The National Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF,
Senator Edwin Clark, has accused Nigeria’s security forces and government
officials of causing unnecessary tension in the Niger Delta region.
The elder statesman strongly frowned at the manner, with
which the army allegedly terrorize the people, including women and children,
with fighter jets and gunboats.
Citing the recent suspension of ceasefire and threat to
resume hostilities by the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, he said, “When the Niger
Delta Avengers gave notice of withdrawing its ceasefire and resuming
hostilities for obvious reasons, the leadership of PANDEF quickly intervened,
appealing to them to maintain status quo. It went further to send emissaries to
the creeks to deliberate with the NDA.”
“It is the ordinary people, including women and children who
are the victims of this show of power by the military. For instance, the
schoolchildren will be too scared to go to school; the fishermen and the petty
traders will either hide in their rooms or run away from their homes for
safety.
“One would have expected the Federal Government and the
military to know that the Avengers have never showed any sign of retreat or
fear when between February 2016 and August, 2016, the area was over militarized
by Operation Crocodile Smile. These are people, who are ready to sacrifice
their lives for what they believe in, which is remediation of the neglect of
the region.”
Clark asserted, “It became clear that the second
movement/deployment of Operation Crocodile Smile to the Niger Delta did not
deter the NDA from repudiating ceasefire, which they had granted over a year
ago. This should tell the Federal Government that the crisis in the Niger Delta
is a cry for the development of the area; therefore, it will be very difficult,
if not impossible to use the military force to cow the people to submission.”
“The wise thing for the Federal Government to do will be to
sit down and dialogue with the people. What the Federal Government is doing
right now is misapplication of resources. Can the Federal Government sit down
and calculate how much it has cost it to deploy military to the Niger Delta
area from 2002 to date?
“Can the Federal Government tell Nigerians what these
figures are and has military action brought peace? But for the intervention of
well meaning elders, let the Federal Government tell the Nigerian public what
meaningful progress its actions has brought, outside pain and humiliation,” he
said.
According to him, “It appears that the Federal Government has
not learnt from history. If the only answer it has is to use the military to
fight back the threats and attacks of the militants in the creeks, then it will
not succeed, it will not work.”
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