PORT HARCOURT — UNTIL last night,
leaders and members of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, are still at a
complete loss over what struck them last Thursday at the “Garden City,”
Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, where they converged for their
fourth general
assembly. Militants Unexpectedly,
Police and Department of State Services, DSS, operatives laid siege to the Hotel Presidential venue of
the meeting, sealing off the place and turning back delegates from across the
Niger Delta and parts of Abia, Ondo and Imo state that came for the assembly.
Wrong notion about Gov Wike
At first, the delegates thought it was the host
governor, Nyesom Wike, who probably angry that PANDEF refused his plea
rescheduled the meeting for November because he was traveling abroad, that sent
security agents to stop the meeting. Some of the leaders made phone calls and
soon found out that Wike was not in the details, they turned to top officials
of the Police and the DSS within and outside Rivers state, who told them that
they knew nothing about the action, but the action was firmly on “orders from
above.” Nobody told them the person or persons giving the orders from above ,
but the Commissioner of Police and Director of DSS in the state, unambiguously
indicated that the commands were to be implemented to the letter.
Avoidable
trap
Sources told NDV that sad as the episode was, it was avertable if
quarrelling Niger Delta leaders and militants, who are at each other’s throats
did not fall prey to a well-scripted security ambush. Knowledgeable sources on
what came to light, October 26, said
the powers that be at the federal level have been searching for a way to cut
the bourgeoning influence of PANDEF under the leadership of the former Federal
Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, since Niger Delta leaders met with President
Muhammadu Buhari, last year. The forces did not get the opening as calculated
to hit PANDEF because of the well-built support from the people of the region
and the robust media promotion on its activities until lately when militants
under the jacket of the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers, RNDA, announced the
withdrawal of the mandate they purportedly gave the regional body. With the
never-ending affront on PANDEF by the militants, who endorsed a parallel body,
Pan Niger Delta People’s Congress, PNDPC, to replace the former, and the
noticeable powerlessness of Niger Delta leaders to rein-in the combatants and
PNDPC, the system in Abuja re-oiled its strategies. To be sure, former Minister
of Police Affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo, Niger Delta campaigner, Elder T, K
Ogoriba and leading lights, spearheaded an initiative to patch up, but it did
not yield the needed result. The troubleshooting meeting mainly attended by
Ijaw- PANDEF and PNDPC faithful from Delta, Edo, Bayelsa and Rivers states at
Warri, Delta state, deliberated on some of the stormy issues, but could lay
them to rest. Diversionary tactics The establishment put in place diversionary
tactics to camouflage its real agenda, while it advantageously keyed into the
Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo-led peace mission to the region and jaw-jaw
with PANDEF, knowing that the approach will hoodwink perceived adversaries. The
plunge An out of this world opportunity came for the system when the RNDA over and over again threatened to resume hostilities if
President Buhari, Prof Osinbajo, Federal Government, relevant Ministers, Niger
Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and other appropriate agencies continued to
relate with PANDEF. The militants, speaking through their leader, self-styled
“Major General” Johnmark Ezonbi, said unless government opened fresh
discussions with PNDPC, led by former
national chairman of Traditional Rulers of Oil Minerals Producing Communities
of Nigeria, TROMPCON, HM Charles Ayemi-Botu, aka Lion of the Niger, which has
their backing, they would blow up oil installations in the region. Oblivious of
the shrouded plan, PANDEF, bent on outdoing PNDPC, flamboyantly went about
preparation for its fourth session in Port Harcourt and on the other hand, the
militant group went about its plan to prevent it with the deftness of a fox.
The last straw was its fear-provoking warning signal unconstrained 24 hours to
the disrupted meeting, powered by earlier foot works carried out by emissaries
of the group, which resulted in the swift “orders from above.” Some PANDEF leaders also got wind of the
plan to stop their meeting on October 25 , they did everything to avert the
danger, but to no avail.. The conflict of interests among Niger Delta leaders
and militants was the October 26 debacle in Port Harcourt. There were
unsubstantiated rumours that the internal crisis rocking PANDEF, especially the
leadership, contributed to the crisis, but members preferred to keep sealed
lips when contacted. PANDEF demands explanation amid rumblings While PANDEF in
a communiqué signed by the national leader and convener, Chief Clark, demanded
explanations from the Federal Government for the disruption of its meeting, the
internal crisis rocking it did not help matters. Former governor of Akwa Ibom
state, Obong Victor Attah, who is a co-chairman of the Central Working
Committee, CWC, of PANDEF, did not attend the meeting, but his co-chairman, a
former military governor of the old Rivers state, King Alfred Diete-Spiff. It
is not clear why Attah spurned such a meeting, though a source hinted that he
called for re-scheduling of the assembly to a latter date, but he was
overruled. However, the shocker was the resignation of celebrated Niger Delta
activist and PANDEF Secretary, Mr.
Ledum Mitee.
RNDA welcomes siege against PANDEF
Reiterating that Niger Delta
militants had withdrawn their mandate from PANDEF, the
RNDA leader, Ezonbi, described the security blockade against PANDEF as a
good omen. asserting: “We welcome the
development of last Thursday and we give the so-called PANDEF/ PDP members one
week to come out and explain the militant leader that gave them mandate in
2016.”
Avenger’s strike force, not laptop militants
Ezonbi denied that members
of the group and the affiliated nine militant groups were laptop militants as
alleged by a PANDEF youth wing leader, insisting that the group’s withdrawal of
the mandate from PANDEF has not changed. “We (RNDA) were together with the
defunct Niger Delta Avengers and we were the striking force unit then and it
was due to some leadership and greed differences that made us to pull out after
we saw the hand of Esau,” he declared. He explained that a covetous leader
wanted to use the differences to hijack the entire process after the Vice
President and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources visited the creeks,
adding that this greedy person wanted to claim all the glory after we
sacrificed our lives in the creeks. Ezonbi challenged those calling the group
laptop militants “to state the faceable militants that gave PANDEF the
mandate,” reiterating, “We were the striking force of the defunct Avenger and
are you not surprised that the defunct Avengers could not come out to make a statement
all this while.”
PNDPC justifies barricade by security agents
Contacted over
the suspicion that the Port Harcourt incident was the fallout of the power play
between PANDEF and PNDPC, national leader of PNDPC, HM Ayemi-Botu, asserted:
“There is no power play between PNDPC and PANDEF, we are operating on parallel
wavelengths with varied vision and mission.” He justified the cordon by
security agents, saying their timely intervention was to avert the ensuing
risk, “in view of the threat of coordinated attacks of oil installations in the
region by the RNDA and Coalition of nine militant groups, which would have
affected the steady crude oil production.” He said, “The PNDPC by the special
grace of God will usher the long awaited and much desired peace and panacea,
which will be a turning point to massive human capital, infrastructure and
industrial revolution of the region.” “This, it will kick start by urgently convening an economic summit of
all the IOCs, foreign/local investors, Ministries of Petroleum Resources, Niger
Delta, Environment, NDDC, Federal and State Governments to strategise and
synergise the modalities to transform the oil-rich region typical of the Dubai
of Nigeria,” he said.
PANDEF now moribund- Ayemi- Botu
On why PNDPC and PANDEF
should not join forces to pursue a common agenda, the monarch said, “Emma, you
are not being fair to suggest that PNDPC and PANDEF should pursue a common
front, whereas you know the circumstances that led to the formation of PANDEF
in 2016. It was through a mandate given by the region’s agitators in the
creeks.” “But in July, this year, during PANDEF meeting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa
state, the agitators not announced that they had lost credibility in the
leadership of PANDEF, they withdrew their mandate. “Barely a month after, on
the 19th of August, the agitators
through the print media announced that PANDEF was disbanded with its leadership
and in the same vein, announced the formation of PNDPC, as a substitute.
“Unfortunately, the leadership of PANDEF obviously is insensitive about
throwing in the towel when the ovation is loudest. With the withdrawal of
mandate, it became defunct and moribund, more so, nobody has the sole
responsibility of leading the Niger Delta course to the Promised Land and no
honorarium is paid for doing so. “Hence, the Federal Government timely
intervention to avert the resurgence of bombings in the region and also let the
PANDEF read the handwriting on the wall that it has ceased to exist as the body
representing the Niger Delta region for further dialogue, except it
metamorphoses into a political party or part of an existing political party,”
he added.
Akaruese, Ukubenje finger non N’Deltans in govt
Two PANDEF members
from the Itsekiri ethnic nationality, Professor Lucky Akaruese and Mr. Lawrence
Ukebenje disagreed with Ayemi-Botu that PANDEF was a moribund organization,
accusing the federal government of meddling with the group to weaken cohesion
of ethnic nationalities in the region. Akaruese said the disruption of the general assembly of the
forum by security operatives had a shown that the federal government was
taking the region for a ride, insisting that if the disruption was not
profitable to the government, it would
certainly have restrained its security
agencies from going ahead with it. He, however, noted, “An organization as this
with several ethnic groups, you must have some problems.
There are persons who
believe that if it is not them, things will not work. Government is latching on
this to destroy this place. Government is taking the region for a joke, this is
my submission.
Insulting
“In Ohaneze, Arewa, there are disagreements in their
meetings, yet they do not seal off venues for their meetings.
This is an
organization government has been
interfacing with for peace in the region and yet, you suddenly go to
this ridiculous extent.
The government
is taking the region for a ride that is why they can go to this extent. It is most insulting,” he said.
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