Group sues for peace as militants set Oct 1 deadline for Niger Delta Republic

Worried by the threats issued by militants to resume hostilities in the Niger Delta region, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) committed to poverty alleviation and good governance has appealed to the agitators to embrace the Federal Government’s amnesty programme.

A coalition of militants including the Niger Delta Volunteers (NDV) led by General Ekpo Ekpo, has declared in a press conference in Uyo, the they would declare a separate Niger Delta Republic on October 1, 2017, and warned other agitators including the Nnamdi Kanu’s Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), to steer clear of the region,

But leaders of the Network Advancement Programme for Poverty and Disaster Risk Reduction (NAPPDRR), Alhaji Al Mustapher Edoho and the Board of Trustees (BoT) member, Comrade Jubril Edukere, condemned the threat, saying “a return to violence would only stall the Federal Government’s development programmes for the region”.

Addressing journalists in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, Edoho commended the Federal Government’s drive to douse tension in the region and called for more budgetary provisions for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other development partners.

“The NDDC has done a lot to diffuse the prevailing tensions in Niger Delta. Our reality checks across the nine Niger Delta States have so far shown a remarkable commitment of the Federal Government through the NDDC to bring genuine development to Niger Delta.

“We have seen great interventions in roads, community schools, promotion of scholarships for indigent students, vocational training, jobs and other empowerment schemes which has gone a long way to calm frayed nerves of angry youths.

“Therefore, for the Commission to perform optimally, it behoves the Federal Government to increase the budget for the agency and pay all backlog of funds accrued to the Commission over the years”, Edoho said.

To complement NDDC tasks in the region, the group charged International Oil Companies (IOCs) to show more than a passing interest in the development of the region by increasing their statutory quota to the agency as well as raise the bar in community projects in oil bearing communities.

Also, NAPPDRR leaders expressed worry at what they described as “antagonistic posture of some State governments in the region towards NDDC development plans, noting that such action was detrimental to regional development as well as the Federal Government’s intention to bring a lasting peace to Niger Delta.

“We call on some States government in Niger Delta not to politicize the Federal Government’s development plans for the region, but see the NDDC as partners in progress towards sustainable peace in the region”, Edoho stressed.

Besides, he advised Niger Delta militants to sustain the current peace in the region, noting that “the cessation of hostilities in the last couple of months has improved oil production for the country to meet up with Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota”.

“We should not go back to the dark ages of destroying pipelines and spilling our crude into high seas. Now that the Federal Government has come up with strategic engagement of the youths in oil pipeline protection, we should embrace it and shun all sort of violent activities for the growth and development of our country”, he added.