A cross section of elders and traditional rulers in Bayelsa State, on Saturday, July 9, linked the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, and the Coordinator, Niger Delta Presidential Amnesty Programme, Paul Boroh, to the atrocities in the Niger Delta.
They alleged that both Aides of President Muhammadu Buhari, were frustrating the Federal Government’s proposed dialogue with the Niger Delta Avengers.
The position of the concerned elders and monarchs, under the aegis of Bayelsa Elders for Progress, Peace and Good Governance, led by their Coordinator, Chief Ayibatonye Goodnews, and the Secretary, Chief Lucky Ebifaghe, was contained in an open letter to the President.
The monarchs showered praises on Buhari’s decision to lead the proposed dialogue, but expressed concern over the alleged show of deceit, insincerity and discordant tunes among the Presidential Aides from the region.
The militants were reported to have met with Kachikwu on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, for negotiations, in a bid to end the crisis in the Niger Delta Region.
However, the Militants had denied the reports via a statement released on its Twitter handle on June 17.
While reacting, the traditional rulers claimed that the development had created a huge doubt between the militant youths and the Federal Government.
They declared that the recent activities of key Aides from the region, such as Kachikwu, and Boroh, were allegedly frustrating the peace efforts of the Federal Government.
They insisted that Buhari should investigate the genuineness of purported meetings held between Boroh and Kachikwu.
“How can they claim to have met stakeholders and the militant attacks continue? They met some fake militants and stakeholders and wasted scarce resources of the Federal Government on jamboree,” they said.“The Amnesty boss, who claimed to have relocated to the creeks of the region, was only sighted in a certain community holding clandestine meetings without solution to the continued bombing of the oil and gas facilities.“Buhari should investigate the money expended on the jamboree without result. We insist that the Presidential Amnesty Office should be probed following the alleged meeting with fake Avengers”.
They contended that the lack of knowledge of the key issues of the region and wrong signals sent to the militants’ in the creeks were frustrating the needed peace process.
They alleged that many of the purported stakeholder, had made money from the self-created jamboree in the region, insisting that the genuine Niger Delta stakeholders should be consulted for sustainable peace in the region.
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