Beware of selfish Niger Delta leaders, ex-militants tell Buhari

Some ex-militants have called on the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to be wary of selfish Niger Delta leaders, who are desperate for political recognition.

The ex-agitators, under the aegis of the Niger Delta Salvation Front, advised the president-elect to be conscious of the antics of such characters, whose actions, they warned, could have inimical effect on the fragile peace in the oil rich Niger Delta.

The NDSF’s comment was contained in a statement by its National Coordinator and Public Relations Officer, Victor Tamarapreye and Michael Akpodore respectively on Tuesday.

They said some indigenes of the region were rushing to the media to make all manner of utterances in a desperate pursuit of political recognition and vengeance against perceived enemies.

Tamarapreye and Akpodore said such elements from the Niger Delta were on a mission to plunge the region into avoidable crisis for their own enrichment and should be stopped.

The group added, “We are aware that some political agitators, whose desire is to ‎provoke needless crisis in the Niger Delta region, have commenced moves to misdirect the incoming administration of Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in order to engage in acts inimical to the peace of the region.

“To this group of self-serving politicians, who have suddenly turned agitators on the pages of newspapers, the only means to crave relevance in the incoming administration is to vilify imaginary enemies as well as orchestrate disingenuous scenarios to create an atmosphere of crisis in the Niger Delta region.

“We have no doubt that Mr president-elect is abreast with all the laudable steps taken by the administrations of the late president, Umaru Yar’Adua and his successor, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, not only to stem the rising spate of militancy in the region, but also in enhancing the desirable economic stability as a result of the commendable measures taken to reduce unrest in the Niger Delta region.

“That the nation’s fiscal state as it stands today is as a result of these appreciable steps is to restate the obvious

“Nonetheless, we are constrained to remind General Buhari that ‎he owes the Niger Delta region, and indeed the entire country a duty to differentiate between self-serving political jobbers and genuine fighters for better socio-economic conditions. The two are not same just as their impacts are different.

“Therefore, we call on the incoming APC government to be circumspect in its dealing with dubious minds whose latest crave for relevance has merely depicted desperation that has the capacity to alter the relative peace in the Niger Delta”.