Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, on Sunday blamed the kidnap of foreign oil workers on their refusal to leave the region despite several warnings by militants.
He reiterated to journalists in Port Harcourt that the expatriates have no reason to stay back when the owners of the land have asked them to go.
“We asked them to leave our land,” he recalled, “but they refused and sided with the Nigerian military, believing the Army would protect them.
“The foreign oil workers should leave our land peacefully and come back when we might have resolved our differences with the government”.
Although Dokubo decried hostage taking, he explained that the problem has gone beyond what a single individual like himself could stop overnight.
He accused the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo of instigating the Niger Delta violence to extend his tenure and further destabilise the Ijaw.
He implored Abuja to also find an answer to the conflict.
Dokubo described the Obasanjo government as “the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria because it made more money than any other but ended up having nothing to show to the people after eight years in office.
“I will fight Obasanjo to a standstill by leading the campaign for him to be brought to justice to account for gross human rights abuses, corruption and maladministration from 1999 to 2007”.
He warned that unless Obasanjo and all Governors who stole from the treasury are brought to book, there would be no peace in Nigeria and the Niger Delta in particular,
“Obasanjo used his position to enrich six Nigerian entrepreneurs through the oil resources of the Niger Delta, with five Yoruba and a Northerner as direct beneficiaries, to the detriment of the people of the Niger Delta”.
Dokubo also castigated Obasanjo for diverting resources from the region to build the OKNLG in his home state of Ogun while the Brass LNG is yet to come on stream.
“We shall see if the OKNLG will work. If the Kaduna Refinery has worked, then the OKLNG will work. Let us just wait and see. We can only allow it to function if they give us justice and allow us to control our resources.
“You cannot threaten us with the military and turn round to divert our resources to empower a few persons when the owners are dying of hunger and environmental problems”.
He promised to carry on with the struggle for self determination for the Niger Delta, and said he is ready to lay down his life to ensure freedom and justice for his people.
“I am not afraid to die for the people, having reached the age of 43 and taken the cause of the Ijaw to a point from which I cannot retreat”.
Would he support the administration of President Umaru Yar�Adua and his Deputy, Goodluck Jonathan?
Dokubo said he has nothing to do with any government and would only watch the actions and utterances of the two men to inform his decisions.
On the issue of bail conditions given him by the court, he insisted that he is not a party to any agreement and not bound by anything, as he is neither a politician nor a militant but “an Ijaw nationalist”.
A few hours before Dokubo spoke in Port Harcourt, militants had invaded a facility belonging to Agip in Ogboinbiri, Bayelsa State, where they overpowered troops of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in a shoot-out.
The soldiers were chased away and it seemed no life was lost in the attack, which could be a revenge for the nine militants killed by the JTF last Wednesday in Ogboinbiri.
JTF Public Relations Officer, Major Ochugwuba Omale, confirmed that the soldiers were over-powered in the gun duel.
The Movement Of The Niger Delta People (MONDP) later issued a statement that the release of Dokubo is not enough to end the conflict.
“Although we are quite pleased with the release of our leader, we want to warn that the multinational companies operating in the area should not use this as an excuse to continue with the non-challant way they carried on before the commencement of our pro-active actions”, the statement, signed by MONDP spokesman, Preye Amazo, said.
“We have earlier demanded that they review their operational policies in the area towards their host communities and we are still insisting on this as a criterion to ensure the total cessation of all hostilities.
“We enjoin the multinational companies to be advised and motivated by the example shown � by Umaru Yar’adua in releasing (Dokubo). This act of ‘Good Faith’ must be replicated by the multinationals if lasting peace is to be achieved in the Niger Delta.
“In the interim, we have commenced modalities for the release of the expatriates in our custody. We make no firm promises, but we are quite confident that (they) will regain their freedom as soon as possible.
“The expatriates are Jan Van De Mortel (Dutch), James Thorburn (British), Massaoud Ahmadi (French), and Salman Ahmad (Pakistani)”.