Militants in the Niger Delta have
issued the South-South leader and Convener of the Pan Niger –Delta Forum,
PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, with threat text messages and emails, asking him,
former military governor of old Rivers State, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, and
ex-governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, to discontinue all
engagements on the region’s peace process with the Nigerian Federal Government.
According to the militants, they
had lost confidence in the body.
They also notified the elders to
step aside so that they would bring oil production in the country to zero since
government was not interested in proper conversation.
Speaking to Vanguard in his Abuja
residence, at the weekend, Clark, who confirmed the threat messages, said: “I
do not know who gave them my telephone numbers and email. I receive calls and
messages everyday that they are tired, that they gave us 60-day window to
discuss with the Federal Government, now almost a year after, they are tired.
“My telephones are filled up with
text messages and threats. The last PANDEF meeting we held in Yenagoa, they
sent me a message that they learned that we were having a meeting and that I
should know they had lost confidence in us. They said some youths would be
having a meeting in Port Harcourt and they would identify with the youths and
publish it in the newspaper, and they published in Vanguard two days after,
Monday, 17th July, warning that they had lost confidence in us.
“They mentioned me particularly
and King Diete Spiff and Victor Attah, that we allowed ourselves to be used by
these people, that they will not listen to us and that they will take their
destiny in their own hands. So, they have been threatening, saying that they
are tired of waiting.”
The PANDEF leader pointed out
that the youths complained that nobody was listening to them anymore probably
because they gave their mandate to the group, accusing that “we have taken
money from government.”
“We honestly advise our eminent
royal fathers and distinguished personalities in PANDEF to stop all engagements
on behalf of the people and resources of the Niger Delta. Though we appreciate
their sacrifice and service over the years, they have not been able to
unshackle our people from the chain of slavery.
“We acknowledge the sacrifice of Chief E.K.
Clark at 90 as well as the sacrifice of HRM Alfred Diete Spiff, His Excellency
Victor Attah and all distinguished personalities of the PANDEF. But we want to
state that slave masters do not and would never understand the language of
platitude. We suspect collusion between them and the slave masters to further
their personal interests.”
Spokesperson for the group, WOI
Izon Ebi, clarified that, “The NDRC and the 21st century youths and agitators
of the Niger Delta’s statement calling on PANDEF to stop its advocacy and
representation of the Niger Delta people and its resources was not borne out of
their ineffectiveness, rather, it was borne out of the fact that the mode and
style of their advocacy has been overtaken by present day reality.
“We have resolved and are more
determined to use all necessary means to take back our ancestral heritage by
stopping all activities of exploration and exportation in Nigeria on the 31st
of September 2017. And when that time comes, heaven will not fall.”
“We are also aware of a section
of the political north to ramp up bombing and insecurity in the north east to
use it as a bulwark to capture political power in 2019, just as they did in
2015, though foisting an ineffectual political leadership in the country, we
advise them to thread with caution, what worked in 2015 would not necessarily
work in 2019
“The same means that pipelines
were blown to bring our production to 800barrels a day from 2.5million can be
activated again. We want the federal government to realize that the same way we
blow and destroy one pipeline is the same way we are capable of blowing and
destroying all pipelines in 24 hours because we have the records and maps of
all pipelines and exporting terminals.
“The white shark, the custodian of
the aquatic heritage is just waiting for the D-day. It is time for the federal
government to know that our agitation today is borne out of marginalization and
oppression, as championed by our late hero, Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro. The
federal government should act fast because there is no time, as the clock is
ticking.’’
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