THE Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) may have succeeded with other Ijaw groups and leaders to get the Rivers warlord, Ateke Tom to ceasefire and also prevail on the Ijaw Youth Leadership Forum (IYLC) to accept the instruction of the Ijaw elders that they should return to the negotiating table with the Federal Government on the Niger-Delta peace process. But it�s having a running battle with security agents over a planned meeting of Ijaw youths worldwide, today, on the 199 Kaiama Declaration.
Kaiama Declaration is like an article of faith, a sort of Bible to the Ijaw youths involved in the Niger-Delta struggle. On December 11, 1998 , Ijaw youths drawn from over 500 communities from over 40 Ijaw clans met at Kaiama in Bayelsa State and came up with the way forward, which, is encapsulated today as the Kaiama Declaration. They agreed to take control of their resources by any means possible even if it means arms struggle. That, do doubt gave birth to the arms struggle between then and 2007 but why are the youths meeting again?
If the 1998 meeting at Kaiama gave birth to arms struggle, what will the meeting, 2008 in Oporoza give birth to? The answer to this is unquestionably why the Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta has spread its security dragnet. As at now, both the Ijaw youths and the JTF are closely monitoring each other. But what really is the convention all about? National President of the IYC, Dr. Ekiyor spoke told Saturday Vanguard not only on why they are revisiting the Kaiama Declaration, but, on what the Ijaw youths expect from the Federal Government for peace to reign in the country. He dwelt extensively on the Rivers crisis. His worries about Governor Rotimi Amaechi and lots more. Excerpts.
Ijaw leaders order youths back to negotiating table.
Particularly of note is that the Vice President is an Ijaw man and secondly, he is the number two citizen of the country and when we pulled out of further negotiations with the Federal Government on the Niger-Delta peace process, I am sure that the President called him and they looked at the consequences of our pulling out, which, was like a deadlock, and he initiated a process to talk to our elders, our fathers so that they can reach us. And in the course of calling the elders and leaders of the Niger-Delta, the Ijaw Youth Leaders Forum was also invited and we made it very clear why we pulled out.
We said government was playing double standard, it was negotiating with us on one hand and instructing the army on the other hand to destroy our communities and that was the reason why we pulled out and went home for them to come and destroy us. But the elders and the Vice President after brainstorming decided that the only way to go is dialogue, that they will not allow the youths and the youth leadership to engage government in further conflict.
So they slammed it on us, it was actually an order, not even a plea that the youth leaders must go back to the negotiating table. And then they re-affirmed that they have confidence in our procedures and in return, we demanded that they should through the Vice President tell the President to give a clear-cut instruction to his army to cease all forms of hostilities in the Niger-Delta region, and in return, we will provide the enabling environment for peace and security of lives and property while the negotiation is on.
We�ve been talking for too long, we want result now.
We also insisted that we have negotiated for too long. From the 24th of July to now is quite a long time to be talking. We needed to see some action. Incidentally, the Vice President obliged us that position and said he was going to chair the committee. We were against the Vice President chairing that committee so that we don�t reduce it to an Ijaw affair. But as it stands now, he is the number two citizen and if the number three citizen and the defence have been slow about it, let him come in and let see how far he can pull Mr. President.
Our desire is for Mr. President, not the Vice President to address the Niger-Delta problem. It is only that he is using the Vice President who incidentally is from the region. To us, our elders are our elders, they are our fathers, and the very essence of struggle is to ensure that we give them a bite and we strengthen their position. Whatever position we have taken now as youths, is based on the fundamentals that the elders have laid down. And if they are asking us to go back, we have said to them, it is well by their decision. So we are coming back home to get these organs together and pass them the same instruction to and see how we can get our people to accept the position of the elders because we cannot jump above our elders. If they are so convinced that the dialogue can continue, then, we have no choice than to oblige them that position.
Is there any understanding now that the JTF will cease hostilities to enable the negotiations go on?
I think that the foot soldiers on the ground are the ones creating the problem. Prior to this time, we had agreed that they should demilitarize and stop all forms of hostilities. While that was on table in the paper and not yet implemented, government pronounced amnesty only for Governor Rotimi Amaechi to pass behind the back of the Federal Government to sensitize the army and they started shooting at Okirika. For me, as the IYC president, I looked at it beyond the organogram of the army. I looked at it as some political meandering and maneuvering to either discredit the Chief of Defence Staff, who is an Ijaw man or to undermine the President of the country who is the Grand Commander of the Armed Forces. So it is a challenge to the President. He has to stand firm and stamp his position that the army must cease hostility. The people who are agitating in the Niger-Delta are not criminals; they are not at war with their neighbours or with the Nigerian government. They are fighting fighting because of marginalisation, so the issue is not the issue of inferior power against superior power. It is the issue of development.
What the JTF did is mutiny
Therefore, the army must as a matter of fact, obey the order of Mr. President. For me whatever action they carried out in Rivers state is like mutiny. It is insubordination, if the President of the Federal Republic said cease hostilities, no army officer of whatever ranking should go and give counter order. And why we are asking the army to demilitarise is very clear, when a military officer leaves his command or garrison and he goes to the field with his unit, he becomes commanding officer at that time, he determines whatever measure of force that can be used at that time because he is the man in the field, and if he sends a soldier a further point away from the unit, that soldier is in full command, he also decides what the target is.
So if a youth standing in front of him appears to look like a gun before his eyes, he will just shoot him and eliminate target, sometimes to the detriment of the army. He can even shoot his own brother before he realises that the target is a friendly target. So they are trained to be civilian friendly, they are not trained to be civil, they are trained to delete and I do not see the need for the army to continue to remain among the civil populace, especially when those agitating have ceased hostilities on their part. There�ve not been any hostage- taking; they have not been any kidnapping, vandalisation or even restiveness from the Niger-Delta youths in recent times.
Ateke was provoked
Even in the Ateke axis, there have not been crisis, the man was busy trying to champion the peace process and they just woke up, the governor takes the whole army, they shot at and bombed his community and the excuse was very flimsy � that the man was a sea pirate and a criminal. And the man has said, at his age, he would not be going to boats to collect money from fishermen and women or transporters to run his network. He was spending close to N10 million organizing a peace programme at the time he was attacked.
They found some cash in his house and I ask on my own, they are criminals everywhere, in Lagos , Abuja and Kano , do the army just go to the street, bomb a bank and the whole neighbourhood because a criminal has carried a robbery operation in the bank and killed 10 people. It is not seen except in the Niger-Delta and it is all oil politics.
I think they deliberately provoked Ateke to achieve their desire and that is why we have called on Ateke to cease fire. I called him and told him to stop his counter attack and retaliation because some people do not mean well for the region. The army is very busy destroying those areas so that they can quickly do some fast bunkering and put the blames on the militants. I also think that for Rivers state, a panel of inquiry should be set up and all the stakeholders from 1999 till date should be brought for us to know what the problem actually is. It should be a public hearing, yesterday, it is the Kalabaris, today, it is the Okirikas and the architects of this problem are usually the Ikwerres in government.
Are you saying that the soldiers are involved in bunkering; this is a very strong statement you are making?
I can categorically tell you that they are the major bunkerers. There is no way a big or mother vessel will berth on the waters at the shores of the country and smaller vessels convey crude to load it up for let say a month before it gets filled, and the army and navy say that that they did not know, there must be some conspiracy between the army and the businessmen. In fact, I feel sad that people who do bunkering even in our territory are the ones who take the crumbs when the major bunkerers in the army and businessmen from the North and South-West have done all the bunkering.
The spill over is what the boys go to carry and they are the ones in the news because I don�t see any Ijaw youth that have a mother vessel to lift crude, the people who lift the crude are highly connected people who the government should know. It is just like African Pride disappeared and they were pretending that they did not know – that is what they are doing in the region.
Heavily guarded areas, yet the well heads are removed, oil is being pumped, for one week, two weeks, three weeks, nobody sees them, it is not possible, and there must be some conspiracy between the security agents and the businessmen. And the security agency is the Joint Task Force and they are doing everything possible to remain in the region because they are doing their business. I think that a trained army should be in the barrack s or at the warfront. Now, the JTF has come to stay and they will do everything to create crisis so that they will stay. The other day, they were going to Ezetu and they stopped to shoot at Gbaraun. Gbaraun, probably is one of the only communities in Ijaw land that does not have a camp. They shot at the place and they denied that they were not the ones. So there is a problem of conspiracy between the army and the bunkerers.
Why I question Amaechi�s actions?
For Amaechi, I feel sad, knowing fully well that he came from a trying background where his position as governor is not even certain yet. Following the laws of the land, his being governor is even questionable because he did not contest the election, he won the primaries but did not contest the election, his party was said to have won through somebody else who did not contest the primaries. The facts are clear, if a wrong candidate is fielded in an election, the elections are annulled and fresh elections will be ordered. So I thought he should be careful and apply a lot of wisdom in what he does rather than go to war. I saw him on television; he was in Okirika some days ago, celebrating nothing because he is looking for an Ateke that he has not seen.
He was even insulting the elders, pronouncing and asking the elders, giving them ultimatum to produce Ateke, people who are not armed to produce an armed man.
Even if Ateke was an armed bandit, he was sending the Okirika people to commit suicide. He and the army could not produce the man and he is asking civilians to produce him. His actions for me are questionable. He still has to explain to Nigerians and to the Ijaws why he opted for that action. Until he does that, he should be ready to probably annihilate all the Ijaws in Rivers state, he should not think that he would be able to separate the Okrikas from the Kalabaris because over the years, since 1999, the actions of the Rivers government is like the upland against the riverine.
They have been so much crisis, are you saying that they are no cultists in Ogbokoro, Ubima and all those places. Why did he not just take armoured tank and go and blow up all those places. There are militants in other parts of the region, why is the case of Rivers like this, this is one of the questions we should ask. These people are trading with peace in the state.
How I stopped Ateke from blowing up Rivers State Secretariat
Well, the army is the Nigerian army, Ateke is a Nigerian. I can tell you that from the January 1 till date, I have talking to Ateke virtually every other day to pacify him to down his tools and give peace a chance, and his singular request is that if they don�t attack him, he will not attack. And that is why you have not seen series of attacks after the 31st December night attack.
He had concluded plans before to blow up the state secretariat and some certain structures in Port Harcourt on January 3 but we stopped him. I stopped him. He threatened again that he was going come out every 9.00pm to fight back if the army does not stop the attacks on him; I went to Abuja to talk to the appropriate authorities to get the army to stay action. And so long as the army does not go on the offensive, I can assure that Ateke would wait patiently. He has replaced that government should replace his property; I don�t see anything wrong with that, if the government had come to bomb his house and his property, they should replace it, the law did not say that if there is an outlaw, you should go and bomb his house and property.
But he (Ateke) went to bomb Hotel Presidential, Port-Harcout?
He did not bomb, there was exchange of gunfire, and he was chasing some policemen and the JTF men. I asked him and he said he had said it that he was out for policemen and army and he had told people to avoid army positions before then. But because the Rivers state government brought down his house and the Hotel Presidential belonged to them, he would have brought down the hotel on another date but I told him that the way to go is peace and since he had embraced peace before, he should give us a second chance to address that matter. And he is waiting, am not sure as I speak to you now that he has carried out any attack.
It is because we have asked him to wait, not that he is afraid to. The man has the capacity to make the state ungovernable and I know so and I know that the Rivers state government knows that he can create a state of anarchy in the state and everybody will be running. They may eventually catch him if they want to but I tell you that he is not alone. He has the support of all Ijaw people as far as I am concerned. He may have done certain things wrong but he is repentant and he keyed into the peace process.