The command headquarters of militants in the Niger Delta, under the aegis of the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), as well as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), have denied any involvement in the recent abduction of five Chinese nationals and Naval personnel in the Niger Delta.
Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Owoeye Azazi, also yesterday in Port Harcourt, blamed criminal-based militancy for the continued upsurge in kidnapping and hostage taking in the Niger Delta, saying those whose agitations were based on ideology had long stopped the practice.
This came just as Emouha Local Government Chairman, Hon Emeka Woke, claimed the abductors of the Chinese nationals had indirectly made contacts with him and were making monetary demands. He did not elaborate.
Both JRC and MEND spoke differently through online messages where they said they neither approved nor carried out the raids and blamed those who were working to undermine or trivialise Ijaw cause for the actions.
While JRC spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte said the kidnappings and clashes, as recently witnessed, were capable of negatively affecting the Ijaw and Niger Delta struggle of social, economic and political liberation, Gbomo Jomo of MEND said they were also not involved.
“The Joint Revolutionary Council and all her alliance members wish to herein dissociate itself from the incidents of breaches of the peace of the past week involving the abduction of Chinese workers and the abduction and hostage keeping of personnel of the Naval forces of the Nigerian state.
“We wish to condemn in very strong terms any attempt by anyone to undermine and trivialise the Ijaw and Niger Delta struggle for the social, economic and political liberation of our people”, JRC said.
Both, however, blamed the deteriorating situation on President Olusegun Obasanjo�s attempt to muffle the voice of the people who have been suffering under the pains of economic exploitation and environmental degradation without recompense.
Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Owoeye Azazi, yesterday in Port Harcourt, blamed criminal-based militancy for the continued upsurge in kidnapping and hostage taking in the Niger Delta, saying those whose agitations were based on ideology had long stopped the practice.
According to him, all that was needed now was for the security agencies in charge of checking criminals to embark on more intelligence gathering and collaborate to stop the activities.
Speaking during a visit to the 2nd Amphibious Brigade, Bori Camp, he denied that the dialogue he embarked on with the militants had failed, insisting that those who have genuine agitation and with whom he had been speaking with had stopped kidnapping.
Azazi argued that checking those with criminal tendencies was more difficult except if handled through the crime prevention strategy as their consideration would be more economic than any other thing.
He however insisted that he was going to continue promoting dialogue as he was yet to consider the continued militancy in the region as failure of his present approach.
�It is not every hostage taking that is ideological. Most are criminal and it is the criminals that are promoting these incidents we have now. I don�t think we should call them militants but criminals. It is these criminals that are involved in incessant hostage taking but we will continue to promote dialogue.
�Since the matter is criminal, the primary responsibility is not mine but the body that has responsibility to deal with criminals. The problem is not a military problem. It is not a question of the military confronting the militants�, he said.
Asked if he was not considering a change in strategy, he replied that dialogue as a strategy was not wrong, adding, �We are discussing with the boys�.
Jan92007