FG Blames Deportees for Crisis
From Senator Iroegbu in Abuja, 05.26.2009



The Federal Government said yesterday that the protracted conflict in the troubled Niger Delta region is the handiwork of some aggrieved repatriated Nigerians, in concert with militants.
Speaking at a one-day national sensitisation workshop on issues relating to internal security, Minister of Interior, Maj. General Godwin Abbe (rtd), assured that the Nigerian state is however, developing new dimensions to security strategies to match its level of development.
According to Abbe, the situation arose from the gory and unimaginable suffering, exploitation, punishment and death experienced by those deported from all parts of the globe, having been lured out of the country by human traffickers “I am concerned about these Nigerians brought in from various countries of the world; Europe, America, South East Asia and indeed other African countries.
A number of them come with various habits and attitudes, they come in defeated, they come back aggrieved and armed with all sorts of ideas that are anti-social in nature," he said.
Abbe said the rampant cases of kidnapping which has assumed a dangerous dimension in terms of its frequency and intensity was a grave national security challenge that government must tackle headlong.
He said though government is putting into consideration those who are weak and helpless, “nobody should take the magnanimous approach of government for a ride or for incompetence or inability to do what must be done to bring law and order to every part of the country."
He urged states to synergize, cross-fertilize ideas and come up with recommendations to assist the Federal Government to address this common national problem and find a common solution.

I fail to see the blatant rationalization of the so-called militancy in the Niger Delta as has been related to deported Nigerians by Godwin Abbe. How many Ijaws (those more involved in the struggle in the Niger Delta) are abroad, as compared to Yoruba, Ibo and Edo peoples, and how many of those (Ijaws) are among the deported Nigerians? The hausa and Yoruba-led FGN has failed Nigeria and now look for whom to blame. It is said that over 200 billion USD have been siphoned from Nigeria since independence. We all know when corruption became an issue in Nigeria and where all the stolen monies accrued from. One day monkey go go market and miss road!

The official Government line - "blame it on foreign elements" - is becoming ridiculous.