N/Delta group blames FG for resurgence of restiveness, pipeline vandalization in region

NEDU MARK, P/ H, Yenagoa
Frontline leaders in Niger Delta region have blamed the Federal Government for the recent resurgence of insurgency and pipeline vandalization in some communities.
The group also appealed to the South/South governors to resist the militarization of the region by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, even as they urged the government to adopt more proactive measures to ensure mutual cooperation among the ex agitators and government.
The group which condemned the termination of pipeline surveillance contracts between the ex agitators and the NNPC by the federal government noted that the development was breeding unhealthy relationship between government and the aggrieved ex militant leaders.
President, Niger Delta Non Violence Leaders Assembly, Ambassador Kennedy Tonjo West stated this in Port Harcourt while condemning the invasion of Ijaw communities in Delta State by the military.
According to the group, “it is too hasty for the federal government to use threat and options of militarization of the region.
“The option taken by President Buhari led government is not the best to solving the regional problem.
“Creating deliberate unemployment for over 10,000 youths is enough to breed insurgency among the youths in the region, as a group we totally think that federal government is to be blamed for attacks and insurgency in the pipelines.”
The group also frowned at the 2016 budget earmarked for the amnesty programme by the Buhari government insisting that it does not capture the N 75,000 stipend for the repent agitators.
He blamed the federal government for the drastic decline in the appropriation into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and into the Niger Delta ministry, just as he decried the huge unemployment rate in the region as the region ‘faces marginalization , neglect and economic starvation by the federal government.’
“The present APC government is responsible for the recent insurgency in the Niger Delta communities, and the deployment of the military into the Ijaw communities.
“The government at the centre over time has treated the issue of the region with kid gloves without paying due attention to its plights.
“Positive dialogue between the leaders of the region and the federal government would enhance development, cooperate co existence in the country.”