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FG
may detain Asari Dokubo
How
Niger Delta Senators aided his arrest
By
Onyekachi Eze
Senior
Reporter,
Abuja
Rebel
Asari Dokubo indeed unwittingly walked in on a federal ploy that led to
his being held in protective custody. But he achieved at least one feat: a
dialogue with President Olusegun Obasanjo and other government officials
where his vision, the enhancement of living conditions in the Niger Delta,
was discussed.
According
to sources, his movement to Abuja would not have been possible without the
backing of senators from the Niger Delta who were said to have negotiated
with the Federal Government on how he would be treated.
Bayelsa
State Governor Diepriye Alamieyeseigha, who is also known as the Governor
General of the Ijaw Nation, was said to be part of the negotiation which
insisted that the war lord be treated fairly if they have to get him to
discuss with the federal authorities.
The
discussion took place even though Aso Rock pours cold water on his mode of
operation and, by extension, dismisses his own perculier
agitation.
The
leader of the Niger Delta People�s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) was flown to
Abuja on Wednesday in a Presidential jet along with five other members of
his group for a meeting with the President after threatening on September
27 to launch an �all-time war against Nigeria� from October 1.
A
bragging Dokubo� although himself a valiant armed fighter � had misread
the military minds in the Villa, especially Obasanjo, a General in
civilian attire keen on deploying, from time to time, his vast soldierly
experience of outwitting the enemy by surprise � and, where necessary,
with a dose of deception.
He
had boasted that from October 1, he would begin to blow up oil
installations in the Niger Delta, the country�s golden goose, if oil
companies fail to evacuate their employees.
At
that point, top politicians from the zone went into action. They went in
search of the warlord after receiving assurances from the Presidency and
the security agencies that the he would be fairly treated and would not be
incarcerated.
The
lawmakers pleaded the need for the government to honour its own side of
the bargain as an unpleasant fate would likely await them back home if the
action turned out as alure to arrest Dokubo.
The
legislators prevailed on Dokubo at a meeting in one of his hideouts to
accept the olive branch � as such would enable him put the demands of the
region on the table for negotiation.
It
did not quite turnout to be so. He was held by security agents, a twist in
the tale confirmed on Wednesday by Information Minister Chukwuemeka
Chikelu, who said the man isco-operating with them on how to resolve the
conflict in the Niger Delta.
Dokubo
and the leader of another cult group, Tom Ateke, believed to have the
backing of the Rivers State Government, were declared wanted by the police
for allegedly carrying out attacks in Port Harcourt and its
environs.
�This
tells you that the government was playing politics all this time on
Dokubo�s whereabouts. How long did it take them to fish him out for
discussion? All this talk about declaring him wanted was mere gimmick�, a
source said.
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