http://odili.net/news/source/2008/sep/29/313.html


An end appears in sight for militancy in the Niger Delta as Ijaw Youth Council, eastern zone has issued a 90-day ultimatum to militant groups in the region to beat a retreat from their criminal acts or be smoked out from their various camps and be handed over to security agencies.

Handing down this ultimatum weekend at a briefing in Port Harcourt, Chairman of the Youth zone, Comrade Alali Horsfall who spoke amidst tight security provided by youths said the end had come for rascals and bandits in the region as their acts of thuggery and banditry would no longer be condoned by responsible youth bodies in the region.

It has become unbearable to us, the alarming rate of kidnapping, sea piracy, rape, cultism, armed banditry etc. Its so unfortunate to note that these inhuman crimes committed by these dissidents often times referred to as militants has debased and discredited the essence of our genuine struggle for the liberation and emancipation of our people”

Enough is enough, I cannot fold my arms to watch these hoodlums highjack our struggle. It is in the strength of this that am giving them a grace period of 90 days to either desist from all these acts of criminality or should be ready to incur the wraght of Egbesu and they will be smoked out from their hiding places and will subsequently be handed over to the law enforcement agencies for onward prosecution, so that it will serve as deterrent to others.

It is my ardent belief that if this ugly incident is not nipped in the bud, it will degenerate to an unbearable level and definitely have an adverse effect on the mental psychic of our younger generation,” Horsfall said.

While calling for amnesty for militants willing to dump criminalities he also urged the JTF to exercise some level of caution as they carry out their role of policing the region. He said he was worried that innocent lives were mostly affected in the war between militants and the security body.

which group is this: do the have the needed muscle to flush out militants?

there are so many servants this days breaking out of their master to form groups which have little bearing in real terms

idupaul:

which group is this: do the have the needed muscle to flush out militants?

Nobody has requisite muscle to flush out groups in Niger Delta. Every group can have some modicum of power for itself that even Federal Government would find hard to stop. However, it is important to note that many of the militants in Niger Delta used to be Ijaw Youth Council members who turned against the struggle. The only people who somewhat stayed true to IYC's plan of action was MEND and that seemed to change in the last year with certain commanders like Prince Igodo made part of MEND. For sure, MEND came out of IYC as did Asari-Dokubo who was once the leader of IYC. I believe that if IYC turns against the militants, then we may see some changes because many of the militants will not be provided 'cover' for their operations. This seems to be a definite strike-out against Ateke Tom, Soboma George, Fara Dagogo and the rest.

Pertinent to this discussion is the statement that JTF made that they are seeking to flush out Ateke, Dagogo and such. We in the Niger Delta have been praying that the FG strikes out against Ateke and Dagogo for years but they only seemed to go after MEND. It is important to note that FG never said anything about going after Victor Ben, the leader of MEND because that will be a bad PR move as Ijaw people generally love Victor Ben and Asari-Dokubo. Just like I predicted on Nairaland a few months ago, we will see a resolution to this crisis with Asari-Dokubo and Victor Ben heavily involved in the discussions. However, all the other militants will be hunted down and killed. Already, we see that FG is taking some steps in that direction by holding talks with MEND.

@ Ibime

pls can we have a bio brief on this Victor Ben.

is it an allias or a real name

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Thanks Ibime, just went thru it