A former
federal
commissioner
of
information,
Edwin Clark,
has advised
Niger Delta
militants to
desist from
bombing
pipelines and
oil
installations
in the oil-rich
region.
But Mr. Clark
warned that
the “casual”
approach of
the current
government
to the
Amnesty
Programme
introducedby
the Umaru
Yar’Adua
administration poses
“grave danger” for
the country.
“On every platform
that I stand, and have
done all my life, I have
long become firmly
convinced that
dialogue beats
violence, any time,”
Mr. Clark told
journalists on
Tuesday.
“It was on this
platform that I took
very high personal
risks in entering the
jungle dens, creeks
and the high seas in
the very tense days
of the Presidents
Olusegun Obasanjo
and the late Alhaji
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua
administrations to get
them to lay down
their arms.
“It paid off, and the
country benefited
from the outcome,
the Amnesty
Programme, now
being casually treated
with grave potential
consequences,” he
said.
President
Muhammadu Buhari
has cut funding for
the amnesty
programme, citing
corruption.
A new group, called
Niger Delta Avengers,
which says it is
fighting for a
sovereign Niger Delta,
has taken
responsibility for a
series of attacks on
oil facilities in the
Niger Delta.
Mr. Clark, a leader of
the Ijaw nation, said
that the new wave of
attacks and the
attendant impact on
national economy
were of concern to
him.

He said. President Muhammadu Buhari has “Cut Funding” for the amnesty programme, citing corruption.