Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, and the Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) have deplored the killings and warned against the Nigerian government resorting to force in dealing with youth restiveness in the region.
The shoot-out ensued when soldiers of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta stormed the creeks of Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State to free a kidnapped oil worker and a traditional ruler.
The fate of the oil worker is unknown. The Defence Headquarters, reacting to the development in a statement on Wednesday said: �The Defence Headquarters has observed with deep regrets the recent escalation of violence between our troops� the Joint Task Force (JTF)� and militant youths in the Niger Delta area leading to unnecessary loss of lives.
�This unwarranted escalation of violence and killing is being investigated by the Defence Headquarters on the directives of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Agwai.
�Defence Headquarters wishes to remind all Nigerians that the only group constitutionally vested with the power to legally carry arms in the country are the Armed Forces, Nigeria Police and some para-military organisations.
“Any individual or group that traffics, sells or carries arms and ammunition in the Federal Republic of Nigeria is, therefore, committing an illegality and shall be treated in accordance with the rules of the law.
�Accordingly, Defence Headquarters wishes to restate that the Armed Forces have an open door policy and are willing to work with any individual or group that can help to de-escalate the increasing violence in the Niger Delta.
�Our Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta is being strengthened and reorganised to ensure that the troops gain the confidence of the Niger Deltans. New channels of communication at the Defence Headquarters, the Joint Task Force and states in the region are being established to network information between all the stakeholders.
�The headquarters wishes to reiterate the fact that our troops in the Niger Delta were not deployed to fight war. Therefore, the Armed Forces take special exceptions to any individual or group that use the acronym of �Freedom Fighter� in our democratic environment.
“The Nigeria constitution and indeed government have provided adequate platforms and formidable environments for addressing genuine grievances without recourse to violence.
�In line with the vision and action of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Armed Forces are also appealing to all stakeholders in the Niger Delta area, especially the militant youths, to embrace peace.
�Having won the peace in the Bakassi Peninsula, the Armed Forces are even more determined to win peace in the Niger Delta for the socio-economic and political development of our country. Defence Headquarters is, therefore, calling on the media to partner with Nigerians and the government to address the challenges.�
Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark, on Wednesday urged Obasanjo to rescind his shoot-on-sight order against militants in the Niger-Delta.
Speaking at his country home, Kiagbodo in Delta State, Clark said: �As a president of a big country like Nigeria, before you order soldiers to shoot-on-sight, you must think of the consequences. The president may be a reasonable man but the soldiers may not be reasonable.�
He said he was shocked and surprised that Obasanjo gave such a directive without consultation with the elders of the region, adding that it was only if he had told us his intention and we were unable to act that he would be justified in taking such a measure.
Warning that the shoot-on-sight order if not rescinded would affect the operation of the Council of Socio-Economic Development of the Coastal States and the operations of the oil companies in the region, Clark wondered why the president suddenly changed from his initial position of dialogue to the use of force.
In his opinion, the kidnap of some oil workers in Rivers and Bayelsa states by some aggrieved youths was not enough for the president to order the shoot-on-sight of his country men.
�These soldiers have been asked by the people to leave their own territory. They are benefitting from the area. They are part of the companies. They provide security services. They provide boats. They are contractors and the people are asking them to go and if the people are now asking them to go and they are not happy with them, what do you think will happen?
�So, if the president now tells them to go and shoot on sight, no matter how good the president�s intention are, they will do what they want to do, and that is what we are going to see,� he said.