelsa state’s Government House where the threats were
allegedly issued, also described the reports of threat as misleading as
such was never part of the meeting’s resolutions.
The group however called on security
agencies in the country to ignore the calls from General Danjuma and the
opposition All Progressives’ Congress (APC) for the arrest of the
former militant leaders as they were borne out of misleading reports.
“We are surprised that General Danjuma
swiftly called for the arrest of Tompolo, Asari and other Niger-Deltans,
whereas he has neither condemned nor called for the arrest of those who
have been consistently attacking the convoy of President Jonathan in
the northern part of the country. General Danjuma’s call is not
deserving of an elder statesman who is supposed to be unbiased rather
than his obvious bias against the Niger-Delta people. Only yesterday, in
Gombe State a supporter of President Jonathan who was pasting his
posters was attacked and seriously brutalised. Why has General Danjuma
not condemned this dastardly act if he is really an elder statement?
“There was no time at the meeting the
Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson, with youth leaders and
ex-Niger Delta freedom fighters where it was resolved that Niger Delta
people would destabilise Nigeria, if President Jonathan fails
the February 14, 2015 presidential election. This did not form part of
the resolutions of the meeting, which were read out by Hon. Kingsley
Kuku for Governor Dickson to transmit to Mr. President.
“The meeting was called by the Governor
of Bayelsa State, to solicit support for President Jonathan from
Niger-Delta youths and ex-freedom fighters. However, the meeting frowned
at and its dissatisfaction with the persistent attack on the campaign
convoy of President Jonathan in some northern states when General
Buhari, his main opponent, was protected and campaigned freely in the
south during his campaign tour. Hence, the meeting condemned in the
strongest terms the attack on President Jonathan and resolved that
nobody can intimidate President Jonathan out of the presidential race.
At the meeting, all the youth leaders and ex-Niger Delta freedom
fighters resolved to put their grievances aside and agree to work for
the re-election of President Jonathan.
“Therefore, the report on ex-militants
threatening to destabilise Nigeria in the event of President Jonathan
losing the 2015 election is not part of the resolution of the meeting.
The meeting could not have discussed that as we are confident that
President Jonathan would win the February 14, 2015 presidential
election.
“We, therefore, call on Nigerians and
the security agencies to disregard the call for arrest of Tompolo, Asari
and others, which is based on a misleading report. The accusation
levelled against President Jonathan by the APC is also unfounded,” the
statement said.
A former Minister of Defence (State), Dr
Rowland Oritsejafor, called for caution over threats on the outcome of
next month’s election, stressing that President Jonathan does not
support violence.
Oritsejafor, who spoke to reporters in
Warri, Delta State, remarked that that the initial threat was reportedly
issued at the Bayelsa State Government House does not mean that it was
the position of the Governor Seriake Dickson, or that of the PDP.
He said, “I can be invited to Aso Rock
and then I make a statement; does that mean that the president supported
what I said? Let us be very clear, PDP is a peaceful government with
well-respected and responsible people. There is no way the PDP would
support violence.
“Some people are making statements. I
cannot come and defend those statements because I don’t know from where
they are coming and I wasn’t there. However, as far as PDP is concerned,
we will pursue peace and it is in our interest to pursue peace.
“So why would we want to invest in
violence when we have opportunity to show what we can do? You can hear
the President going round, it is all about what he has done and he keeps
rolling them out.”
Pressed for reaction on the failure of
security agencies and the Federal Government to take action on the
threat, Oritsejafor conceded that he “would be worried if nothing is
being done about it, but I don’t have the information and you have to be
very careful when it comes to security.”
“You don’t know what they are doing,
except you have done your investigation. If nothing is being done, that
is unfortunate and I need to find out,” Oritsejafor added.
The leader of the Niger Delta People’s
Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, also yesterday,
replied Gen. Danjuma in an abusive manner calling for his and other
ex-militant leaders’ arrest for making provocative and inflammatory
statements on Jonathan’s re-election.
Dokubo-Asari, an indigene of Buguma, the
headquarters of the Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State
and a former President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), spoke yesterday
by the telephone, said: “Danjuma is a big…
“How can a … call for my arrest?
“I was misquoted. I did not make any
provocative statement in Yenagoa and I did not threaten anybody.
President Jonathan has already won the election.”
In Dokubo-Asari’s view with the “impressive” performance of President Jonathan, there is nothing to worry about.
Culled from Nations
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