A former militant commander has revealed that the Niger Delta crisis will continue if President Muhammadu Buhari continues to hold parley with elders.
-Former militant commander says only ex-agitators can solve the problem in the Niger delta region
-Israel Akpodoro said President Buhari should begin immediate negotiation with the ex-militants saying it is only through them can the issues be resolved
_He said the elders are after their pockets and not the interest of the region
A former militant commander, Israel Akpodoro, has revealed that the Niger Delta crisis will continue to escalate if President Muhammadu Buhari continues to hold parleys and dialogues with Niger Delta elders whom he described as too old to have good ideas to transform the rich but impoverished region.
Militants in the Niger Delta
Akpodoro, who spoke with NAIJ.com in Abuja, revealed that the elders being led by Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clarke, have been on the regular negotiation table over the years but have not produced any tangible results for the transformation of the region, consequently, he said it is time they were done away with and opportunity be given to the young ex-agitators to brainstorm and bring needed development to the region.
According to him, “Buhari needs to engage the ex-agitators that worked for him. Buhari has pro ex-militants, he needs to engage them to solve the problem in the region, not these elders discussing with the government, they are politicians, they are looking for their selfish interest. They are not negotiating for the Niger Delta. Look at what they are asking for. I think those things will bring a lot of commotion to the region.
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“They also said they should release all the criminals. People that are bombing pipelines you want to release them. Look at the recession we are in now, people are dying and you are saying they should release the criminals. Which message are you sending to the youths? I totally condemn the elders’ negotiation”.
Akpodoro, who said he sacrificed his resources to ensure Buhari emerged victorious in the 2015 election, said if Buhari is actually ready to solve the Niger Delta crisis, he should pick the ex-militants and empower them to do this work and drop the elders from the negotiation table.
President Muhammadu Buhari
He said the elders cannot do anything, saying “Look at EK Clarke, during the 2015 election, he fought Buhari from left, right and centre. He said Buhari cannot be President. He carried Jonathan up and down. He didn’t tell Jonathan what the people needed. EK Clarke controlled Jonathan’s government from A to Z, he didn’t give him 16 points demand. It is now that Buhari has just come to power that he is giving him 16 points demand.
“So, I think that will not work, he should take the ex-agitators to solve this problem. Since Buhari came to power, he has not had meeting with the ex-militants. Buhari has to call these ex-militants to a round table and discuss with them. Only one on one discussion with the ex-agitators will solve the problem, not going around negotiating with elders. Buhari has spent billions on negotiation but look at how it is today, there is no result from the negotiation, so Buhari should identify the ex-militants, it is only the ex-militants that can solve the problem”.
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Asked whether the ex-militants know the challenge of the region, he said “We know more than the elders. The elders have been negotiating for donkey years but we have not seen result. They have been doing negotiation for more than 30 years but there is no result from their negotiations. The people bombing the pipelines are not the elders, some of the elders are the ones sponsoring the avengers.
“That is why I’m calling on the president to engage the youths, the ex-militants to do the work in the region. Look at the previous government, he engaged some of the ex-agitators”.
He insisted that if Buhari plans to make appreciable progress in the Niger Delta, he must engage the ex-agitators who knows the terrain and the dangerous zones of the region.
“The security agencies cannot do the work alone. It is difficult for them to do it. How can you bring a military man from the North to secure pipelines in Ijaw creek, a place they do not know? It can’t work. The government should engage the ex-militants who know the terrain to work with the security agencies to make real success”, Akpodor added.
