Again, Shell declares force majeure on exports of Bonny light crude
The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has
called on the federal government to declare a 30-day moratorium in the
Niger Delta and allow the congress to restore peace in the region.
The apex body of the Ijaw ethnic
nationality expressed sadness that many people had died in the region,
in the struggle for self-determination and resource control and called
on the federal government to be cautious in its efforts at resolving the
issues.
Addressing journalists at the INC
Secretariat in Port Harcourt on Friday, the President of the INC, Mr.
Charles Harry, said while the congress appreciated the underlying
reasons for militancy in the region, it did not support the approach
adopted by militants for the resolution of the issues in the region.
He said: “We have martyred enough of our
youths. We don’t want one more single blood to be shed in the Niger
Delta. Therefore, I appeal to the federal government to give the INC the
opportunity to wade into this matter. We will come out with settlements
that are implementable.
“Let the Federal Government give a
30-day moratorium on their action and we will certainly get a ceasefire
from the creeks. No government should use attrition, especially violent
attrition, as the first way of resolving a problem within its own
borders. Do they want our own military, paid, dressed, clothed and armed
by money coming from the same Niger Delta to come and kill us? Who
would they be shooting and bombing?”
While advising the federal government
against more bloodshed in the region, the INC president warned that the
congress would not hesitate to press for war crimes against the
government should there be another military invasion of the area.
“The anomie of Odi must not repeat
itself because if it does, we will have no choice than to approach the
International Criminal Court of Justice at The Hague for war crimes
against hapless and helpless people. Please we appeal to the federal
government. We are not making ourselves the point of negotiation but we
are saying as the titular body of the Ijaw nation of which every single
Ijaw son or daughter is a member, the INC has the moral and the
consensus right, ability and duty to bring this anomie to an end. Let
them have the rapprochement with us and we will do the needful.
“If the Federal Government is willing
and sincere, we ask for 30 days. Peace can return to the Niger Delta in
24 hours if the right thing is done; if there is truth, faithfulness.
Negotiations take time but armistice can be done in 24 hours.”
Harry stated that Ijaw people and other
people of the Niger Delta were suffering in the current dispensation in
the country and called for a restructuring of the nation.
“An Ijaw man is suffering from the yoke on his neck. The oil in our area has become a weapon of destruction and it is intolerable. We suffer acid rain and our people still drink from the same water they defecate inside.
“An Ijaw man is suffering from the yoke on his neck. The oil in our area has become a weapon of destruction and it is intolerable. We suffer acid rain and our people still drink from the same water they defecate inside.
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