Worried about the arrest of many close associates of former President Goodluck Jonathan with respect to allegations of massive fraud perpetrated during his administration, the Ijaw Youths Congress (IYC) on Thursday warned the federal government to jettison the idea of arresting the former president.
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Punch reports that the IYC made its position known at the Wellington Hotel in Effurrun, Delta State, where it held the 2016 annual Major Isaac Boro anniversary celebration with the theme, “The ideals of Adaka Boro and the renewed militancy in the Niger Delta: The way forward.”
The group criticised the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari for limiting its anti-corruption campaign to the Jonathan regime and dared the administration to probe the famous Halliburton case under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, if it wanted Nigerians to take its anti-corruption campaign seriously.
IYC president, Udengs Eradiri, while addressing the issue of renewed militancy in the Niger Delta region, said the opening of the Maritime University, Okerenkoko in Delta State, for academic activities was the first condition for a round-table discussion with the federal government towards ending ongoing militants’ onslaught in the region.
“The same issues for which Adaka Boro and Ken Saro-Wiwa were killed are the same issues the Avengers are raising. There are no Avengers anywhere. Settle these issues and the avengers would fizzle away,” Eradiri said, referring to a new militant group, The Niger Delta Avengers.
Prominent rights activist, Tony Uranta, who also spoke at the occasion said, “Isaac Boro and Ken Saro-Wiwa died fighting for the emancipation of the Niger Delta, later we had Asari Dokubo, Tompolo and others. But because Tompolo was taken out, new faces have come up.”
Uranta called on Buhari to reassure Niger Delta youths that the amnesty programme would not be cancelled if the peace in the region was to be sustained, noting that there were many beneficiaries who had not gone on training.