YOUTH leaders in the Niger Delta have threatened to embark on reprisal action in the region if their kinsmen suffer violence in the hands of northern youths due to the statements recently credited to a former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).
In a statement issued under the aegis of Niger Delta Youth Leaders Forum, they warned the former military leader to stop overheating the polity with what they termed inciting utterances.
According to the group, last year’s massacre of innocent corps members in some states of the North was largely triggered by Buhari’s public utterances on the presidential election.
The statement signed by president of the group, Tonye Briggs, and the secretary, Ubong Mathew, said they would not hesitate to carry out similar action if their kinsmen are attacked in any northern state as a result of the recent statements credited to the former Head of State.
They further advised Buhari to realise that power belongs to God, pointing out that He chooses leaders.
“The Niger Delta Youth Leaders’ Forum has read, with chagrin and surprise, the statements credited to General Muhammadu Buhari, who had ruled this great country at some point of her history, and we conclude that such statements are as provocative as unbecoming of a supposed elder statesman and are believed to aim at engineering bloodshed,” the youths added.
In the meantime, Arewa Youths Forum says the panacea to ending the security challenge in the country is dialogue. President of the organization, Alhaji Ibrahim Gunjugu, is of the opinion that if President Goodluck Jonathan could jaw-jaw rather than war-war, the Boko Haram crisis in the North would become history.
Referring to the Niger Delta militants and the consequent introduction of amnesty program after a cease fire proclamation, the youth leader said, “I refer to the case of the Niger Delta youth restiveness or militancy which posed a serious threat and challenge to our nation.
Niger Delta cuts across three geo-political zones of the South South, South East and South West; consisting of 9 states of Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo, Imo, Abia and Ondo and the revenue derived from this zone is over 90% which is the mainstay of Nigerian economy, yet the citizens of the area live in abject poverty and deprivation, environmental hazards and threat to source of their livelihood.
It was as a result of these challenges that the citizens of the area began a protest to attract government’s attention to their plight.
“However, it was not until the emergence of the late Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua as President that concerted efforts were made to restore peace in the area”.
Gunjugu added, “The cost of maintaining security in the North is quite alarming and this has affected other areas of the economy.
This is why we are calling on government to listen to these aggrieved youths, toe the line of late President Yar’ Adua or do something, perhaps, totally different provided it brings about lasting peace in the region and, by extension, the country. These people can be rehabilitated, re-integrated into the system and their minds disabused. It is possible and we are there as their mouth piece.”
