Over recent months, militancy has returned to the Niger Delta with several groups like the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) taking up arms and blowing up oil installations. Government ministers have tried to initiate talks in a bid to end the crisis but so far, the NDA has refused to agree to negotiations and the area has since been flooded with troops.
Looking to break the logjam, the INC has expressed sadness that many people have died in the region and has called on the federal government to be cautious in its efforts at resolving the issues. INC president 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 added: “We have martyred enough of our youths and 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 and 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."
Mr Harry said that the Nigerian military, paid, dressed, clothed and armed by money coming from the same Niger Delta should not be going to the same region to kill people. 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. 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 and if there is truth, faithfulness," Mr Harry added.
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