The Odiologbo of Irri Kingdom, Isoko South Local Government area,
Delta State, HRM Oviese Ojenuwe II, weekend, led a peaceful protest
against Nigerian Agip Oil Company, accusing the firm of sidelining his
people in the scheme of things.
The main gate to Agip in the area was barricaded with a shrine and
other fetish objects in the protest, which started at 6am on Saturday.
Accompanied by the community Juju priest, who performed several
rituals at the gate with a live fowl, palace chiefs, chairman of Irri
Development Union, Mr. Mike Odhigbo and a host of others, the monarch
noted that the company had refused to renew the 2008 expired Memorandum
of Understanding, MoU, with the community.
Speaking through the Palace Secretary, Chief Gabriel Abighe, the
monarch said they were aggrieved over the non employment of qualified
indigenes of the community by the company, demanding for the employment
of at least six of the community indigenes.
Other demands, according to Abighe, includes, “immediate release of
contract agreement papers awarded to Oghokpos Resources Nigeria Limited;
soundproof plant with regular diesel supply and a running contract with
the palace chiefs for office keeping.”
Frowning at the removal of electricity project from the request sent
in by the community to the company, he said the community “is also
demanding a non-negotiable sum of N10 million with a cow for cleansing
of the land as penalty for allowing the monarch to leave his palace to
embark on a protest.”
Showing posts with label niger delta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label niger delta. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Nigeria: We’ve no powers to stop crime in N-Delta – Amnesty Office
Presidential Amnesty Office, said, weekend, that it had neither the
powers nor competences to stop the crime being committed in the Niger
Delta or stop any person who willfully decides to commit crime in the
region.
Chairman of the Amnesty Office and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Matters, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, who spoke on the development, weekend, said the office had no guns nor ammunition to physically combat willful crime perpetrators or criminality in the region.
He spoke against the backdrop of growing attacks on the office over the occasional security breaches in the region.
Kuku said it was the responsibility of security agencies, including the police, State Security Services, SSS, and Joint Task Force on the Niger Delta to maintain security in the region.
He said: “The very critical role of enforcing laws and dealing with criminals in Niger Delta and other parts of the country is constitutionally vested on the Nigeria Police, the SSS and of course the Armed Forces as currently represented in the states in the Niger Delta by the Joint Military Task Force.
“Amnesty Office is not a security agency and the mandate of the Presidential Amnesty Programme does not include curbing crime or enforcing laws in the Niger Delta.
“It is true that the Presidential Amnesty Programme has aided the stabilisation of security in the Niger Delta by successfully overseeing the disarmament, demobilisation and currently reintegrating the 26,358 Niger Delta ex-agitators, who accepted the amnesty and enlisted in the programme, which is in two phases.”
He expressed confidence in the ability of officers and men of JTF to protect vital oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta and deal with person or persons who attack oil facilities or generally attempt to breach the peace in the region.
Kuku said: “For emphasis, it must be clarified for the umpteenth time that pursuant to its mandate, the Amnesty Office, aided by gallant officers and men of our Armed forces pursued a very successful disarmament campaign and huge cache of arms and ammunition were submitted by the ex-agitators, prior to their being admitted into the post-amnesty Programme.
“Disarmament was concluded in December 2009 but the arms and ammunitions collected were stored at the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu and in compliance with extant DDR codes as spelt out by the United Nations, these arms and ammunition were on May 25, 2011, completely destroyed by the Nigerian Army in Lokpanta, a boundary town in Enugu State, under the watch of the Amnesty Office.”
….As N-Delta group flays critics of amnesty programme
By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—A Niger Delta-based socio-political organisation, the Niger Delta Buckingham Palace, yesterday, flayed critics of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for ex-militants in the Niger Delta, describing them as saboteurs and enemies of development in the region.
Specifically, the group slammed those it said were hiding under the revenue sharing controversy to destabilise the region and the country. It called on other interventionist agencies and the state governments in the region to complement the efforts of the amnesty office by creating youth engagement programmes.
President of the group, Mr. Bekes ApeAre, in a statement in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, said instead of commending the amnesty programme for bringing relative peace to the region, the critics were using other unresolved problems in the region to attack the Coordinator of the Programme and Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku.
The group noted that though the core mandate of the amnesty office was disarming, rehabilitating and reintegrating 26,358 ex-agitators from the region, who accepted amnesty offered them by the Federal Government, “the latter not only completed the demobilisation, disarmament and rehabilitation aspect of its mandate but it was rated globally as the best among countries, where such strategy was used to fight militancy.
“The amnesty office had so far conducted the integration phase of the programme successfully and this had led to the relative peace in the region, which led to an increase in Nigeria’s oil production from less than one million barrels per day pre-amnesty period to an average of 2.6million barrels today due to improvement in the post-amnesty programme.”
Chairman of the Amnesty Office and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Matters, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, who spoke on the development, weekend, said the office had no guns nor ammunition to physically combat willful crime perpetrators or criminality in the region.
He spoke against the backdrop of growing attacks on the office over the occasional security breaches in the region.
Kuku said it was the responsibility of security agencies, including the police, State Security Services, SSS, and Joint Task Force on the Niger Delta to maintain security in the region.
He said: “The very critical role of enforcing laws and dealing with criminals in Niger Delta and other parts of the country is constitutionally vested on the Nigeria Police, the SSS and of course the Armed Forces as currently represented in the states in the Niger Delta by the Joint Military Task Force.
“Amnesty Office is not a security agency and the mandate of the Presidential Amnesty Programme does not include curbing crime or enforcing laws in the Niger Delta.
“It is true that the Presidential Amnesty Programme has aided the stabilisation of security in the Niger Delta by successfully overseeing the disarmament, demobilisation and currently reintegrating the 26,358 Niger Delta ex-agitators, who accepted the amnesty and enlisted in the programme, which is in two phases.”
He expressed confidence in the ability of officers and men of JTF to protect vital oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta and deal with person or persons who attack oil facilities or generally attempt to breach the peace in the region.
Kuku said: “For emphasis, it must be clarified for the umpteenth time that pursuant to its mandate, the Amnesty Office, aided by gallant officers and men of our Armed forces pursued a very successful disarmament campaign and huge cache of arms and ammunition were submitted by the ex-agitators, prior to their being admitted into the post-amnesty Programme.
“Disarmament was concluded in December 2009 but the arms and ammunitions collected were stored at the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu and in compliance with extant DDR codes as spelt out by the United Nations, these arms and ammunition were on May 25, 2011, completely destroyed by the Nigerian Army in Lokpanta, a boundary town in Enugu State, under the watch of the Amnesty Office.”
….As N-Delta group flays critics of amnesty programme
By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—A Niger Delta-based socio-political organisation, the Niger Delta Buckingham Palace, yesterday, flayed critics of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for ex-militants in the Niger Delta, describing them as saboteurs and enemies of development in the region.
Specifically, the group slammed those it said were hiding under the revenue sharing controversy to destabilise the region and the country. It called on other interventionist agencies and the state governments in the region to complement the efforts of the amnesty office by creating youth engagement programmes.
President of the group, Mr. Bekes ApeAre, in a statement in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, said instead of commending the amnesty programme for bringing relative peace to the region, the critics were using other unresolved problems in the region to attack the Coordinator of the Programme and Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku.
The group noted that though the core mandate of the amnesty office was disarming, rehabilitating and reintegrating 26,358 ex-agitators from the region, who accepted amnesty offered them by the Federal Government, “the latter not only completed the demobilisation, disarmament and rehabilitation aspect of its mandate but it was rated globally as the best among countries, where such strategy was used to fight militancy.
“The amnesty office had so far conducted the integration phase of the programme successfully and this had led to the relative peace in the region, which led to an increase in Nigeria’s oil production from less than one million barrels per day pre-amnesty period to an average of 2.6million barrels today due to improvement in the post-amnesty programme.”
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