Meanwhile, the governments of Britain and Australia have advised their nationals intending to visit Nigeria to avoid going to the Niger Delta. Funsho Kukpolokun, were also in attendance. Emmanuel Aguarivwado, and his NNPC counterpart, Mr. Kekemeke the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr. The Ondo State Commissioner for Lands, Mr. The deputy governors of Rivers, Edo and Delta states were in attendance. The meeting was jointly organised by the NNPC in partnership with the Bayelsa State Government. The Bayelsa State Governor and host of the meeting, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, had in his opening speech made a case for the allocation of oil blocs to the militants and other leaders of the region, as one way of solving the problems in the zone. They insisted that the derivation principle should be based on the 25 per cent, which the South South delegates to the recent National Political Reforms Conference demanded.īesides, the participants called for the dualisation of the East-West Road. They added, “The Federal Government should immediately consider a programme of steady withdrawal of troops from the Niger Delta to allow community leaders play more roles in building peace and restoration of communal confidence.”Īccording to the stakeholders, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation must take immediate steps to implement the Local Content policy with particular emphasis on a Niger Delta content, which must not be less than 50 per cent. In a statement on Sunday, the stakeholders also agreed with what they called the Yenagoa Accord, that, “the syndicate in the Niger Delta responsible for pipeline vandalisation, hostage taking and other acts of instability must exercise restraint and total ceasefire, to give room for the implementation of development projects. In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, stakeholders in the management of the affairs of the Niger Delta, ended a two-day consultative meeting on Saturday with a call for the release of the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujaheedeen Asari-Dokubo and his counsel, Mr. He explained that the government restrained itself from avenging the recent killing of 14 soldiers by the militants in Bayelsa State to prevent heating up the situation in the region. He said that violence would compound the socio-economic problems in the region. The minister urged those aggrieved in the region to tread the path of dialogue and reason. No reasonable government will succumb to blackmail and certainly, the federal government will not compromise the rule of law, because it will lead to anarchy and everybody will suffer.” He said, “We cannot accept criminality as a way of life. Oritsejafor warned militants in the Niger Delta against seeing the adoption of dialogue by the government in resolving the recent crisis in the area as a sign of weakness. “It is also the constitutional responsibility of the government to fight all forms of criminality and maintain law and order.” It is the duty of the government to protect all those dwelling in the Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole. Rowland Oritsejafor, who spoke with our correspondents said, “They (the expatriates) should stay calm. The government said troops had been put on the alert to contain any threat in the region.Ī group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which claimed responsibility for the recent abduction of four expatriates, had last Thursday given foreign oil workers till Sunday to leave the region. Sola Adebayo, Ofonime Umanah and Femi Makindes The Federal Government on Sunday advised foreign oil workers in the Niger Delta to ignore the ultimatum on them to leave the region, saying it had “the capacity and capability to protect them, as well as deal with the criminals (militants).” | Febru» FebruAs deadline expires: FG vows to crush Niger Delta militants Britain, Australia issue travel warnings
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