A coalition of Ijaw concerned groups, in collaboration with the Ijaw Elders Forum (IEF), Lagos State chapter, has decried the recent military attack on Bilabiri community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, describing the destruction of lives and property of innocent citizens as barbaric and unnecessary.
The Forum expressed this concern in a statement jointly signed by its chairman, Chief Bukazi Etete; vice-chairman, Atamuno Atamuno; secretary, Pastor Efiye Bribena; Mr Charles Ambaiowei, former Acting President, Ijaw National Congress (INC); Ben Amaebi Okoro, moderator, Ijaw Nation Forum (INF); High Chief Denzil Amagbe Kentebe; a former Executive Secretary (NCDMB) and Prof. Dauphin D. Moro, Convener, Niger Delta Environmental Vanguard (NDEV).
The Forum noted with dismay the incessant attacks on Ijaw communities under successive governments as well as environmental degradations they had had to grapple with as a result of oil exploration, saying it cannot continue to endure this oppressive state of affairs and the continued destruction of its people and the communities.
IEF described the experience of the Ijaw people as most unpalatable and dehumanising under the Nigerian state in the past 59 years, saying the Nigerian state had continued to plunder the resources of the Ijaw community without consideration for the people and their environment.
“Times without number, Ijaw communities have been unjustifiably attacked and destroyed by the Nigerian state that is expected to build and nurture them. The latest being Bilabiri community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Admittedly, criminal activities take place by a few individuals in Ijaw Land as in other parts of the country. This, however, should not and cannot justify the barbaric destruction of entire communities.
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“We strongly condemn these acts of violence and brutality perpetrated against our people and communities. We cannot continue to endure this oppressive state of affairs and the continued destruction of our people and communities.
“The experience of the Ijaw People under the Nigerian state in the past 59 years has been most unpalatable and dehumanising, to say the least. The Nigerian state continues to plunder our resources without consideration for our people and environment,” the Forum said.
The Forum, while expressing worries over the state of the nation, blamed the escalating security situation on the perceived lopsidedness of the security architecture of the country, insisting that continued peace and stability can only be guaranteed if the country was restructured.
This was just as the Forum threw its weight behind the South West security outfit codenamed Amoketun, urging stakeholders in the South-South to come up with a similar initiative.
“Some states and regional groups have established added security systems to mitigate the effect of insecurity within their domain. Amotekun, the security outfit of the six South-Western states is justified. We call on all communities, state governments and the South-South zone to urgently take steps to secure lives and property within their domains by setting up similar security initiatives. The right to self-preservation is inalienable,” the statement said.
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