Chief Edwin Clark
Former Minister of Information and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, Wednesday called on security agencies in the country to fish out the mastermind of the threats by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), declaring that both Gbomo Jomo and MEND no longer exist.
The call by Clark also coincided on a day the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Hon. Kingsley Kuku, appealed for calm in the Niger Delta, following threats by MEND to attack Muslims and their places of worship in the region.
But Clark in a statement he signed, said: “Let it be known that the alleged voice of MEND’s Gbomo Jomo no longer exist in Nigeria because there is no more MEND. Anyone parading or masquerading himself as Gbomo Jomo is not operating from Nigeria.
“It may be the voice of a mischievous and an unpatriotic Nigerian operating from outside Nigeria. Those who were using the name Gbomo Jomo are either in detention awaiting trial or already adjudged guilty and are serving their jail term.
“I, therefore, appeal to all the ex-militant leaders and their followers not to allow themselves to be used, and should also ignore and openly condemn the so-called voice of Gbomo Jomo.”
Speaking further, he said: “We may all recall media publications that the self-acclaimed leaders of the so-called MEND both in Nigeria and abroad had repeatedly stated that the group is no more in existence. They had even dissociated themselves from publications that tend to suggest any inactivity in that respect.”
In view of this, the Ijaw leader said: “I, therefore, call on the security services to put in special efforts to properly investigate the sources of these publications and expose the masterminds. Furthermore, I will like to call on security services to redouble their efforts in providing security in all places of worship for both Christians and Muslims to avert the dastardly acts being concocted in the minds of these unscrupulous groups.”
Clark enjoined President Goodluck Jonathan to continue the “dialogue with our leaders, brothers and friends in the North to courageously tackle our security challenges. It is good leadership in trying to bring all groups to dialogue and work towards peaceful resolution of any existing situation. Nigeria is the only home that we have and we must all work closely together for its peace and progress.”
The Ijaw leader, who defended the people of the South-south, noted that: “The people of the South-south of Nigeria are known to be peaceful, hospitable and accommodating.
Even at the height of the agitations directed at environmental justice and equity over the years, persons from other parts of Nigeria enjoyed the best of hospitality and protection in that part of the country. It is therefore totally incongruent and ridiculous that some groups will try to fan the embers of ethnic disharmony aimed at scoring cheap political point against the people of the South-south."
Meanwhile, Kuku, who is the Special Adviser to the president on Niger Delta, in a statement issued in Abuja, appealed to MEND to explore the window of dialogue through his office.
“As a firm believer in dialogue to resolve disputes, I implore MEND to channel its grievances through the open channel of communication that my office offers. My office is always open for dialogue with any aggrieved group in the Niger Delta irrespective of the issue.
“The success of the amnesty programme was achieved through dialogue. Today, thousands of youths from the region are being equipped with vocational and other skills through the instrumentality of the amnesty programme for former agitators in the region.
“Those who were sceptical about the programme are now surprised that youths from the region are becoming players in the aviation sector through the pilot training component of the amnesty programme. Only last weekend, 16 of them were decorated as Commercial Pilots at the Africa Union Aviation Academy in South Africa, which was a feat in the country they were trained.
“My office is particularly concerned about the fresh threat because we do not want the region to regress to violence again.
“Besides, any threat to worshippers of any religion in a section of the country is a threat to the whole country. Nigeria, and particularly the Niger Delta, needs peace for the development that we yearn for in the region to take place,” he said.
Kuku maintained that any violent reaction in the Niger Delta to the insurgency in the North by the Boko Haram will worsen the security situation in the country at a time all hands were on deck to find a lasting solution to the crisis in that region.
“Boko Haram should not be MEND’s problem. Already, the government is on top of the situation and we are confident that a solution will be found soon. Like I always say, there is no price that is too big to pay for peace to be achieved in any part of Nigeria,” Kuku said.
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