Leaders of the Niger Delta on Friday urged Vice-President Atiku Abubakar not to incite militants in the region.
They also declared that the region would not be drawn into the ongoing feud between President Olusegun Obasanjo and Abubakar.
Ijaw National Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, who made the declaration after a Forum of Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Delta State met with the President at the State House in Abuja, told newsmen, �Nobody should provoke or incite our boys. We should not be drawn into the quarrel, even if the facts are there.
�Whether the story is true or not, the Niger Delta should not be drawn into the quarrel. We want development.�
The warning apparently followed Abubakar�s disclosure on Tuesday that Obasanjo approved arms worth about $2 billion to suppress Niger Delta militants.
The forum was at the Presidential Villa to protest the emergence of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan as the PDP governorship candidate in Delta State, following his alleged imposition by Governor James Ibori. Speaking to journalists after emerging from the closed-door meeting, Clark, who spoke for the forum, said the Niger Delta would not fall for any moves to draw the region into the feud in the Presidency.
Although Clark noted that the issue was �very disturbing� and should not be mentioned lightly, he said that Niger Delta youths should not be provoked into taking sides in the ongoing fray. When journalists sought to know how the Niger Delta was taking the vice-president�s allegation, Clark said, �This is a very dangerous thing. This is not the type of issue to talk about lightly because in the history of this country we have been marginalised, maltreated and dehumanised. We are the poorest.�
Clark further disclosed that the community leaders in the region agreed with the Federal Government�s position that hostage taking, which had continued unabated in the Niger Delta, had now become a criminal activity. He said that the act was no longer a means of expressing genuine grievances.
According to him, a stakeholders committee had been constituted under the Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, Dr. Godknows Igali, with a mandate to �go round and tell everybody that hostage taking has become a criminal act and the real intention has been lost.�
However, the hostage taking issue, as well as the $2billion arms allegation, did not feature in their discussions with the President.
The only issue that featured at the close-door meeting was their plea to the President to �drop Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan as the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Delta State.� The forum went ahead to present six other candidates who participated in the primaries for the President to choose from.
They are Chief O�tega Emerhor, Pius Ewherido, Gbagi Kenneth, Igbrudu Daniel Young, Ojuogboh Cairo and Albert Okumagba.
Meanwhile, Niger Delta militants on Friday talked tough with the Federal Government, ignoring the plea by the government on them to lay down their arms and embrace peace. The aggrieved natives of the region were meeting for the second time in a year with the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Andrew Azazi, at the headquarters of the 2nd Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt.
The meeting, which was attended by some leaders of militant groups and non-governmental organisations working in the country to promote peace in the Niger Delta, lasted for over five hours but did not soften the hard stance of the youths. Azazi had opened discussion with a plea to the youths to lay down their arms and stop other forms of atrocities in the region so as to allow the government to work for the overall development of the region.
The army boss also told the youths that the administration was serious in addressing the issues of neglect and setback in the Niger Delta to enable the natives have a sense of belonging. But hardly had the army chief finished his speech when notable militants rose to their feet to challenge Azazi, saying that they were not ready to be further deceived by the antics of the government on the development of the Delta.