We are not enemies of Nigeria —Ijaw community leader

•…as group urges Buhari to halt hiring of Saudi mercenaries 

The Chairman of Kokodiagbene Community in Gbaramatu Kingdom of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government of Nigeria to stop treating Niger Delta people as enemies of the country.

This is just as the national president of the Foundation for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade (FHRACC), Alaowei Cleric Esq, has urged Buhari to discontinue the alleged plan to hire Saudi Black Waters mercenaries to tackle militants in the region.

In separate statements signed and made available to InsideNigerDelta on Monday in Warri, Comrade Mulade urged the Federal Government to order commencement of academic activities at the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko as part of the conditions for the dialogue process.

“It is worthy to state that the Ijaw nation and Niger Delta region has fed Nigerians for over 50 years, so, all we demand is for the Federal Government to feed the Niger Delta people in return by improving on the development efforts of our land,” the environmental activist averred.

Alaowei, on his part, said President Buhari was violating the sovereign sanctity of the country with the yet-to-be-refuted rumours that the FG had hired Saudi Black Waters mercenaries with $258m to combat militants in the region.

The plan, if true, he said, would mean Buhari “has chosen to exterminate the people of Niger Delta from planet earth through the instrumentalities of his foreign mercenaries.”

He called on “the international community to be red alert to save the Niger Delta people from the planned allied invasions and prevail on President Mohammadu Buhari to rescind his genocidal agenda against the Niger Delta communities.”

The chairman of Kokodiagbene, Mulade, said the Ijaws were in full support of Buhari’s government and policies, pleading with him to create empowerment programmes that would bring development to the Niger Delta region as well as halt environmental degradation occasioned by oil pollution.