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Dokubo- Asari storms P/H again
TONY ITA ETIM, Port Harcourt and
SEGUN JAMES, Warri
IT was a
carnival of sorts in parts of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, yesterday
when leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid
Dokubo-Asari stormed the city and held peace rallies.
The rallies took place at sections of the
city renowned for cult and militia clashes, including Amadi Ama, Marine Base and
Abuloma.
Fresh from forging a pact with the Federal
Government, a triumphant-looking Dokubo-Asari entered the Rivers State capital
like a hero accompanied by a convoy of hundreds of cars and motorcyclists.
However, hours before he stormed the city,
panic had gripped some sections of Port Harcourt as information filtered in that
he was due in the area. Consequently, many residents scampered for safety
believing that fresh crisis may erupt.
But the carnival mood of the convoy and
jubilating crowd that accompanied Dokubo-Asari doused the fears of the
residents.
The NDPVPF leader whose convoy rode
through the streets, stood through the roof of a green Mercedes Benz 190 E, with
registration number Rivers CN819PHC.
He wore a light blue T-shirt over a blue
pair of trousers and spotted clean shaven head.
The former Ijaw Youth Council (IYC)
leader, who acknowledged cheers from excited residents who lined both sides of
the streets, waved a white piece of cloth, a symbol of peace, to the crowd.
Accompanied by a convoy of hundreds of
cars and motocyclists, the motorcade caused a traffic hold-up along the Amadi
Ama Roundabout and Abuluma Road.
The commuter motorcyclists, who carried
women and young men tying or carrying white clothes displayed various stunts
with their bikes to the delight of onlookers.
Thousands of young men who accompanied
Dokubo-Asari were spotted openly drinking various brands of alcohol singing,
dancing and running alongside the convoy.
Dokubo-Asari who had arrived Port Harcourt
from Abuja Saturday afternoon, to a heroic welcome party at the Port Harcourt
International Airport after the meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo, was
driven in a convoy of six police vehicles and armed mobile policemen to Buguma,
his hometown in Asari Toru local government area.
Leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante Group,
Mr. Ateke Tom was also treated to another heroic welcome at his home town,
Okrika, on Saturday.
Ateke on arrival at Okrika went around the
town with a white flag symbolising the return of peace.
He was accompanied by several women and
soldiers, a large crowd of indigenes of Okrika and his supporters who went
through the town dancing and singing.
But some residents of Amadi Ama were
suspect of the return of peace to the area.
A woman who identified herself simply as
Mary, and who spoke with Daily Champion wants Dokubo Asari and Ateke to
hold a joint peace rally to convince the people that peace has really returned.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Izon (Ijaw)
students has warned the Federal Government not to harm Dokubo-Asari as he "is
agitating for equity and peace."
The NUIS in a communique issues at the end
of an emergency national delegates’ conference in Warri on Saturday, warned
government that the Ijaw will revolt should any harm come to Dokubo-Asari in the
course of his agitations.
The communique which was signed by the
National President Dennis Otuaro and secretary, Kenneth Oyakemegbegha said that
they support the activities of Dokubol Asari as he is fighting against the
alleged continuing enslavement of the Niger Delta people.
"If anything tourches his finger or plays
any trick, like what the colonial masters did to king Jaja of Opobo in the name
of peace talk, it will not mean well for Nigeria" they warned.
According to the students, the problem of
the Niger Delta is the militarization of the area by the Federal Government.
"We condemn the bombardment of law abiding
Izon citizens by the Nigerian Armed Forces who use chemical weapons and other
weapons of war to quell what they term "internal uprising", they said.
The students expressed support for
Dokubo-Asari’s call of self-determination, resource control" and urged the
immediate convocation of a Sovereign National Conference to discuss the way
forward for actualization of true federalism in Nigeria."
They said that such has become urgent,
given the suit against the Federal Government by 22 state governors over the
abrogation of the onshore/offshore dichotomy Act.
"We use this medium to strongly appeal to
our governors political leaders and all the friends of the South South
geo-political zone to remain focused, united, committed and courageous in the
pursuit of resource control and true federalism," the students said.
But MASSOB’s Director of Information, Mr
Uchenna Madu, told Daily Champion that the group would not honour any
invitation to negotiate its position on Biafra.
"We have nothing to negotiate with
government on Biafra. Our dream is Biafra or nothing. They know it", he said.
According to the MASSOB spokesman, many
lives had been lost in the struggle for Biafra, adding that there cannot be any
negotiations.
"Many souls have been lost by us on
account of Biafra; we’ve sacrificed a lot. We can’t sell out now," he remarked.
MASSOB, he insisted, is not interested in
discussing with government except such parley has only one item: Biafran
sovereignty.
He claimed that "government is afraid of
us." Mr Madu noted that MASSOB’s successful internationalisation of the Biafra
cause had rattled government badly.
He condemned government for the
pronouncement that MASSOB was being carried along in dialogues, saying such
showed how jittery the establishment allegedly was.
Mr Madu claimed that 1,058 MASSOB members
are still languishing in detention nationwide, adding that even the 53 recently
released by an Abuja High Court were yet to be freed by the police.
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