Herdsmen: Ijaw group writes N/Delta govs, demands regional security outfit

The Niger Delta Self Determination Movement (NDSDM) has written a distress letter to the governors of the six Niger Delta States, demanding urgent establishment of a regional security outfit to checkmate activities of herdsmen in the region.

In the letter addressed to the chairman of the South-South Governors Forum and governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, the convener of NDSDM, Annkio Briggs, appealed for a South-South Security Summit where the people of the region would agree to the security network that they want .

Reacting to the recent attack on Uwheru Community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, Annkio said whatever is true of Delta people is true of all South-South people, and that there is absolutely no state in the South-South that is immune to the rampaging and ravaging of killer-herdsmen.

The statement read in part:”We can no longer trust the conventional security agencies for the protection of our people as they have shown a high level complicity and sometimes outright connivance with killer-herdsmen to attack, kill, kidnap, rape, molest and terrorise our people.

“The NDSDM has watched with trepidation the deteriorating security situation across the country, including our homeland, the Niger Delta. Everyday we hear of killer herdsmen attacking peaceful communities.

“We call on the South-South Governors Forum to urgently summon a South-South Security Summit to enable the people of Niger Delta agree on a regional security network that would aid the security agencies in tackling the unacceptable level of insecurity across Niger Delta.”