Niger Delta ex-militants have threatened to shut down oil exploitation, in their region if the Federal Government fails to meet up with some demands.
General John Duku of Niger Delta Watchdogs and convener of Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators, and other representatives of major groups across the Niger Delta region issued the threat in a statement yesterday in Abuja saying that the country would be ungovernable if the recent accounts of Benue and Akwa Ibom State governments frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are not unfrozen.
The agitators said, if the acting chairman of the EFCC is not sacked, economic activities of the country would be brought to a standstill.
The ex-militants said: “After carefully studying the recent political development in Nigeria in general and Niger Delta in particular, the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators hereby wishes to state as follows:
“We hereby condemn the recent freezing of the Akwa Ibom State government account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and we view it as an act of intimidation by agents of the federal government and APC in order to weaken the smooth running of government in the Niger Delta state and we hereby warn the EFCC and other agents of government to desist from this act of official recklessness and breach of Constitution.
You May Also Like Militants give FG 14-day ultimatum to make budgetary provision for FUPRE
“It is indeed regrettable to observe that the EFCC has been used as a tool to fight against perceived political opponents, instead of carrying out its constitutional duties without bias, as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The EFCC’s fight against corruption has been lopsided without proper investigation or arrest of so many treasury looters who are still looting the public treasury in the Presidency till date.“The action of the EFCC and the federal government is against the laid down procedure of investigation stipulated in the EFCC Acts; the EFCC has no right or basis whatsoever to freeze any state government account.
Doing so against the Akwa Ibom State government is, therefore, a calculated attempt to cripple the activities of the state government, label its officials as corrupt and punish the innocent people of Akwa Ibom State. From all indications, the attack is not on Governor Udom Emmanuel but on the good people of the state because of the personal hatred the APC-led government has for the people of the state in particular and the Niger Delta as a whole.
“We want to ask, why is it that EFCC singles out opposition states like Akwa Ibom and Benue states for this unjust act? Why are they not seeing the glaring corruption perpetrated by Kogi and Imo states governors and other APC states?
Why does the EFCC not arrest many corrupt officials celebrated in the Presidency till now? Why don’t they arrest the scriptwriter and most corrupt Senator Godswill Akpabio who looted the state’s treasury for eight years and suddenly becomes a saint as soon as he crossed over to APC and instructed the EFCC to freeze Akwa Ibom State government account without any evidence of corruption against its officials?
“We hereby condemn the recent anti-Saraki threat by Miyetti Allah leaders and describe it as treasonable. We also warn that any further attempt to attack or forcefully remove the Senate President from office shall be met with stiff resistance from the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators and we promise that all business activities in the Niger Delta shall be completely shut down.
To prove to us that the Federal Government and APC are not using Miyetti Allah group, the government should, as a matter of urgency, arrest and prosecute the leaders of Miyetti Allah, to serve as a deterrent to others.
“We totally condemn the threats to the life of the executive Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom, and the people of Benue State by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria. It would be recalled that this is not the first time the governor has raised the alarm over herdsmen’s planned attack on the Benue people and it happened.
We, therefore, warn Miyetti Allah group and its sponsors to desist from any further attack on Benue people to avoid reprisal, while we call on Mr. President and security agencies to put a stop to the killings across the country with immediate effect.
“Finally, we shall not fold our arms and watch these criminal activities continue unabated as any further attempt or attack on any official of Akwa Ibom State government shall be seen as an attack on Niger Delta people and we shall take it personally with the federal government.
We, therefore, call on the federal government to sack the EFCC chairman with immediate effect for abuse of office and restructure the country before 2019 general election, otherwise, we shall ensure that the economic base from the Niger Delta is shut down.”
