Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People on Sunday took up the Federal Government on the rising wave of violence in the Niger Delta, accusing it of not showing enough political will to resolve the crises in the area.
The group said in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Bari-ara Kpalap, that the government was treating the crisis in the area with a non-challant attitude, choosing to respond rather belatedly to major incidents of violence in the area.
Kpalap said that the increasing violence in the region was threatening the nation�s major source of survival and could affect innocent persons if not checked.
MOSOP also condemned the resort by the government to hold ill-conceived meetings with its political stooges in the name of having stakeholders� meeting to resolve the Niger Delta problems.
The group accused the Federal Government of insincerity in its bid to resolve the crisis between the Ogoni and Shell Petroleum Development Company, saying that the administration was not keen on pushing through with the work of the Rev. Matthew Kukah-led committee.
It said, �The resolution of the Ogoni/Shell conflict by the Peace and Reconciliation Committee, which would have aided significantly in resolving other conflicts in the Niger Delta was allowed by the government to die in questionable circumstances, thus sending wrong signals to the people.
�In our view, it is in the interest of the government to bury its pride and come to terms with the realities of the Niger Delta situation instead of politicising the issues.�
The groups kicked against the planned deployment of more troops to the Niger Delta with a view to halting the violence in the region and pave the way for steady oil production.
It advised the administration to take steps to sort out the real stakeholders in the region and hold genuine dialogue with them with a view to ending the raging violence there.
The MOSOP statement was released following Saturday�s bomb blast near the Rivers State Government House in Port Harcourt barely ten minutes after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta warned that it had planted car bombs in two strategic locations in the Niger Delta.
The group had warned that the bombs would be detonated shortly after its message and it did.