It is
unfortunate and distractive for a section of the Nigerian media and
partisan activists on social media to twist my statements and positions
to suit their political leanings and for financial gain.
My attention has been drawn to a headline story presented by Premium Times, an online newspaper leaning towards the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that I blasted the new militant group, Niger Delta Avengers
and said that they are from Somalia. The headline is not only
misleading, but criminally tilted to suit the paper’s political motives.
For the avoidance of any doubt, let me
present below my position on the rights of the people of the Niger Delta
and the continued perpetuation of injustice against my people, the people of the Niger Delta, by the Nigerian state.
1. That any federal government of Nigeria should respect rule of law at all times and under all circumstances.
2. The very minimum form of government acceptable and workable for Nigeria is FISCAL FEDERALISM.
3. That any demand is open to dialogue.
4. That after nearly 60 years of oil and
gas exploration of oil and gas out of the Niger Delta region and people
of the Niger Delta region, l am an UNAPOLOGETIC NON-VIOLENT AGITATOR
for RESOURCE OWNERSHIP, not just for OIL AND GAS but all RESOURCES in
all and any part of Nigeria SOLID AND MINERAL.
5. The long term plan to discredit me
will continue to fail. The act of constantly twisting what l say will
continue to fail. It has been demanded of me on radio shows, on
television and by electronic media reporters to CONDEMN the Niger Delta
Avengers and my position remains the same; l refuse to condemn the Niger
Delta Avengers but rather appeal to the Avengers not to continue to
blow up pipelines, but rather to accept dialogue as their next option.
6. I am disappointed but not surprised
to see the latest distorted headlines by partisan newspapers. For the
records, below is what I said at the meeting in Uyo on June 10, 2016 and
the meeting in Enugu on June 12, 2016. I have been saying this long
before the two assemblies.
“If the herdsmen killing, raping
and destroying farms across the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria are
from Libya, then the people blowing up pipelines can not be identified
as Ijaws without proof of identification, therefore the Nigerian
military, navy, and airforce should stop criminalizing IJAWS and stop
attacking Ijaw communities and killing Ijaws.”
7. Ijaws will not continue to pay the
price of all the failures of Nigeria as a nation. My opinion as a Niger
Deltan and as an Ijaw indigenous person is that I STAND FIRMLY ON THE
SIDE OF THE NIGER DELTA AND MY ETHNIC NATIONALITY that we demand a 100%
OWNERSHIP OF OUR GOD GIVEN RESOURCES.
8. That self-determination
is a right of indigenous peoples guaranteed by the African Charter of
Human and People’s Rights and the UN Declaration on Human and Indigenous
Peoples Rights.
On these truths and values, I stand! No amount of threats, lies, blackmail or terrorism will stop me as God is with me.
Annkio Briggs is a respected leader of the Niger Delta struggle for human rights and environmental justice
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