Militants List Demands

The militants of the Niger Delta have boldly stated they would only participate in the proposed Niger Delta summit, providing that the Federal Government promises to implement its outcome.

In their online statement issued yesterday under the aegis of the Joint Revolutionary Council and signed by its spokesman, Cynthia Whyte, they questioned why government had refused to act on recommendations like the Ogomudia report and others on how to end the crisis in the region.

The statement also praised the actions Governor Rotimi Amaechi for informing the nation that the plan to build LNGs in other parts of the country to collect gas from the region would be frustrated; they also lauded the NDDC and the NBA for speaking out against the frivolous laws regulating the oil and gas industry. It should be mentioned that in an earlier joint communiqué issued by the commission and the NBA they called for a review of these laws, also making a not for the need of ownership of oil resources to be situated in the host communities.

The statement reads:

"We wish to warn all groups in the Niger Delta especially organizations within the Ijaw ethnic framework to desist from hurrying into bed with the Nigerian state over the forthcoming summit on the Niger Delta. Any organization that believes that it must partake in the summit must first seek and obtain a firm commitment that the deliberations obtained from the summit will be acted upon for the greater interest of our long suffering people. We have stomached enough jamborees which turned out to be exercises in futility…"

“…We demand that the Nigerian state and those who lord over it today must provide a Declaration of Intent that they will act decisively and speedily upon the recommendations and deliberations reached during the forthcoming Summit. Representatives of our people must demand for these explanations before they participate in the summit. Any participation that is not driven by such explanations and clarifications will receive the wrath and condemnation of the Joint Revolutionary Council and its alliance groups…"

“…It is our belief that if true and conscientious leaders and elites of the Niger Delta will continue to rise up and speak in the interest of their long suffering people, there would little need for an armed struggle against the dubious Nigerian state.
We have borne the pain for the sustenance of the entity called Nigeria for too long. We demand just recompense. Nowhere on God's Earth can this injustice be allowed for this long. The struggle is unstoppable…”

If change is not accomplished at the gathering, it can only be expected that the on-going violence will only continue; and may very well escalate.