The fear in Port Harcourt at the moment is not the fear of possible invasion by armed gangs; the fear, here, is whether the current calm will last. There are indications, however, that peace is having a vigorous handshake with the Garden City at the moment.
It was not so a few weeks ago. Then, even the atmosphere appeared electrified with tension. It was brought about by the exploits of rampaging armed gangs who were fighting against one another and against security operatives and in the process, harvested numerous dead bodies including those of the innocent.
At the height of the mayhem, Governor Peter Odili of Rivers State had to cut short his vacation abroad and fly into Port Harcourt to take charge of the deteriorating security situation.
Now, there is a joint security team in place that has not only the capacity to strike at the camps of armed groups but also has the license to do so. And has in fact started attacking some of those camps. The team is backed by the Federal Government and therefore has access to attack helicopters and jet fighters. So there is calm here in Port Harcourt and Rivers State in general — at the moment.
But there is a problem here. Late last year, the Rivers State Police Command declared certain persons in the state wanted. Among those declared wanted are the leaders of the Niger Delta Vigilante and the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Ateke Tom and Asari Dokubo respectively.
While the search for these persons were supposedly on, the state government having been pushed to the wall on account of the activities of cultists and warlords, sought a means to put an end to the mayhem. It came up with an offer of amnesty and financial compensation for any person that voluntarily hands over illegal arms to the authorities.
Ateke Tom used the opportunity to hand over some of his arms to government and government or police could not arrest him because of a superseding law of amnesty and financial compensation to anyone that willingly surrenders his illegal arms.
The matter has now gone beyond those conditions as we now have on ground a joint security team made of the navy, air force and the army, which operates as in a war situation and tagged ‘‘Operation Flush Out 3.”
The recent attack by this team on Asari Dokubo’s camps has had Asari’s men threatening to retaliate.
The suggestions proferred by the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) on how to bring peace to the region could be of help here.
According to the President of the IYC, Mr. Jon Jon Emmanuel, “we have contacted both Asari and Ateke, who have both expressed willingness to resolve their differences through any non-political and credible process. We hope that their willingness will lead us to some useful end. We shall, however, take a case for a non-military solution.”
A chieftain of the Rivers Democratic Movement, Chief Annabs Sara-Igbe has faulted the Federal Government’s move in bombing Asari Dokubo’s camp saying it is capable of bringing about ‘‘Armageddon’’ in the region.
His reasoning: “Since Asari is in the Niger Delta area, with many oil pipelines, bombing his base could do serious damage to the oil installations. Government should exercise caution because of what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
He was of the opinion that long after allied powers attacked Iraq and Afghanistan, “the war is still on.”
He spoke of a third party that should be invited to broker peace since; “Asari Dokubo and Ateke Tom” are both Ijaw.
His words: “let the Governor-General of Ijaw land, Dr. Alamieyeseigha (Governor of Bayelsa State) intervene and help us out. If we call Asari a criminal or terrorist, and it gets into his head, it could be dangerous because Rivers State is exposed to international waters. So many vessels visit the state. If he now attacks a tanker, you know what that means? Big problem for the state and it will affect the economy of the nation. If he is killed, it will rather compound the problem.”
Chief Sara Igbe, who, perhaps, sees Asari Dokubo as a freedom fighter went on: “Boro was killed, and that did not solve the problem. Saro Wiwa was killed, and that did not solve the problem. Harry also was killed, and that did not solve the problem; and so was Dikibo. If Asari is killed, that will also not solve the problem. We must therefore find out the cause of the problem and nip it off before we can solve the problem. If you send soldiers to the Rivers, some will even die; fishermen will die; Asari’s people will die.”
He went further, “These people (Asari Dokubo and Ateke Tom) are sitting on a keg of gunpowder. If the flow stations are blown up, oil and gas fires will burn up the Niger Delta. Let the elders of the state like Graham-Douglas and Biriye join forces with Alamieyeseigha to resolve this issue. That is the only way forward. If a small boy like Asari tells you he is fighting for something, he is really fighting for something. Nobody knows where he is going. They should not underrate him. A guerrilla warfare is dangerous. See Liberia, see, Iraq. Such wars are not easily won,” he added.
The Ijaw National Congress (INC) led by Prof. Kimse Okoko has also spoken against the military option saying it will throw up more problems.
He made it known that “the INC has initiated peace talks between the two warlords (Ateke Tom and Asari Dokubo) and they have expressed their willingness to meet with the INC in the interest of peace.”
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), which has Asari Dokubo as former president, has denied any involvement in the current crisis.
According to the current president of the IYC, Mr. Jon Jon Emmanuel, “On December 11, 1998, we made a declaration. In that declaration, we noted that the Nigerian state project is structured in a way as to keep us politically weak and divided and to make us fight against ourselves while the looting of the nation continues. We called on Ijaw people to be united and seek increased understanding of the dynamics of the political process of this country. We went ahead to mobilize our people towards closeness and greater interaction through our mobile community parliament. Our declaration was also clear as to our relationship with our neighbours and our desire for a joint struggle with other people and organization.
“The Ijaw Youth Council therefore has operated and will continue to maintain a moral high ground in its efforts to reclaim the dignity of Ijaws and the people of the Niger Delta. We maintain that the crisis in the Eastern zone (Port Harcourt area) is purely a fall out of previous political associates. The Ijaw Youth Council in no way is directly or remotely involved in the crisis neither does the conflict reflect the concerns of the council. They are condemnable and distractive to our core mission and purpose.”
Continuing, Jon Jon Emmanuel said, “we sympathize with those who have lost their loved ones or have been injured in the process. We also sympathize with our people who now live in terror. We call on them to take courage and maintain caution as we continue to seek solution to this new challenge.
He cautioned the Nigerian Security Forces, saying they should “analyze these events thoroughly. Their engagement in any process should be to ensure the security of lives and property of the ordinary and innocent citizens without harm to our people, Asari or Ateke are valuable assets in unraveling the intrigues at play and should be kept alive to tell their own story. The IYC shall be willing to give support to any civil process that will bring practical solution to the resolution of the crises. We have contacted both Asari and Ateke who have both expressed willingness to resolve their differences.”
These peace initiatives could be actualized through the Rivers State government’s Committee on Youth Rehabilitation and Empowerment, (COYRE) recently inaugurated by the state government, whose mandate among others is to encourage youths in the state “to take up peace advocacy in (the) communities,” under the Community Peace Vanguard Corp (CPVC).
According to the chairman of COYRE, Sir Alaye Eremie, “the best programme whatever cannot succeed in an atmosphere of violence and insecurity. Violence is evil. Violence and cultism destroy the energy and vigour of youths. Violence stalls development. Violence consumes lives. Violence wipes out a society and brings only tears and wailing. This is the reason why the alien culture of violence must stop. As youth leaders, we must speak out and keep away from violence. Peace is what we need for development to thrive, he added.
These peace options would tend to remind one of the peace moves initiated by the United Nations (UN) just before the United States and its allies rolled their tanks into Iraq in search of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) that were not there only for President George Bush to come up with the explanation (after the devastation of Iraq) that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gave him wrong information.
Meanwhile, Iraq had been devastated, Saddam Hussein dethroned, property destroyed and many Iraqis, Americans and Britons killed while in search of non-existent weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
As Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe has noted, “these people (Asari and Ateke) are sitting on a keg of gunpowder. If the flow stations are blown up, oil and gas fires will burn up the Niger Delta. Let us not destroy the Niger Delta.
