Prominent Niger Delta
militants have vowed to
ensure that President
Goodluck Jonathan wins the
February 14 presidential
election.
Mr. Jonathan is of the Ijaw
ethnic stock, and the only
member of a minority tribe
from the South to have ever
governed Nigeria.
The former militants, who
said any attempt to dethrone
the President would be seen
as a direct attack on the Ijaw
nation, threatened to
unleash violence on the
country and take back Niger
Delta oil should Mr.
Jonathan lose re-election.
According to them the
President’s victory in the
election is not negotiable.
The former militant leaders
took the position Friday in
Government House,
Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State
capital, at an enlarged
meeting that was attended
by all the former militant
leaders and their followers
across the Niger Delta
region.
Among those in attendance
were Mujahid Dokubo-Asari,
leader, Niger Delta Peoples
Volunteer Force; Victor Ben
Ebikabowei, aka, Boy Loaf;
and Government
Ekpudomenowei, aka,
Tompolo.
Also in attendance were the
Special Adviser to the
President on Niger Delta
Affairs, and chairman of
Amnesty Implementation
Committee, Kingsley Kuku;
Bayelsa state Governor,
Seriake Dickson and his
deputy; President General of
Ijaw Youth Council, Udengs
Eradiri; among others.
Addressing the meeting,
Dokubo-Asari deplored the alleged
intimidation being meted to the people
of Ijaw stock in Nigeria, saying the
people cannot take it any longer.
”For every Goliath, God created a David.
For every Pharoah, there is a Moses.
“We are going to war. Everyone of you
should go and fortify yourself,’’ he said.
He advised those at the meeting to be
ready for the battle ahead and declared
that Mr. Jonathan would win reelection.
Mr. Dokubo-Asari, who condemned the
attack on Jonathan in the north in the
ongoing presidential campaigns,
maintained that the survival of the Ijaw
nation rests in the hands of the militants
gathered at the meeting.
On his part, Boyloaf condemned the
attack on President Jonathan in the
north, saying nobody has the monopoly
of violence.
He said there is nothing like one Nigeria,
pointing out that oil is the only thing
binding Nigeria’s diverse nationalities
together.
While maintaining that President
Jonathan would win the election, he
however said if the north takes the
power away from Mr. Jonathan, the
people of the Niger Delta region would
take their oil back.
He stressed the need for oneness of
purpose among the people, urging them
to keep their grudges aside and face the
present challenges facing the Ijaw nation
with solidarity.
”Keep grudges and sentiments apart. We
are ready to match them bumper to
bumper,” Boyloaf said.
In his remark, Governor Dickson thanked
the former militant leaders for their
resolve to back the re-election of
President Jonathan with greater vigour
and assured them that he would relate
their position to the President.
He urged them to resist the temptation of
being recruited by the opposition to
destabilize the state.
The governor also charged them to shun
propaganda and blackmail.
