IYC WRITES OPEN LETTER TO PMB, ADVISES HIM TO SHOW SINCERITY

- says Presidency should free detained Ijaw youths or charge them to court.

ABUJA: The Leadership of the Ijaw youths council  (IYC) Worldwide has written an Open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, the letter which was signed by it's  National President, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, National Spokesman, Barrister Eric Omare,  highlighted four focal points that if not properly and carefully handled by the President, may lead Nigeria to the hobbesian state of Nature.

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The letter explained the constant invasion of military into Ijaw communities in the guise of looking for criminals, it also raised alarm on the recent unjust abduction and locking up of Ijaw sons without proper trial and it also proposed restructuring as a means to end hostility in Niger Delta Region.

The Second point of the letter advised Mr. President to show sincerity of purpose towards the Niger Delta People and to stop sponsoring blackmail against Ijaw leaders, especially former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

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Read full letter below:

IJAW YOUTH COUNCIL (IYC) WORLDWIDE.

August 25, 2016

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI ON THE RESOLUTION OF THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS AND ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS INT THE REGION

It is no longer news that the Niger Delta Region is in the news again because of the renewed militancy in the region after years of relative peace. For the IYC, the renewed uprising in the region was not surprising because the Presidential Amnesty programme which ushered in the relative peace did not address the fundamental issues of resource control and ownership which underpinned the agitation of the Niger Delta People. Hence, as stakeholders take steps towards reaching a peaceful resolution of renewed militancy in the Niger Delta region, we consider it necessary to put in perspective empirical facts that would bring lasting peace to the region and Nigerian as a whole. Also to bring to your attention steps that needs to be taken so as not to escalate the already volatile situation in the Niger Delta region.

NIGERIA MUST BE RESTRUCTURED TO HAVE ENDURING PEACE.

Mr. President, the IYC hold the strong view that the solution that will yield an enduring peace in the Niger Delta region and Nigerian is through restructuring in such a way that substantial powers are delved to the federating units to manage and develop their people and communities at their pace. The contiguous sovereign interest: Defense and Foreign Relations should remain within the authority of the sovereign nation.

There must be no hindrance to the ability of Nigerians to develop up to their full potentials. Nigeria as presently constituted is suffocating and hinders the development of the federating units. We must decentralize to dis courage the rent seeking mentality of the federating units. Our inability to make to make progress is as a result of the defect structure and the type of leadership it has produced. It is a sad commentary that so many states can no longer meet their statutory and basic obligation despite the abundance of untapped natural human resources. What is lacking is the enabling structure to explore available resources to the benefit of the federating units and her people. This country can not survive  for long with the current practice where states go to the center to collect their monthly allocation; a scenario of complete economic and socio-political meltdown is no longer a probability but a certainty in the horizon with catastrophic consequence for the country

SINCERITY OF PURPOSE TOWARDS THE RESOLUTION OF THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS.

Mr. President, we must also ask that your government display sincerity of purpose towards the resolution of the current crisis in the Niger Delta. We sincerely frown at the consistence blackmail of Niger Delta leaders especially former President Goodluck Jonathan who voluntarily offered to support efforts toward the resolution of the crisis by persons who enjoys the tacit support of some government officials working with you.

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan just like the former President deserved respect and is absolutely unfair for people who work with you to be sponsoring blackmail against him. This is totally unacceptable to the IYC and the entire Ijaw nation and should not be allowed to continue.

The intention of those persons is to make the Niger Delta situation look complicated and frustrate efforts to peaceful resolution so as to justify their evil plan to attack communities, kill innocent people and make money from the process. Some of these persons are high ranking government officials in the country and political leaders.

They are behind the several conflicting press statement with different pseudo militant groups all in a bid to frustrate efforts at bringing peace to the region for fraudulent monetary gains. Therefore, we demand that efforts toward the resolution of the crisis must be bipartisan and with sincerity of purpose. We further advice, just like your predecessors did that you personally drive the process of dialogue with an aim to achieving peaceful and lasting solutions to the Niger Delta questions, your participation in the process will checkmate and drive out the shenanigans.

Furthermore, to demonstrate the federal government sincerity toward achieving peace, we advice that academic activities should start at the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko without dely. This would help in building confidence between the Niger Delta people and the federal government. Appointment by your government must also be nationalist by carrying all parts of the country along especially the Niger Delta region.

USE OF MILITARY OPTION IN RESOLVING THE CRISIS.

The information in the public space is that the federal government is considering military option as a way of resolving the persistence Niger Delta agitation for a better deal in the Nigerian project.  Recently the Chief of Air staff informed Nigerians of efforts been made to send fighter jets to the region so as to flush out militants.

You also alluded to this option while receiving US Secretary of state, Mr. Kerry. We strongly advice against this option. It is not and can never be a solution to Niger Delta quest for better deal.

Those advising military option are enemies of your government, Niger Deltans and the people of Nigeria. In the first place, the Niger Delta militants that have claimed responsibility for attacks on oil facilities are not stationed in any particular place like Boko-Haram in Sambisa forest.

There is no Sambisa forest in the Niger Delta region where the military can go and confront insurgents. Those carrying out these attacks have adopted a guerilla strategy; hence the solution is for the relevant security to deepen intelligence gathering working with local communities and not full scale military onslaught on the communities and people. Any full scale military action in the Niger Delta would only succeed in killing innocent people and destruction of communities that are also victims of the militancy. It is worthy to note that Gbaramatu Kingdom that the military has been consistently harassing is not the headquarters of any of the militant groups.

The Gbaramatu people are peaceful loving Ijaw people and the military must stop the consistent invasion of Gbaramatu communities or any other Ijaw community.  

NIGER DELTANS IN DETENTION IN RELATION TO THE RENEWED MILITANCY

Mr. President, the IYC supports genuine efforts toward fighting criminality of whatsoever form in the Niger Delta region or any part of Nigeria. However, we hasten to add that such a fight must be done within the ambit of the rule of Law, respect for human rights and not use as instrument of political victimization as we are experiencing in the Niger Delta. The fight against militancy in the Niger Delta region has been used as a subterfuge to arrest and detain several Niger Deltans especially Ijaw Youths who are now languishing in different detention facilities all over Nigeria without trial, such as the Oporoza 10, Mr. Ezekiel Daniel, ex-militant leader Aboy Francis Muturu, Alex Odogwu and several others.

The IYC demand that these persons should be released without further delay or they should be charged to a court of competent jurisdiction if government has any case against them. It is illegal and height of impunity for people to be arrested and dump at detention centers without trial in the name of fighting militancy. Democracy thrives when the rule of law reigns. The arrest and indefinite detention without trial of Niger Delta youths is a threat to democracy

Signed for and on behalf of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide

Comr. Engr. Udengs Eradiris 
(National President)

Barr. Eric Omare 
(National Spokesman)