US, Delta govt lobby Ijaw youths on hostages

OFFICIALS of the United States of America (USA) embassy and the Delta State government stormed the venue of a strategy-planning session by Ijaw youths from all the states in the Niger-Delta at Effurun in Delta State, yesterday, to lobby the youths to prevail on the militants to release the three hostages that are still being held in the creeks.

The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atutwase II also at his palace in Warri on Sunday shocked an Ijaw leader, Chief Wellington Okirika, when he asked him pointedly the whereabouts of the hostages and when the Ijaw militants would release them.

Secretary to the Delta State Government (SSG), Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who addressed the Ijaw youths at the meeting allayed their fears that the Federal Government would strike and urged them to release the hostages.

Present at the meeting were the President of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC), Dr. Bello Oboko, the linkman who the militants handed over five of the six freed hostages to deliver to Governor James Ibori; a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Mr Kingsley Kuku; a member of the proposed Ijaw Negotiating Committee with the Federal Government, Mr. Dennis Otuaro and others.

Vanguard gathered that the diplomats besieged the meeting because they believed that the hostages would be released once the youths agreed and sent a message to the militants in the creeks.

One of the diplomats who spoke to Vanguard said: �We are worried by the continuous detention of the hostages and we have to come here because from what we have seen, the youths here are capable of handling the situation.

�We are not comfortable with the promises made by the government that the people would soon be released when indications on the ground do not justify such confidence. We have also found out that the youths are not taking directives from the elders and leaders of the region on this matter and that is why we decided to establish direct contact with them,� he said.

As at 6.00 pm, the diplomats were still waiting at the venue for the Ijaw youths leaders to round off their deliberations for them to meet them one-on-one.
Some of the youth leaders from Rivers, Delta, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Edo States who gathered under the aegis of Ijaw Youths Leadership Forum met with the diplomats after the meeting to hear their appeal.

Ijaw leader, Chief Okirika, who faced the Olu of Warri�s acid test was among the Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri leaders that visited the Itsekiri monarch to brief him and his chiefs about the activities of the rejuvenated Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri Leaders Forum.

He was initially jolted by the Olu�s straight demand but rose to the occasion thereafter and told the monarch that the militants would be freed in three days time, which is tomorrow.

Dr. Uduaghan who briefed newsmen on his discussions with the youths at the close-door meeting said: �Our appeal was for them to assist us to bring out the hostages and they responded that they will deliberate on it and they will get back to us. However, they are also saying that the hostages are serving as human shields and that there is still apprehension on the side of the militants that they will still be attacked if the hostages are released.�

FG talks tough on hostages

The Federal Government has rejected fresh calls by Ijaw leaders to make some concessions to the militants to oil the way for the release of the three hostages. Vanguard learnt that instead, President Olusegun Obasanjo dispatched top officials of his government from the region to go and talk to their people for the last time. Among them is the Minister of Police Affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo, who met with Ijaw leaders in Warri.

President Obasanjo was said not to be happy that in spite of the redeployment of the Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, Brigadier- General Elias Zamani, who the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) claimed bombarded Ijaw communities, the militants were still holding on to the hostages.

Alaowei Bozimo who said he had been shuttling between Warri and Abuja at great risk to his life since the Delta-nine hostage incident warned that the Ijaw militants might be overplaying themselves if they refuse this time to heed to good advice. �It is an abomination of international principle for government to enter into negotiation with people who take hostages,� he said

Senator Ehinlawo wants dialogue

Meanwhile, chairman of the Senate Committee on Navy, Senator Hosea Ehinlawo, has dismissed calls for a military solution to the persisting crisis in the Niger Delta, asserting that the alleged militants in the region are not enemy combatants.

Affirming the appropriation of sufficient funds in the 2006 budget to beef up the operational efficiency of the Navy, Senator Ehinlawo, nevertheless, called for dialogue between the government and the aggrieved militants in the Niger Delta area towards a lasting solution.

He, however, said his call for dialogue did not justify continued militancy and disruption of infrastructure in the Niger Delta heartland. �It is not the Navy alone that will have to fight them. These people are citizens of this country. They are asking for something, they are agitating for something. The government also has a capacity to play in this issue,” he said.

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