Niger Delta crisis is real danger, says Eso
From Madu Onuorah (Abuja) and Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt), Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Guardian

EMINENT jurist, Justice Kayode Eso, yesterday placed on the first burner the lingering crisis in the Niger Delta and its implications for national stability.

Eso, who is the chairman of the Rivers State Truth and Reconciliation Commission, warned that any attempt to pay lip service to the conflict by the various stakeholders could spell doom for the country.

In fact, Eso said that with the protracted crisis, Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gun-powder and called for drastic measures that would make insurgent groups lay down arms and address the root causes of their emergence.

The Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, who appeared before the commission yesterday in Port Harcourt as its first witness, denied conspiring or arranging with any persons to buy arms and arm groups to achieve any political or economic objective.

In his opening speech at the beginning of the commission's public hearing, Eso noted that the contents of the over 200 memoranda received by the commission point to one salient fact: all is not well with the Niger Delta which is the economic backbone of the country.

He said: "The contents of the memoranda, which we have received, have gone a long way for anyone to come to a conclusion that all is certainly not well with the Niger Delta, the economy pivot of the nation and unless something is done drastically and urgently, this country is sitting on a keg of gun-powder."

Eso noted that from the submissions, there were accusations that politicians had armed some insurgent groups in the region, while those engaged in acts of insurrection accused the government of ruling the region without the least consideration for the people.

According to him, "open and veiled wars have been unleashed on the innocent citizens. Most importantly, the problem has given rise to international recognition of the dastardly situation and its effects on world economy. Oil producing corporations have been made to suffer both in manpower and materials."

He continued: "The effect of the insurgency is already radiating globally and the unprecedented rise in oil prices is being associated with the unrest in the region, which has become an ill-wind that blows nobody any good."

Eso explained that the commission is not a witch-hunting body nor is it designed to lure in the insurgents. Rather, he said it is primarily to identify what has gone wrong, where and who are the actors.

Amaechi said that since the beginning of his political career, he had never used or approved the use of armed groups or thugs to win elections.

He also said that from his days as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly till when he became the governor, he had never organised, conspired, sponsored or armed anyone to attack or intimidate or assassinate any person.

The governor, who was in the witness stand for over three hours, said during his tenure as the Speaker of the state legislature, he had become increasingly worried by the use of firearms by youths to settle grievances either for themselves or on behalf of their sponsors.

He said that this concern spurred him to come up with the Secret Cults Law, which he lamented had been honoured more in breach than in the observance. He also noted that the Pyrate Confraternity is the only association on the list of prohibited groups that has sued the state government on the matter.

Despite assurances that security agencies would not arrest them, kingpins of the major militant groups like Ateke Tom, Soboma George and Fara Dagogo accused of sponsoring the recent disturbances in Rivers failed to appear before the commission.

Ateke, who was represented by his counsel, Prince Hussein Omoh Egielemai, alleged that Amaechi had ordered the destruction of his camp and his houses. The wanted militia leader said he lost N5.2 million in cash when the Joint Task Force (JTF) raided his camp at Okochiri and demanded for compensation.

Amaechi, who denied planting arms at Ateke's house, also declared that he stopped the Senate President, David Mark, from visiting him in the creeks because the Federal Government had not rescinded its decision to get him arrested and tried.

Ateke, according to him, had in 2004 in the presence of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Aso Rock, Abuja, admitted to having killed over 2,000 persons. The governor said the forgiveness of the various militia leaders would depend on the collective will of the people of the state.

Amaechi, who promised to enforce the law, apologised for the inability of the past governments in the state to do so hence the situation the state now finds itself.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, has announced that the Nigerian Navy will set up four more bases to give impetus to the fight against illegal bunkering and militancy in the Niger Delta.

He also stated yesterday in Abuja that the Navy would in the next two weeks take delivery of weapon systems and other Naval equipment, including 17-metre fast patrol boats and Augusta helicopters.

Adekeye told journalists at Naval Headquarters that insinuations that the Navy has the highest rate of retirement in the Armed Forces is "totally false."

He said: "As a matter of fact, our rate of retirement was never higher than any arm of the Armed Forces. This is a fact that can be checked. Moreover, we cannot say because we are expanding and acquiring new equipment, we will not retire those who are due or those that are counter-productive to the service. Furthermore, if there is no such exercise, how do we promote younger and promising officers?"

The Naval boss however lamented the state of available platforms, saying: "We have two ships that were evenly distributed between the two commands and at best level, only one was working at a time. But we are now able to put more ships to sea for exercises and patrols. Right now, we have about three to four ships patrolling. That is why we do not have so much problems arising from offshore anymore."

Adekeye described piracy as a major challenge facing the service, noting that a number of factors contribute to the problems faced by the Navy in arresting the situation.

Although the Naval chief reiterated the ability and commitment of the JTF to tackle militancy in the Niger Delta, he said the drastic reduction in piracy offshore was responsible for the increase in the level of criminality in the form of militancy, kidnapping and bank robbery.