Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua Friday presided over a high-level security meeting at the Presidential Villa in the capital city of Abuja to deliberate on the deteriorating situation in the restive, oil-producing Niger Delta.
Attacks on oil facilities and kidnappings have recently been on the rise in the oil region, despite a peace accord signed between the federal government and some militant groups.
The Abuja meeting was attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Andrew Owoye Azazi; Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Luka Yusuf; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye; Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshall Paul Dike and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro.
Others present at the meeting included the National Security Adviser, Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), heads of other security agencies and some top government functionaries.
The Governors of the oil states of Rivers and Bayelsa, where most of the recent violence and abductions have taken place, were also present.
PANA learnt that the meeting reviewed the security situation in the Niger Delta region, especially in Bayelsa where the fathers of two prominent government officials were recently kidnapped.
”There is no way any responsible government will just fold its arms and watch these events continue. No group, no matter the level of their anger should hold the country or any part of it to ransom. Whichever way it is going to be done, the current deteriorating situation must have to stop,” a source at the meeting said.
– PANA
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As a concerned UK expatriate working in Akwa Ibom I wonder when this madness is going to stop. I am heartened to hear the Government and security agencies are taking the problems the militants are causing seriously but these acts of violence need to be stopped now. The international community who are investing in Nigeria and particularly the Niger Delta are growing tired of the threats and disruption. As a company we are encouraging 6 – European and US companies to set up in Akwa Ibom as a group, providing services to the oil and gas industry and we are training and employing people from the local community in line with the FG directives to provide jobs under the banner of “local content”. This could be much more sucessful as we have more companies who would come over to Nigeria if we could guarantee the safety of their technical experts who are ready to transfer the skills and technology to willing youths who are also ready to earn wages for their families. We have started to roll the snowball downhill can someone please think of a way to help us push it to get bigger against the resistance and threats we have to overcome everyday with press reports of militant activity; which is seen overseas and is making our initiative difficult to keep alive. Let’s hope 2008 has some answers.
If the Federal Government of Nigeria is forward thinking and proactive they should have realised long ago that the so called militancy in the Niger Delta has nothing to do with the so called neglect of the area. The Neglect of the area was just used as a mask to disguise the real intention of the militants and their sponsors. The militancy is all about greed, oil bunkering, gun running, illegal enrichment e.t.c but not about development. How can a group that says it is fighting for the development of an area busy themselves with blowing oil pipelines (which leads to more degradation) and kidnapping of foreigners and prominent citizens of an area?? The activities of these people has practically paralysed the economies of the Niger Delta states. Port Harcourt is like a ghost of it’s former boisterous self. Is that the type of development they are fighting for?? I thought their idea was for the area to be better than what it was before they started their fight?? Obasanjo created this current state of affiars by flying militants to Abuja in Presidential jets. The moment he did that every youth in the Niger Delta suddenly were told indirectly that if you become a militant you get Presidential recognition. So every one was rushing to set up new militant groups in search of presidential endorsement. We should have adopted the American style : “..No negotiation with Terrorists under any guise….” Yes your area is marginalised but the issue would only be addressed via peaceful means anyone who adopts violence would have the might of the state visited on him. Q.E.D!!! The moment you give in to blackmail the blackmailer would keep coming back with fresh demands every new day. What Obasanjo did was to tell everybody in Nigeria who has a grievance with the State that we would only take you serious when you take up arms!! Just imagine if everyone who has a grievance in Nigeria takes the Niger Delta option?? There is an armada of illegal arms flowing into Nigeria from all over the world in exchange for bunkered oil. Our Navy is either unwilling or unable to police our international waters and I do not know why we do not want to outsource the policing of these waters to the Americans who are willing to do it for us in order to secure the free flow of oil into America?? My advice to the Yardua Government is that they should abandon the unproductive method of appeasment which obasanjo adopted with the militants, it did not work and can never work!! The Niger Delta crises is a law and order issue and the moment we start treating it thus the better for us. There seems to be a grand design by some people to hit Nigeria where it hurts most and to thus bring Nigeria to it’s knees and it is sad that for 8 years Obasanjo played politics with such a sensitive matter Yardua should do the right thing NOW!!!
I do not know why we do not want to outsource the policing of these waters to the Americans who are willing to do it for us in order to secure the free flow of oil into America??
Someone who call himself Emma Majebi made the above comment.
Wel,I have nothing much to say,but one question and demand,
Please, can you suggest to the people of NigerDelta,the peaceful process which they have never applied since the last 40 years? And why do you need someone to creat a process whether peaceful or violent to approach you,for you to know that NigerDelta need development?please remind us that process! we are ready to apply it.
It is your stupid idea and your selfish confidence that is deceiving you.You think you are the one who has the right to have clean water,air,land,schools,hospitals and roads.Those of us who come from NigerDelta are Animals who deserve no clean water,schools,hospitals and roads,but should be killed and the oil taken.Wel,thank you for that.
I also wish to congratulate you for calling on Yar’Adua to sell or contract the waterways to America. To show how diabolic you are; you forgot that Texas,a state in America has oil and knows how people from oil zone should be treated.If you think America is your god security, please ask Iraq.
I’m just sorry,what you are seeing now will be more than a military battle.May be advicing your Yar’Adua to carry out genocide would be best solution.Why not? who cares,afterall you are not from the Niger Delta.
WE WILL SEE!!!!!
Mr Zee, the man has a point o. Can you tell me what we have gained in the Niger Delta sicne this insurgency has started? Has the lives of the common man improved? Have our cities not become ghost towns? Who suffer for this? Is it not the Niger Delta people? How do we develop an area when construction workers are sacred to come and work in an area? And what do we gain when unscrupolous foreigners flood our area with weapons?? What the man is calling for is let the Americans help us stop the in flow of arms into the area or if we don’ t want the Americans, equpi our Navy to do the job! We sell the oil and use the money to carry out this much needed development. there is no way there can be development in an atmosphere of war. Our point has been made, the world knows of our plight now but we must now give the govt a chance to do what they said they would do if they fail then we can start crying out again!! War never solves any thin but destriys all