Ahamefula Ogbu and Juliana Taiwo
17 June 2009
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday expressed his delight at the widely reported decision of the leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante Movement, Mr. Ateke Tom, to accept the amnesty offer by the Federal Government.
But in an interview with THISDAY yesterday, Tom listed the conditions under which he would surrender, chief of which was the disbandment of the Joint Task Force (JTF), the military body responsible for the security of the oil-producing region.
Yar'Adua was speaking at a joint press briefing of the State House correspondents alongside his counterpart from Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, who was in the country to discuss bilateral issues.
Tom, who had on Monday spoken through his lawyer, Mr. Ikenna Enekweizu, at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Correspondents Chapel in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had said Yar'Adua should define the terms of the amnesty he was offering rebel groups in the Niger Delta, following which he would be prepared to immediately surrender all the arms in his possession to benefit from the government's olive branch.
President Yar'Adua, while fielding questions from journalists, said: "I am highly delighted by this news that one of the militant leaders is prepared to accept the granting of amnesty by government. In fact, I would hope that all militant leaders will do the same."
He said: "We are not fighting; we are all Nigerians and what we are trying to do is to guarantee peace and security in the Niger Delta just like in any other part of Nigeria so that people can live, work, carry on their normal duties without fear within the region so that the region and the state can realize the great potentials for attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs) and boosting economic activities.
"Let me say that I am expecting that in the next few days, certainly within this week, for the committee on amnesty to complete all arrangements. I will personally make public all the conditions, procedures and mechanisms for the amnesty. The amnesty centre that will be established, the procedures for granting the amnesty, documentation, camping, training, rehabilitation, getting jobs, for those who require education, sending them to school, all the terms will be made public.
"I will welcome any leader, in fact, I might make bold to say that it will be a great pleasure for me to personally accept the first militant leader who takes advantage of this amnesty to encourage others to do so, so that they can have confidence that we are sincere, honest in granting of this amnesty. We have no other interests than the interests of Nigerians to live in peace and all those Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike who live within the Niger Delta states to live in peace and pursue their activities without fear."
"So, I welcome any leader and all its members who are ready to accept the granting of amnesty by government and I assure them that within the week, latest early next week, the terms will be made public," Yar'Adua added.
But Ateke, who spoke with THISDAY on phone yesterday, insisted that the amnesty offer would not be trusted unless soldiers were withdrawn from the creeks to pave the way for surrender.
If the JTF was withdrawn and attacks on Niger Delta settlements halted, he said he would then have things to talk over with the Federal Government on the terms of the amnesty since according to him, a lot is involved in it.
He said: "I like the amnesty offer. It is good and if them mean am, I dey willing to follow it and make peace. If they give me amnesty and they are sincere, I will give up my arms; na small thing.
"The first thing the government go do is to dissolve JTF and stop the attacks for the communities, then we go know say dem dey sincere. How can we come out of the creeks to surrender when dem block all the creeks?
"How can we come out when dem don block all the creeks. As dem block am, if we wan move and meet them, e fit lead to clashes, so once they withdraw, we go come out."
Asked if he would be willing to surrender all his arms without being paid by the Federal Government, he replied, "Why dem no go pay me for the arms, I pick am for road? After dem dissolve JTF, then we can discuss on how to disarm and then we can come out".
The Rivers State government doubts the sincerity of the Okirika warlord on the amnesty, saying his statement was diversionary.
A statement from Mr. Blessing Wikina, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, said Tom should not be taken seriously as he was up to "one of his antics" which usually have telling effects when believed.
To the Amaechi government, Tom ought to have come by himself to state his acceptance of the offer since "peace cannot be achieved by proxy, it is either he is committed to the process or he is not; he is insincere and should not be listened to".
The government said the people should take the statement of the militant leader with a pinch of salt as he might be plotting a way of re-entering Okrika to unleash another round of mayhem.
Meanwhile, another former militant group that turned peaceful shortly before the commencement of hostilities, Watchdog of Niger Delta, has asked the militia arm of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to disband in the interest of peace in the Niger Delta.
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Judging by similar happenings in oher parts of the world, president Yar'adua's stance on miltants to voluntarily lay down their arms is either POLITICAL IMMATURITY OR CAREFREE ATTITUDE OR BOTH. REAL LEADERSHIP IS LACKING.
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