6 June 2009
Lagos — Two new training camps operated by the wanted Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo were yesterday discovered in Delta State and swiftly destroyed by the security Joint Task Force (JTF) in the region.
The camps Bulobala and Iroko Camp Annex, allegedly being used to train new recruits and senior fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), fell to the superior power of the JTF early at about mid-day.
Also yesterday, MEND in a letter to President Umaru Yar'Adua said the enthronement of justice and fiscal federalism were conditions for the acceptance of amnesty and suspension of armed struggle for peace in the Niger Delta.
On the same day, Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba and Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance, Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange want President Umaru Yar'Adua to swiftly release the names of prominent Nigerians allegedly sponsoring or benefiting financially from militant groups in the Niger Delta.
Spokesman of JTF in the region, Colonel Rabe Abubakar in a statement said they made the new discoveries and immediately moved to knock out the camps, reiterating that they were in the region against criminality and not law-abiding citizens.
He said the destruction of the camp was a further proof of his claim that the militants were no match for them and called on people along the Chanomi creeks to expose hideouts of militants.
"In continuation of the Joint Task Force's (JTF) Operation Restore Hope's Search and Rescue Operation in Chanomi Creek and its environs, another giant stride was yet made yesterday with the discovery and destruction of two militant Camps - Bulobala Camp and Iroko Camp Annex - used by Tompolo in training his fresh recruits and MEND's senior fighters," he said.
MEND in its letter to Yar'Adua said it viewed with disdain the reduction of the issues on the Godwin Abbe report to mere ceremonies, which gives the impression that it will go the way of the Niger Delta Technical Committee which has been dumped.
The statement from spokesman of MEND, Gbomo Jomo said they had expected Yar'Adua to apologise for the carnage the JTF visited on the people of Gbaramatu Kingdom which was bombed in their face off with militants.
MEND said: "The whole ceremony was like a deja vu. It is no different from the show you put up when you received the report of the Niger Delta Technical Committee which was never implemented.
"The civilized world expected an apology to the hundreds of displaced and relatives of dead civilians caused by the indiscriminate aerial bombing targeted at innocent impoverished communities from a cowardly armed forces meant to instill fear.
"Without the root issues addressed, the efforts of this panel will be another waste of time. The very reason for militancy is because of injustice. Fiscal federalism is among the things that will silence our guns.
"We are not intimidated by the size of your armed forces or impressed by its latest acquisitions because that has never won a war. The Americans can tell you that from their experience in Vietnam. A simple reversal to fiscal federalism will save you the trouble of another future ceremony where you are made to receive piles of worthless paper," the letter to the President said.
MEND further alleged that prominent Ijaw leaders like Felix Tuodolor, Jonjon Oyiefie and Famous Daunemiegha were arrested in Bayelsa State yesterday on trumped-up charges of attempted murder.
Yar'Adua has scheduled a meeting with the National Assembly leaders and governors from the Niger Delta states for Monday, after receiving a security report on the sponsors of the militants on Thursday. He's expected to brief them on his next line of action.
"The federal government must name those behind the criminality in the region and prosecute them. If indeed people were behind the criminality in the Niger Delta and government has facts to substantiate this, they should be named and prosecuted," Ndoma-Egba said.
Senator Barigha-Amange (Bayelsa East) urged the federal government to spread its dragnets wide to apprehend all those who are confirmed to be sponsors of militant activities and groups in the troubled region.
He stated: "I have said it several times that these militants are not alone on their own. The drummers are somewhere. It is like the drug barons and the couriers. Can these boys make necessary contacts for ships to come into Nigeria and lift crude?
"The Federal Government should spread its net. Many more big fishes, military officers, politicians, businessmen, etc., may be involved."
He added: "Accounts, both home and abroad, should be scrutinised. Crude oil is not sold in a bottle but ship. Is it possible for a ship to come into Nigeria, load crude and depart without the knowledge of the security agents? It means any nation can overrun us one day."
However, prominent Ijaw leader, Chief E. K Clark refused to be drawn into the controversy trailing the list of militants' sponsors, saying that he was out of the country and would respond appropriately on his return sometimes next week.
Clark simply said: "As far as I am concerned, I'm taking down notes. When I return next week, I'll call a world press conference to make a comprehensive reaction to the issues raised on the Niger Delta crisis and strikes by the Joint Task Force (JTF). I have seen all the publications and will address these issues in Lagos as soon I return."
Meanwhile, the Northern Union yesterday called on the federal government to suspend further military action against the militants in the Niger Delta Region.
The group in a statement signed by the Chairman of Management Committee, Chief Patrick Adaba said government should "cause a cessation to the current bombardment of the area, to allow for genuine dialogue, which will bring about the much-desired peace and security in the area."
The statement continued: "The Northern Union (NU) has observed the on-going military action in the Niger Delta with great concern. We appreciate the fact that the Nigerian state has the responsibility to maintain peace, law and order in the country. Our position has always been that peace and security have a dual character, that of development and social security, as well as law and order."
The Union urged all parties concerned to give peace a chance in order to accelerate the pace of development in the region.
"We will like to urge our aggrieved compatriots in the Niger Delta to lay down their arms and particularly advise the militants to embrace the amnesty granted by the federal government," the statement said. The statement further said that the Northern Union believes that the importance of the Niger Delta and the South-South Zone to Nigeria goes beyond just the economy but "has been historically more significant in socio-political terms."
"In the first place, the Niger Delta typifies the diversity and plurality that gives Nigeria its socio-political strength. Secondly, through historical alliances of the Niger Delta Congress and the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers Movement, with other geo-political zones, the region has contributed immensely to national unity and development," it said.
While commending the efforts of the federal government in promoting development in the Niger Delta through the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta and the granting of amnesty to repentant militants, NU advised the militants to accept the peace offer and work for the genuine progress of the region.
From Sufuyan Ojeifo, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, Ahamefula Ogbu in Port Harcourt and Joseph Ushigiale in Lagos
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Am wandering where this will land us in the lap of more carnage and destruction of the region, innocent lives lost of resources to the gain of the behind the scene sponsors, why the west south west, traditional rulers, politicians, Governors are all arms Akinbo. It,s as if everyone is waiting for the worst. Now is the time to reason, Nigeria belongs to us all and Niger delta inclusive. Wake up Sirs,Madams,
The war of words on this current rape and murder raging on in the Niger Delta is taking the shape of the North versus our minority group in the Delta. The silence of the Southwest and the loquacious Southeast is deafening. Are the Ndigbos and the Afeniferes suddenly turned into a bunch of cowards too afraid to speak up where their alliance lies? If the table of this senseless oppression of the minority by the majority were turned, how would they feel to realize that they are on their own? We all know that Speaker Bankole has already sold his… [Read Full Text]