President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday hinted that the Federal Government could launch a full military campaign against the militants engaged in hostage taking activities in the Niger Delta.
This hint came in the form of a stern warning which Obasanjo made to the militants and their sponsors, saying that the Federal Government could actually hit back by applying serious military force to counter their antics in the oil rich region.
Obasanjo also declared that the Federal Government had decided to view hostage activities in the area as a criminal activity rather than as an expression of grievance.
The President gave this warning at the Stakeholders Forum on the Socio-Economic Development of the Coastal States of the Niger Delta, held at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja .
Against the backdrop of the continuous increase in the brazen activities of the militants, particularly against expatriates working in oil exploratory outfits in the Niger Delta, Obasanjo explained that the Federal Government�s soft approach should not be regarded as a sign of weakness.
�That we are not hitting back is not a sign of weakness, and we can hit back. In this day and age there is no where you can hide that we cannot see you�, he said.
The President expressed regrets that the hostage activities continued to escalate despite the several developmental measures initiated by the Federal Government for the oil producing communities.
�We are actually addressing these grievances (of the Niger Delta people) and all we get back for this is hostage taking. What nonsense!�
Continuing, he said that hostage taking was a criminal activity that could not be justified.
He also advised community leaders to restrain their youths from further participating in the criminal act.
�Hostage taking is no longer a means of addressing grievances, it is a criminal act. It is not an act of agitation, it is not as a result of marginalisation or lack of the opportunity to express their opinion that is making them take other people hostage, and it is simply an act of criminality that should be treated as such.
�This is costing us very dearly and the only reason this is happening is because you do not have the love of your people and country at heart and no person who calls himself a community leader should condone this�
However, in a move to allay fears that the various efforts at addressing Niger Delta grievances will terminate with the exit of his administration by May 29, the President disclosed that the incoming government would continue from where he stopped.
�The Niger Delta policy will not end with the end of the tenure of this administration, there will only be a change of baton. The exit of some of us will also mean the incoming of some of us and the exercise will continue.�
As had been the case in all the previous meetings of the Forum, Obasanjo asked the governors of the coastal states, �What did you do with your money?�
The query was in reaction to the complaints by officials from the states over the perceived inability of the Niger Delta Development Commission to meet their huge expectations.
But with reference to the allocations derived by the affected states from the Federation Account, Obasanjo said that they should not blame the NDDC.
�NDDC is controlling nine states, and each of this nine states gets more money than the NDDC. Don�t be blaming the NDDC, so what have you done with your money? When you are shouting NDDC, I think it is a matter of misplaced priorities�, he explained.
He urged the governments in the area to place greater emphasis on job creation and employment as a means of keeping the youth off the criminal activity of hostage taking.
in the same vein, Akwa-Ibom State Governor, Obong Victor Attah, agreed with the President that hostage taking had gone beyond the limits of expression of genuine grievances.
Attah admitted that the acts being perpetrated by the militants in the Niger Delta were indeed crimes.
�We must address this issue of criminality as opposed to genuine grievances�, he said while calling on all leaders in the area to join hands to nip hostage taking in the bud.
At the meeting, which attracted a mammoth crowd of several Niger Delta officials, local council chairmen from the coastal states, presented progress reports on their developmental projects.
All the concerned state governors were also present, including the governors of Edo , Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Ondo state