Daily Independent Online.
*
Tuesday, July 13, 2004.
Why we’re in
Niger Delta - Military
By Uwakwe Abugu
Bureau
Chief (Warri)
and Chris Agbambu
Deputy
Bureau Chief (Abuja)
The military on Monday
clarified its role in Operation Restore Hope in the restive Niger Delta and
other volatile areas, saying it should not be misconstrued by the international
community as breaching the rights of the communities involved.
It gave the assurance
that the crisis in the region would soon be over as the government had adopted
some measures that would ensure peaceful
co-existence in the region.
Acting Chief of
Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Samuel Afolaya, who is also the Chief of Naval
Staff, made the point while receiving in Abuja the Deputy Commander of the
United States European Command, General Charles Wald.
Afolayan stood in for
General Alexander Ogomudia who is on vacation.
He said “certain
elements” should not be seen trying to thwart Nigeria’s hard earned
democracy, an apparent reference to the embargo on training of the Nigerian
military by the U.S. because of the Zaki-Ibiam debacle in 2000.
“When you talk
of human rights, it is no longer human rights when you disturb the right of
others”, he said.
For democracy to
thrive there must be peace, and “nobody is trampling on anybody’s
rights, and rights has responsibility associated with it”, Afolayan
added.
He recalled that
Nigeria has contributed a lot to world peace, dating back to 1960 in the Congo,
and that the country alone “cannot do all these things without the
support of friendly countries such as the U.S.
“Nigeria is ever
ready to support world peace efforts, but the resources available to it cannot
carry the responsibilities associated with it as there are other basic problems
the government has to solve”.
On the international
dimension of terrorism, Afolayan stressed that no one is safe any more within
his country’s territory and that every one should join hands to fight the
cankerworm.
He said Nigeria as
part of the West African sub-region is ready to play its part in intelligence
gathering and sharing among friendly countries and solicited more assistance
from the U.S. “despite the four ships donated to the Navy to patrol the
Niger Delta”.
According to him,
because of the vast interest of U.S. companies in the oil sector, there is the
need to continue to secure the region, urging Wald to understand the problem of
a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria in trying to guarantee the rights and
safety of all.
In response, Wald said
Nigeria was his first port of call in sub-Saharan Africa, stressing that the
U.S. is always interested in coming to Nigeria because of its leading role in
the ECOWAS sub-region.
“We believe in
the European command that ECOWAS is the mouth of Africa, and the leadership
role Nigeria has been playing, as even its contribution towards peace in Sudan
is worthy of commendation. You did in Liberia, in Sierra Leone and now you are
doing it again in Sudan,” Wald stated.
On terrorism, Wald
said the U.S. would like to share intelligence on how to track down Al Qaeda
which masterminds the threat.
Fielding questions
from newsmen on reports of the presence of U.S. warships in the Gulf of Guinea, Wald insisted that
there is nothing of the sort, talk less of the Niger Delta.
He explained that the
U.S. military had a training exercise along the coast of Ghana last year and is
currently having a similar one on the Moroccan coastline.
Meanwhile, Delta State
Government says it is being overburdened by the cost of maintaining federal
agencies, especially the troops deployed to keep the peace in parts of the
state.
Deputy Governor
Benjamin Elue cried out over the extra burden on Monday as the Senate Committee
on the Nigerian Navy promised to revisit this year’s budget with a view
to providing more money for the
taskforce on the restoration of peace in the Niger Delta.
Elue spoke on behalf of Governor James
Ibori when the committee members visited him in Asaba.
