By Our Correspondent
A legal luminary and Human Rights activist, Mr Robinson Ariyo, has bemoaned the proliferation of dangerous arms allegedly in possession of Ijaw youths in Delta State.
Ariyo, who spoke in his chambers in Warri, told journalists that the recent threat by the Ijaw people of Gbaramatu to President Goodluck Jonathan, to stay away from the inauguration of the $16bn Export Processing Zone (EPZ) portends a grave danger to the security of the Itsekiri people, who are neighbours to the Ijaw.
The lawyer, who expressed anger over the alleged kidnapping of 14 journalists by some Ijaw youths, allegedly on the orders of ex-militant, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, demanded the immediate mop-up of sophisticated weapons still in possession of the youths.
He added that the events of the last three days had shown that Nigeria was gradually become a lawless society in which a group of persons could hold journalists on their legitimate duty hostage in a democracy.
The pillar of any society is the rule of law, saying “We live in a society where everybody should ordinarily be equal before the law. Journalists were seized , their equipment were taken from them and they were detained for 16 hours, yet all the governor of the state could say was that the kidnap was unfortunate.”
“The President and the governor swore to an oath to protect and secure the people. There is freedom of the press, yet the government has reacted poorly to this event. Even the journalists identified those who kidnapped them, yet nothing has been done’’, Ariyo fumed.
Ariyo urged the government to desist from rewarding bad behaviour by awarding contracts to the armed gangs, urging them to clamp down on those who wield sophisticated arms to intimidate their neighbours.
“These youths have weapons the least of which is the AK47, as attested to by the journalists that were kidnapped. We are asking the government and the security agencies what these arms are doing in the hands of private people,” Ariyo added.
According to him, “The penalty for abduction in Delta state is the death penalty. We urge an independent investigation into this abduction incident because the action of these youths is a threat to the security of the Niger Delta.”
The rights activist demanded the disarming of the armed Ijaw youths, describing their alleged continuous protection by the Nigerian state as a ‘disgrace’.
“If this situation is not investigated and nipped in the bud, it will happen again’’, the lawyer said.
