…Ex-Militants Vow To Cut Off Oil Supply To North
…Declare For Second Tenure Now – Ambakederemo Tells Jonathan
Tejiri Ebikeme/Francis Sadhere
Concerned Niger Delta Activists, Comrade Demebide E. Jerome, Chief Jeffrey Ojogun, Mr. Joseph Ambakederemo, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and repentant militant leaders have warned members of the Boko Haram sect, any person or group of persons, not to allow any harm to come to President Goodluck Jonathan and vowed to defend the region and the President with their last blood.
Comrade Jerome urged Nigerians to join forces with the Federal Government to flush out members of the Boko Harm from the country, warning members of the sect that; “youths in the Niger Delta region are watching and we will react at the right time.”
Speaking to our correspondents in Warri, Delta State, the activist decried what he described as senseless killings of innocent Nigerians in the North East of the country and solicited the support of Nigerians in the fight against Boko Haram by the Federal Government.
“My heart goes out to the relations of those killed by Boko Haram and we are praying daily for the abducted Chibok girls and their parents; they are not alone,” he said.
While describing members of the Boko Haram as people without vision, Comrade Jerome implored members of the sect to free the abducted girls now and embrace western education.
He said; “We all must join the Federal Government to tackle the insecurity in the country. Members of Boko Haram have no vision and they are not agitating for anything unlike the Niger Delta youths who agitated for development and education. I am imploring Boko Haram to embrace western education because the weapons they are using to kill innocent Nigerians are from the West. Western education is the only way out. Boko Haram must stop killing innocent Nigerians and President Goodluck Jonathan must take drastic steps against Boko Haram now.”
He added; “The Federal Government must fish out Boko Haram members and their sponsors for the country to know peace. The killings must stop because we are in pains daily as a result of the activities of Boko Haram. The issue of Boko Haram must be addressed seriously by the Federal Government.”
On the 2015 Presidential election, the Niger Delta activist posited that President Jonathan has the constitutional right to contest, saying the North must be joking to think that they can stop the president from seeking re-election next year.
In his words; “The President has the constitutional right to contest next year and he must contest. The president should not come back to the Niger Delta region if he fails to contest. Niger Delta youths are ready for the election and we are solidly behind the re-election of President Jonathan and those from the North must think twice if they think that they can stop the President in 2015. We are not going to allow anybody to threaten the President; they should not dare President Jonathan. We are ready now than ever before to defend the Niger Delta region and fight for what is right. Boko Haram and their sponsors must not dare us because we are watching them and they dare not harm President Jonathan as we are ready to defend him and the region with our last blood if we are pushed too far.”
Another Niger Delta Activist, Chief Ojogun, while speaking recently at the National Reformer Newspaper’s Discourse on the State of the Nation in Warri, alleged that prominent leaders in the North were using Boko Haram to frustrate President Jonathan.
Chief Ojogun, the immediate past chairman of oil-rich Benikrukru Community in Warri, South-West Local Government Area of Delta State said; “Northerners have so many oil block and they are operating them quietly and nobody is questioning them, still they are saying that the President is not good. What Boko Haram is doing now, the Northerners knows what is going on and they are not doing anything about it.”
“I want to use this discourse to warn that the Sultan of Sokoto, Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Northern Governors and ex-military Generals from the North that they cannot stop the re-election bid of President Jonathan in 2015 and they dare not harm the President with Boko Haram”, he said.
While calling on the North to forget the Presidency till 2027, Chief Ojogun said, “People in the Niger Delta region will not hesitate to cut oil supply to the North should leaders from the region continue to oppose the re-election of President Jonathan and using Boko Haram to cause mayhem, especially in the Northern part of the country.”
In his words; “The plan by the North to use Boko Haram to frustrate the administration of President Jonathan will continue to fail. The people of the Niger Delta region are not begging the Sultan of Sokoto, Northern Governors, Ex-military Generals and other leaders from the region to allow the President contest in 2015, the issue of the re-election bid of President Jonathan in 2015 is sealed, signed and delivered by God.”
“We have also seen how the enemies of the President are now using the Governors of the North to destabilize the administration of the President and they will not succeed in this their evil mission. Nobody can stop the moving train of the re-election of the President and Boko Haram dare not harm our illustrious son from the Niger Delta region as it will be fire for fire”, he said.
The Executive Director, Nigeria Rebirth Initiative (NRI), Ambakederemo in a paper he sent to the maiden edition of National Reformer Newspaper’s Discourse on the State of the Nation urged President Jonathan to declare for his second term in office now.
In his paper entitled; “Amnesty for Boko Haram: Chibok Girls Must Come Back Alive”, Mr. Ambakederemo said; “To end this submission, I call for the release of the Chibok girls unharmed. And President Jonathan should declare for his second term whether the Chibok girls are released or not.”
According to him; “This matter cannot hold him down. If it does, then it will be seen that President Jonathan has been stampeded out of office.”
Also, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, has warned that any attempt by any person or group of persons to truncate the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, would spell doom for the country.
Rising from the IYC Convention at Ofunama Community, Egbema Clan In Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State, recently, the group in a press release signed by its Spokesperson, Barrister Eric Omare and made available to National Reformer, observed that there had been clandestine moves by some disgruntled and power hungry Nigerian politicians, using the Boko Haram sect in collaboration with their foreign partners to truncate democracy in Nigeria.
The Ijaw group said; “The Convention’s attention was specifically drawn to a report in a UK based paper ‘The Cable’ to the effect that Senator David Mark would take over as Acting President should President Jonathan under any circumstance is unable to continue as President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Ijaw Youths condemned this report and warned that any attempt to truncate the leadership of President Jonathan would spell doom and the end for the entity called Nigeria.”
IYC reinstated their support for President Jonathan, calling on him to formerly declare his intentions to run for a second tenure.
“Ijaw Youths Council reinstate their support for the government of President Goodluck Jonathan and the call on him to contest the 2015 Presidential election as it is the right of the Niger Delta people to have a non-negotiable second term in office. That President Jonathan should go on and formally declare to contest for a second term in office in response to the call of the Niger Delta people and Nigerians in general,” the group said.
Meanwhile, repentant militant leaders in the Niger Delta recently threatened to cut off the supply of petroleum products to Northern Nigeria should the north oppose the re-election of President Jonathan in 2015.
The ex-militants, at their meeting in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, also threatened to ensure that the North did not benefit from crude oil proceeds generated from the Niger Delta region.
The ex-militants converged in Oron under the aegis of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative, where they assessed the handling of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) projects by contractors.
President of the group, Mr. Reuben Wilson, said that their interest was to ensure that Jonathan returned to office in 2015, while anybody opposed to the idea would be considered an enemy of the region.
According to him; “We met in Oron to review developments in the country, particularly the interest of the Niger Delta people. You will agree that the Niger Delta is the main stay of the nation’s economy. You will also agree with me that the Niger Delta people are sustaining the economy at great inconveniences and pains to its people and the environment. This has been the only time that the region has had the privilege of providing a President for the country.”
He added that; “It is unthinkable that the North will be plotting against our son, intimidating him with bomb blasts here and there and causing the untimely death of scores of innocent Nigerians, all because they want to take back power. We have always seen the need for us to live together as one indivisible country and that is what President Jonathan believes in.”
