Tom Ateke, Icheoku says, whatever you do, do not crawl on your knees to genuflect before your oppressors! You must not surrender and be taken prisoner by your oppressors; otherwise what you stood for and fought for, with so many peoples' lives sacrificed and some now dependent thereon, would have been in vain. Remember Biafra and what the Igbo man is forced to deal with in today's Nigeria because of that single mistake of an unfinished, inconclusive war? Why not cultivate a different fate for yourself and your people of the Niger Delta and persevere in this struggle? Please reject President Umaru Yar'Adua's amnesty, it is an omnious trap! Remember that the North does not keep her promises; and if in doubt, ask what happened with the promised three Rs of of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction by Yakubu Gowon at the end of the civil war? Remember the promise of federal character principle which was the pivot of all federal postings and appointments; and check for yourself how far President Umaru Yar'Adua is keeping to that promise? Remember Umaru Yar'Adua's promised power emergency declaration and see how fast he had declared that much needed power emergency in Nigeria? With Umaru Yar'Adua there is no honor in his dictionary, so he will at the convenient time, once again, renege with his promise to grant you unconditional amnesty when his minions find a convincing reason to eliminate you. If truly you have worked for the State Security Service, then you know exactly what that midnight police escort out of the cell portends? Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida conducted the freest election ever in Nigeria but when the time came to keep faith with the result, he reneged and annulled it? Sani ABacha would not even entertain dialogue and hung Ken Saro-Wiwa without any justification whatsoever, except to remove him from his opposition to injustice of the Hausa-Fulani? Tom Ateke, only cowards go to their captors in chains, so be a brave man and think about Ken Niweigha and do the right thing. If you surrender now, when what motivated your militancy has not been resolved or addressed, the whole world will see you as an opportunist, waiting to be acknowledged and possibly rewarded? Such a u-turn will show, you do not have a core and that you are an unprincipled man who would abandon his followers mid-stream; once convenient? Think about all the boys who call you leader and laid their lives pushing through your agenda? Is it fair to now tell them that you were wrong all this while? Instead of your surrender, if the Fulani-Hausa North is serious, let they convene a sovereign national conference to iron out all the issues afflicting Nigeria including the Niger Delta? At best if the JTF's heat is too much for you, go under and lay low or even leave Nigeria for the time being, like your compatriot Tompolo; but to surrender to these feudalistic lords is simply sacrilege as it will show that you never had convictions in the first place? The Hausa-Fulani North made their kinsmen both the Petroleum Minister and Managing Director of the NNPC and they want to talk amnesty with the owners of the oil? My question to you Tom Ateke is, what makes you believe that this time, they will be different; more-so since your freedom activities had claimed some lives and disrupted so much ever since? What makes you think that they will not shoot you and blame armed robbers for so doing? Did you ask what happened to Ken Niweigha who was shot at the back and killed in cold-blood? Icheoku wants you to know that with the Hausa-Fulani, they only know one thing, and one thing only, conquer and plunder? Please Mr. Ateke, Icheoku asks you to think through the ramifications of this purported move of yours to capitulate and go prostrate before your Hausa-Fulani tormentors. It does not matter the term of the surrender or how finely it was couched and worded as a presidential amnesty; the real question should be, what has changed since you decided to pitch battle in the struggle for the emancipation of the peoples of the Niger Delta? If you believe in something and you are not prepared to die for it, then an opportunist might as well be your other name. The Hausa-Fulani has not shown any serious interest at a genuine reconciliation. They are still holding Okah captive; they are ravenously looking for Tompolo? They have killed Ken Niweigha? Several other Niger Delta youths, women and children have died since the struggle as a result of their scorch-earth aerial bombardment of the Niger Delta? Several palaces of traditional rulers have been decimated in the Niger Delta, a thing you cannot imagine with the emirs or sultans yet it is ok with Niger Delta royals?
So what makes you think that as soon as you surrenders, that the events of the Niger Delta will change for good? Please do not be fooled by these empty promises of amnesty, because if President Umaru Yar'Adua does not kill you on direct orders, someone-else somewhere would, may be someone who may feel betrayed by your defection or even the feeling of it? Rivers State's Governor Amechi is already raising objection about your amnesty, so you can now tell that some freedoms are not worth the free in them?
So what makes you think that as soon as you surrenders, that the events of the Niger Delta will change for good? Please do not be fooled by these empty promises of amnesty, because if President Umaru Yar'Adua does not kill you on direct orders, someone-else somewhere would, may be someone who may feel betrayed by your defection or even the feeling of it? Rivers State's Governor Amechi is already raising objection about your amnesty, so you can now tell that some freedoms are not worth the free in them?
Tom Ateke, please do not surrender your manhood; it is cowardly to accept this amnesty! Look at Biafran-Igbos who are still suffering in Nigeria almost four decades after, because of a similar mistake which Philip Effiong led them into in 1970? If you must know, the world is putting pressure on President Umaru Yar'Adua to end the Niger Delta invasion; and he is trying to placate them with this his rushed offers of amnesty to quickly end the struggle of the brave youths of the Niger Delta? So why make it easy for him now when a little perseverance is all that is needed for a third party's conciliatory proceedings? If Umaru Yar'Adua is serious and sincere about the plight of the Niger Delta, why is he not addressing the issues fueling the activism? Why would he appoint both the minister of petroleum and managing director of NNPC from the north and not the Niger Delta that owns the oil? Instead of a slavish surrender, demand for talks/conference and condition the amnesty thereon; it is more productive than accepting a condescending amnesty like a beggarly person. Tom Ateke, Icheoku says, there must be no retreat and no surrender! The nearest hour to dawn is always the darkest but your daylight as well as the greater Niger Delta peoples', is nearer today than it was yesterday and you must not capitulate now! Aluta continua, Tom! The people of the Niger Delta appreciates your bravery! APB:- Nigerian soldiers are committing war crimes in the Niger Delta of Nigeria; for evidence, now click Watch how the JTF killed the Boma Brothers in the ...
Posts
Christy 'Apena' Essien-Igbokwe , the wife of Jegede Shokoya of the New Masquerade and Nigeria's lady of songs is dead; she was 51years old. Although her family claimed that "brief Illness" killed her like so many Nigerians; Icheoku retorts that it was most likely AKwa Ibom voodoo and remote control that was used to arrest her. It is on record that she had fallen out with the governor of her native Akwa Ibiom State and have been having a relentless war for political turf with the governor? So who knows whether she was sacrificed to Ekpe cult or even Alusi-Okija as an offal; afterall African science is still very much alive and portent. May her soul rest in peace.
.jpg)
Amnesty: Dokubo Arrested
ReplyDeleteBy Ofonime Umanah (Port Harcourt) and_Tunde Opeseitan (Lagos)
Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahideen Dokubo-Asari, was arrested at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday by the operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on his way from Germany.
His cousel, Festus Keyamo, told Daily Independent on the telephone on Tuesday night that Dokubo was coming from Frankfurt where he had been since May 23 for medical check up.
According to Keyamo, as he was coming out of the aircraft, SSS men swooped on him and seized his passport.
"They did not tell him why he was arrested, and he has been whisked to an unknown destination. He managed to speak with me on phone," Keyamo recounted.
He said the implication of the arrest on the amnesty proposed by President Umaru Yar'Adua is that militants will be scared from the peace process.
"Those who would have embrace the peace process will shy away. It shows that the Federal Government is not sincere. The whole amnesty is a grand trap to lure the militants out and imprison them."
Attempts to reach the Lagos State SSS boss, Ibrahim Audu, on phone were unsuccessful as he neither picked his calls nor replied the text message sent to him.
Before news of the arrest broke, militants had on Tuesday listed conditions for accepting the amnesty to include unconditional release of Henry Okah, leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), and the dropping of treason charges against Dokubo.
Niger Delta Non Violent Movement (NDNVM) President, Onengiya Erekosima, disclosed that henchmen such as Ateke Tom and Soboma George also want their names expunged from criminal records which arose from the government's intransigence on the Niger Delta question.
He said they describe themselves as victims of the lust for power of the political class and its rabid ambition.
He quoted them as saying that the government should discontinue military bombardments and operations in any part of the Niger Delta, as George, Boy Loaf, Fara Dagogo and others have all agreed to embrace peace - just that they cannot trust Abuja which in the past dealt with militants who accepted reconciliation.
Said Erekosima: "Their fear is hinged on previous insincerity of the government towards peace. For instance, Soboma came out from his hiding to negotiate peace only to be arrested by the JTF (Joint Task Force) in Buguma.
"Tom Polo canvassed for peace among so-called militants, he became a target for assassination and arrest. Dokubo embraced peace and was arrested, detained, and prosecuted.
"Tom accepted peace, but he was not encouraged; rather a military assault was launched on his base."
Erekosima warned that there may be total war if amnesty offer does not meet the conditions listed by the militants.
Flowing from that, 52 Niger Delta communities - including Gbaramatu, Oporoza, Okerenko, Pre-Ama and Opele-Ama - have sued the Federal Government to the Federal High Court in Asaba, challenging the invasion by troops.
The suit filed on their behalf on Monday by human rights activist, Femi Falana, seeks N100 billion.
Nelson Ogelegbanwei of Oporoza and other leaders took the lawsuit, in which they joined as respondents President Umaru Yar'Adua; federal Attorney General and Justice Minister, Michael Aondoakaa; and JTF Commander, Major-General Sarkin Yarkin-Bello.
They alleged, among others, that the military incursion was ordered by Yar'Adua without any law enacted by the National Assembly, and want the court to restrain the defendants from deploying soldiers to the Niger Delta without legislative backing.
However, JTF Spokesman, Rabe Abubakar, reiterated on Tuesday that the cordon and search operation in Nembe in Bayelsa is to weed out criminals.
He said nine suspects were arrested while 142 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, six empty magazines, two dane guns and a speed boat were recovered
Dokubo declared the amnesty offer as a fraud, even though Yar'Adua clarified that he was never arrested, and pledged to return peace and stability to the Niger Delta by the end of this year.
ReplyDeleteBut after he broke free of the SSS on Wednesday, he told journalists at the office of his Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, that accepting the amnesty offer would rubbish the struggle of Ijaw leaders such as Isaac Boro.
In his view, "everything is wrong with this amnesty; it's meant to divert the struggle, so it is a fraud, and will not work until the issue of sovereignty is resolved. This jamboree called amnesty will not succeed, it is useless.
"Amnesty means that you are being pardoned for committing a crime. Yar'Adua is standing like God giving out amnesty, but what is the fundamental of our struggle which Saro Wiwa and Isaac Boro laid down their lives for?
"The issue is about sovereignty, nationhood, and the identity of a people. So for me, I cannot receive amnesty from anybody, I have done nothing wrong by taking up arms to protect my father's land.
"When did they decide to give amnesty? It was when they realised that they are losing the battle. They realised that the economic fortune of the country is dwindling, and all of a sudden amnesty became desirable.
"We do not want to die, I have a Fulani wife, I have a child that is going to be half Fulani and half Ijaw, a hybrid between Fulani and Ijaw; and I wonder what the child will look like when he grows up.
"I don't want to fight, I have four wives and 24 children, and more children are still coming, so I don't want to die. But I respect my dignity more that any other thing."
Dokubo said Tom Polo, who is "still in the country," is the best material the government has to bring peace to the Niger Delta because he is respected by everybody, "level headed and does not kill people, and does not believe in kidnapping."
Despite his skepticism about the amnesty, he said he would "support anybody in the oil community who has the capability to explore crude oil as long as he follows environmental best practices, so that he will not also join in damaging of our environment. As long as he complies with this I will support him, even with my life.
"What right does Femi Otedola and Aliko Dangote and others have to take our oil while somebody from the oil community does not have the right to take it?"
Dokubo insisted that kidnapping and bank robbery are not part of the struggle, because "ours is a moral and just struggle, we cannot use the same weapon used by the enemy.
"Yesterday (Tuesday), I was confined at the Murtala Mohammed Airport against my wish; I did not find it funny. Why would you take somebody against his will and collect money in order to release him? No, it's not moral, I will not support it; I will not be part of it, and I will continue to call such a person a criminal."
Keyamo noted that because of Dokubo's latest ordeal, "Those who would have embraced the peace process will shy away. It shows that the government is not sincere. The whole amnesty is a grand trap to lure the militants out and imprison them."
But Jomo Gbomo, Spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), insisted that the MEND would not lay down its arms and partake in the N50 billion amnesty deal on the table.
He condemned the arrest of Dokubo, and said "it is a shame that the Interior Minister (Godwin Abbe) and his cohorts are offering bribes and incentives to militants in a desperate attempt to get our co-operation in sharing the N50 billion budgeted for the amnesty exercise."
NNPC General Manager, Gabby Meheux, confirmed to the House of Representatives Niger Delta Probe Committee that 1.3 million barrels are lost daily.
We won’t surrender —Ateke Tom, George
ReplyDeleteDespite President Umaru Yar’Adua’s commendation of Niger Delta militants, especially Osama Bin Laden who surrendered his weapons weekend, two militant leaders, Ateke Tom and Sogboma George yesterday said they would not surrender their arms until they have audience with President Yar’Adua.
But speaking to Daily Champion yesterday, the two militant leaders said they were willing and ready to hand over their weapons to the Federal Government, if only Mr. President grants them audience to thrash out some grey issues on the road peace process.
Lawyer to Tom, Ikenna Morgan Enekweizu, who spoke to Daily Champion on telephone, said the surrendering of weapons by Tom would be determined by the out come of the meeting the leaders want to have with the President.
Enekweizu said Tom was out for peace and had accepted the proclamation of amnesty by the Federal Government on the repentant militants, but sought to have a discussion on some issues on the handover process.
He said, Tom would only surrender his arms to the Federal Government, whenever peaceful discussions are brokered between him and the government of Nigeria.
Tom said: "My handing over depends and would be determined by the Nigerian government. I am willing and ready to surrender my arms, if only the Nigerian government is sincere and agree to my conditions and terms.
Similarly, Sogboma George said he would not hand over his weapons, until he got audience with President Yar-Adua.
George said, he and other leaders were waiting for the Federal Government to grant them audience with Mr. President to discuss some vital issues on the grant of amnesty to the militants.
"We demanded for audience with Mr. President to present some matters before him, but until now, we have not got any response from the Federal Government. How can we just surrender our weapons," Sogboma said.
The militant leader, who spoke through his representative, Pastor Success Jack on telephone to our correspondent said, George was happy to accept the amnesty proclaimed by President Musa Yar-Adua.
Hear him: "There are grey areas and we are seeking to have audience with Mr. President for clarifications." Pastor Jack did not give any definite day, week and month George would hand over his weapons as the Federal Government was yet to show sincerity and seriousness’.
He blamed the Federal Government for delaying the peace process with the leaders, adding that his master can not surrender his arms without concrete agreement with the Nigeria government.
Sogboma declared that, the government has not fixed any date for the militant leaders to see the President, before accepting when to hand over their arms.
One dreaded militant leader in Ogoni land, Solomon Ndigbara, also known as Osama Bin Laden has surrendered his automatic weapons to Mr. Mike Okiro, Inspector General (IG) of Police in Yeghe community on Friday night.
Ndigbara, while handing over his weapons said, most of his guns are stored in the creeks and pleaded with the Federal Government to give him more time to recover his weapons.
Osama Bin Laden is the first militant leader to surrender his arms to Federal Government, after the pronunciation of amnesty by President Musa Yar-Adua to Niger Delta militants.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Committee on Implementation of Amnesty and Rehabilitation of Militants in the Niger Delta, would be in Rivers State , for a stakeholders interactive meeting in Port Harcourt , on Monday, 29th June, 2009, at the Atlantic Hall of Hotel Presidential Port Harcourt, by 2pm.
All Opinion Leaders, Civil Society groups, Traditional Rulers, Ethnic Nationalities, Christian Association of Nigeria, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Students Union, Nigeria Labour Congress, ASUU, Local Government Chairman, Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Youth Bodies and groups, Nigeria Bar Association, Nigeria Medical Association, Socio Cultural Groups, Militant Groups and all stakeholders not listed above, are all invited to attend as well
A frontline commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in Bayelsa State, ‘General’ Ogunboss has revealed why the top echelon of MEND are skeptical of the amnesty proclamation by President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
ReplyDeleteMEND had consistently picked holes in the amnesty package since Yar’ Adua made it public, describing it as a Greek gift.
Not only that, he noted that the Federal Government is glossing over the issues that provoked the present situation in the region and concentrating on the fact that the militants have to disarm.
His words: “I want to fault in the real sense of it, the word amnesty. The Niger Delta struggle is not a war situation and amnesty can only be given to those who are in war and have committed an offence. Though I would want to state that the gesture is a welcome development since we are not comfortable with the way people paints all of us as criminals, however, at the same time the areas we are most concerned about is that if there is amnesty what are the guidelines. They should realize that something provoked the present situation in the Niger Delta.
Lamenting what he called the insincerity of government, Ogunboss drew attention to the several dialogues that have taken place in the past from which nothing came out of it.
“If they believe our carrying of arms is what is preventing the development of this area, we are also prepared to lay them down but they should put at the back of their minds that several mistakes have been made in the past by successive administrations which the promptings of a cabal reneged on what they promised. Imagine the recent arrest of Asari- Dokubo after the proclamation of amnesty by President Yar’Adua, only for them to say it was a mistake.
While faulting the collection of arms without returning the money used to buy them, the militant leader maintained that the only language the Nigerian government understand is the sound of guns and warned that it would be sad if after the militants accept amnesty the Federal Government foot drags on taking action in respect to the development of the region.
Hear him: “Now, they want to take our guns, which we paid for, struggle to get with money just because we want to draw attention to the fact that we lack development. The only thing Nigeria understands is the sound of the gun and things are being corrected by the guns.
“The mistake our leaders would make in this country is after we have accepted this amnesty willing from our heart for the love of this country, they fail to see reason with us on our dreams which we have been interpreting every day. The Federal Government says they would develop the Niger Delta, they should not make a mistake because that would be worse off.
“Let the people of this country be warned of the the implication of not abiding by the legal component of the amnesty. It would be so sad if at the end of the day we are being disappointed. We are talking about amnesty and until now Henry Okah is still dying in detention. We are talking about amnesty and Asari- Dokubo was arrested based on what they called wrong information.
Please, they should not make mistake, so that by tomorrow when we have accepted the amnesty and lay down our arms we don’t see things being put in place. We need speedy actions in the Niger Delta. We love this country like every other Nigerian, no matter the names they call us. The Federal Government must keep to its words as most problems is due to lack of trust because the Nigerian government is not unreliable.”