Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples� Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has alleged that some groups of militants from the Niger Delta region meet often with officials of the presidency in Abuja.
Alhaji Dokubo-Asari in an exclusive interview with Sunday Champion in Abuja recently, stated that “the so-called militants they say they are looking for, are having direct contact with Aso rock�. They came here and met with him secretly.”
He also said that the crude oil from the Niger Delta region is not being enjoyed by the people of the region but rather stolen by people he described as �the parasites, the scavengers and the vultures�.
“Niger Delta has not been relying on crude oil, we don�t even see it. It is being stolen by the parasites, the scavengers and the vultures. What we are saying is that they can no longer continue it as we will continue in this struggle to take back our stolen sovereignty” he said.
The NDPVF leader said the Niger Delta area could be made into an investment paradise if the governments invest in the tourism potentials of the coastline in the region. He also lamented that though the area was the only coastline in the country yet nothing is being done to harness its investment potentials.
“This is the only coastline in the country, but because of the wickedness and the evil intentions of the parasites from the north, this is the only coastal region that is not viable, that there is no electricity, that there is no developmental or tourist infrastructure, there is nothing”, Dokubo-Asari said.
He said in other countries, any coastal region with natural beaches like what is present in the Niger Delta area, is developed as a tourist�s haven.
He also insisted that for peace to reign in the Niger Delta region, there is the need to convene a sovereign national conference.
“We never gave up our sovereignty at any time and this sovereignty we must take it back…. We offer you peace, call a sovereign national conference. Let us sit and test the popularity claim of Nigeria in Ijaw land, in Ogoni land, in Hausa land and other areas of the country. Let us put in place a sovereign national conference and the decision from this will now be subjected to a plebiscite”, he stated.
Dokubo-Asari, who only recently hosted a symposium/dinner in Abuja under the auspices of the Dokubo-Asari Foundation in honour of late Isaac Boro at which experts and eminent persons gave lectures on the lingering Niger Delta crises and the way out of the logjam, called on militants in the region to create a conducive atmosphere for investments.
“Even as we are fighting, we must create a conducive environment for economic growth among ourselves. As we continue in this process in the fight for the emancipation of our people, we must create the enabling environment for investment, for creation of wealth for our people”, he said.
He also condemned the act of kidnapping, disruption of oil companies activities and blowing up of pipelines, stating that these are not part of their struggles.
“If we are fighting and we kidnap our own people, or kill or rape our own people, then the fight is not for our people. It is against our people. We are aiding the oppressors”. Dokubo-Asari said.
He said he decided to hold the symposium/ lecture in honour of late Boro because he was the first person to question the legality of the Nigerian rule over the people of Niger Delta.
“Major Isaac Boro is the doyen of our struggle. He started what we have as the struggle in Niger Delta”, he said, adding that “Boro and others who claim to be in the struggle to free the Niger Delta area, are quite different.”
He described the event as an annual celebration now being done all over the world, stating that though it was started in Port Harcourt years ago, “today, it�s being celebrated in London, America and all over the world.”