The leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr Ledum Mitee, who, in 1995 narrowly escaped being hanged alongside the famous Ogoni Nine has said that kidnaping, hostage taking and other related crimes may not stop in the Niger Delta.
Mitee was arraigned before a military tribunal together with the outspoken activist and writer, the late Ken Saro Wiwa and eight others in 1995 by the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha, over their alleged culpability in the killing of four traditional rulers in Ogoni land, but he was released thereafter.
He took over the reins of the organisation after its leader, Saro Wiwa was convicted by the military tribunal, thereby making MOSOP one of the leading and outspoken critics of the Abacha government in the Niger Delta region.
The MOSOP leader said in Kaduna at the weekend that kidnapping and hostage taking in the Niger Delta region, just like armed robbery in all parts of the country, has come to stay.
He made the observation in a lecture entitled “The Niger-Delta: A Vision for Nigeria’s Economic Development” he delivered at the Fifth All Nigerian Editors Conference.
He said that kidnapping and hostage taking had become a “blossoming venture” where huge money is realised by its perpetrators.
The MOSOP president’s pessimism is coming at a time when President Umaru Musa Yar’adua is asking all militants in the Niger Delta to lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty from the federal government.
The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), the umbrella militant group in the oil-rich region has rejected the government’s offer, calling it unrealistic.
In a release last Thursday, the group said, “MEND considers the amnesty for surrender of arms offer by Mr Umaru Yar’adua as unrealistic.”
“Such an offer by a government known for its insincerity must first be given to those who are being held captive by the Nigerian state for the rest of us to take seriously,” MEND said, referring to Okah.
“Ironically, it should be the people of the Niger Delta considering amnesty to the military and the past and present leadership of a corrupt Nigeria for the evil perpetrated in the region,” it said.
In his speech at the weekend in Kaduna, Mitee said, “It (kidnapping) has even grown into a frightening tool in the resolution of family, business and political disagreements for economic benefits.
“With a pervasive regime of poverty, an increasing army of unemployed youths, a ready pool of recruitable youths for political thuggery, the natural result is militancy, which has found expression in all sorts of violence, including kidnapping,” he said.
He said that the challenge facing the nation was redirecting and refocusing the Niger Delta struggle from the present pervasive climate of criminality.
“This will be the most difficult and challenging task, considering the fact that there are many people benefiting from the present situation,” he said.
He said that the most obvious benefactors in the crisis, were an array of security interests who demand additional resources, contracts, equipment and payment.
Mitee also blamed international private security firms, expatriates workers, international insurance companies, military hardware contractors and some state governments of fanning the crisis in the region.
He said that local warlords who control bunkering routes and those associated with ransom payments also make significant benefits from the crisis.
He urged the federal government to treat the issue of criminality in the region separately from the genuine agitation for a better deal by the people of the region.
At a meeting of the national executive of his ruling People’s Democratic Party, President Yar’adua said the government was buying new equipment for its special military force in the Niger Delta to better fight militants in the region.
“As the government prepares its military for war against the peace loving people of the Niger Delta, we wish to warn that the freedom fighters are ready. Our differences have been put aside to face a common enemy,” MEND said.
The past three years have seen an upsurge in militant activities in the region with frequent attacks on foreign oil companies and a wave of kidnappings of expatriate employees.
The unrest has drastically reduced Nigeria’s oil output, with daily production currently standing at around 1.78 million barrels, according to the International Energy Agency, compared to 2.6 million barrels in 2006.