The Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), headed by Mujahideen Dokubo-Asari, has said that it would not accept the amnesty proposal of the Federal Government even as the group has raised alarm over alleged plans by the government to kill its leader upon his return from Germany, where he is said to be receiving medical attention.
“We also have adequate information that the Nigerian State has once more planned to arrest and assassinate Dokubo-Asari on arrival from Germany under the guise of armed robbery,” the group said.
Meanwhile, true to his word, President Umaru Yar’Adua on Friday at the Presidential Villa personally received the first batch of Niger Delta militant leaders led by Victor Ben Ebikabowei (General Boyloaf), who have accepted the President’s offer of amnesty.
Boyloaf is a factional leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and used to command the Bayelsa State operations of the militant group. He led 31 other militant leaders of his faction to the Villa.
During the 25-minute ceremony, Yar’Adua commended the militant leaders for their patriotism and courage evident in their decision to embrace the amnesty offer for peace and stability to reign in the Niger Delta.
According to him: “It is not a small feat; it is a very courageous act on your part. And again, I want to thank you and commend you for displaying this extraordinary courage, for displaying this patriotic zeal for the people of the Niger Delta states and for the nation in general.
“Issues that have given rise to militancy itself, the agitation which culminated in having an armed wing of the agitation, we will collectively look at them and find ways to salvage them in such a way that everybody throughout the country will be satisfied with what solutions we come up with.
“Also, we must take note that once this is done, development in the region will be rapid but it will not be overnight.”
He lamented that “it is disheartening to see that young, energetic, intelligent Nigerians are spending their lives in the creeks, which is not allowed for any Nigerian. No Nigerian leader will wish to see any Nigeria living that kind of life.
“I think it is high time we gave the opportunity to our teeming youths in the Niger Delta states that are in the creeks to come out to be rehabilitated, live a normal life like any other person in this country and have the opportunity that any other person in this country has.
“I have confidence that we have youths who are energetic, who can contribute to nation building, who will contribute to humanity, who have great support in seeking the peace and security in this region.”
As he called on other militants to emulate Boyloaf, the President directed the Chairman of the Amnesty Panel and Minister of Defence, Godwin Abbe, to continue liaison with the militants and work out logistics on how to get them surrender their arms and benefit from other amnesty largesse.
That is even as the NDPVF denied reports in the media that Dokubo-Asari had returned a large cache of arms to the government in the spirit of the amnesty.
Dokubo-Asari’s spokesman, Rex Anighoro, who made the disclosure in a statement in Warri, said it was agreed that members could accept the government’s olive branch out of their own volition.
He said: “It must be clearly stated that at our well published General Assembly held on Saturday, July 11, 2009 at Golf Prince Hotel, Port Harcourt part of our resolution was, and is that the People Salvation Front cum Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (PSF/NDPVF) will never accept amnesty. This resolution was a product of a clear and well-articulated debate. However, in accommodating minority opinion, we made it pellucid that any member of our movement interested in taking amnesty is very free to do so.
“We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Dappa Dappaiye and Kingsley Solomon may have taken this option and we are not against that. We are so confident that since Alhaji communicates directly through the office of the Secretary General and the Spokesman and since he is in Germany he may not be in the know. Up to this moment Dappa Dappaiye and Kingsley Solomon are still people we have links to and we can never deny them.”
He stated that both Dappa Dapaiye and Kingsley Solomon arrested over alleged criminality were bona fide members of the PSF, and denounced claims by Prince Wisdom Amachree that he is the second-in-command to Asari, “as our movement is a people movement with no such structure.”
He implored the government not to kill them as any attempt to harm or kill them would paint the amnesty in bad light.
Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, who facilitated the acceptance of amnesty by the Boyloaf group, said in Abuja on Friday that his magic wand was his ability to inspire trust and confidence to conquer the skepticism and anxiety of the militants.
Espousing his strategy of triple E -Empowerment, Engagement and Enforcement of Law – the Governor said the release of MEND leader, Henry Okah, gave a boost to his efforts, aside the fact that the militants themselves wanted the amnesty but were not sure of government’s seriousness.
“They needed assurances and they felt they could trust me. What I have done is to give them confidence. Amnesty is also their idea, they wanted it. I only opted to put myself forward with assurances of safety. They have now left a life of uncertainty to that of certainty.
“I know they are very serious about returning their arms. They will keep their word and not return to fighting in the creeks.”