| Asari-Dokubo talks
tough
By Bashir Umar Abuja, and Henry Chukwurah, Port-Harcourt
Thursday, October 7, 2004
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Asari Dokubo
PHOTO: Sun News Publishing |
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Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPF),
Alhaji Mujaheed Asari Dokubo has warned that the peace deal
with Federal Government might amount to nothing if their demands
are not met.
Speaking with the BBC Hausa Service Wednesday, Dokubo said
the peace deal would subsist “on condition that our
demands are met. But if they are not, we’ll go back
to where we came from and then they would see.”
He gave the warning just as he told journalists in Port Harcourt
that his group would not rush to disarm, raising fears that
the much expected peace in the Niger Delta might not be at
hand yet.
Dokubo told the BBC that he and members of his group have
the right to agitate for self determination, adding that the
Federal Government consented to this in the agreement signed
with them.
He frowned at reported deployment of armed forces to strategic
locations in the Niger Delta region, arguing that “the
government has no right to militarise the Niger Delta, because
this is a democracy and we can’t tolerate that in Nigeria
of today.”
Speaking also Wednesday in Port-Harcourt, Dokubo said that
his militia would not turn in its weapons until there is bold
proof that the government has genuine interest in the return
of normalcy to the area.
“We cannot disarm until government shows sincerity.
The government should abide by the terms of the agreement
reached on matters affecting the Niger Delta including resource
control.”
The militia leader was later to wax rhetoric when he said
that his NDPVF has no arms to hand over in the first place.
This, he said, was because the weapons used by the militia
did not belong to the armed gang. Rather, all the weapons
used in the raids and invasions belonged to groups in communities
of Ijaw extraction which extend to Ondo State.
“There is nothing to disarm because the NDPVF has no
arms. My group does not have weapons. The guns that the NDPVF
use belong to these groups spread across the Niger Delta.
“Whenever we finish operations, people go back to their
communities with their guns.”
Again, Dokubo was quick to add: “We are not denying
the fact that we carry guns,” saying he has no apologies
to offer for bearing arms.
On what the future holds in view of the on-going peace talks
in Abuja, the militia leader said that, “whenever events
and circumstances present themselves, we follow.”
However, he assured that his group was ready for peace provided
the agreement reached are implemented in good faith.
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