Last month, a propeller of one of the choppers that was conveying staff to the location was shot by the militants which has compounded the transportation problem of the oil companies operating at the dangerous creeks. “They can’t send us food because they have declared the area a no flight zone”, a Chevron
staff revealed. He narrated that it is difficult to access the degree of damage done to the oil facilities at the Excravos by the war between the federal troops and the insurgents because those who work at the tank farms had been evacuated to avoid being cut in the cross fire. Though the federal government may be losing about US$65 million (an estimated N8.9billion) with a drastic drop from the 3.5 million barrels per day of total
output, the source intimated that the exact value of oil lost can not be ascertained now that the war is still raging. Speaking with this publication on Saturday 23, he noted that “it will be impossible to calculate what is lost in the war from oil output”.

But  there is also a new wave of allegation that the war against militants is a cover for genocide.Chancellor of the International Society for Social Justice Good Governance, ISSJGG, Jackson Omenazu condemned the federal government’s use of the resource which could have been channeled to the development of the Niger Delta region to the promotion of a genocide. “This is genocide. It is injustice for government
to rather harness the scarce resources in the promotion of carnage in the region”, he complained.
Jackson explained that the humanitarian effect of the Warri war calls for international reaction. Jackson wondered why Nigeria should be at war with itself noting that the best way out of the hostilities in the region is for the government to heed to agitation for the payment of 60 per cent derivation to the oil producing states of the Niger Delta. “The Niger Delta must be paid 60% derivation while true federalism should be practiced,” adding that Nigerian government has never been fair to the region since the discovery of
oil as the main stay of the country’s economy.

According to him, the federal government’s amnesty is not necessary at this point. “What is required is development. Government should also trace the history of these militants and attend to their demands which is the development of the area.” More than 1000 people have died so far in the weeklong war, about 200 houses destroyed and properties worth millions of naira destroyed in the carnage. The
war has also hindered oil production in full capacity. The Nigerian National Assembly last week approved the extension of the military onslaught to the neighboring states of Bayelsa and Rivers to comb the
nooks and crannies of the region for the insurgents. This last effort is seen by many as the last measure that would bring an end to the age long crisis in the Niger Delta.


MILITANTS FAILED TO SEE GOVT’S GESTURES

Mr Ogbonna Nwuke, a public commentator, Journalist, publisher and Commissioner for Information in Rivers state, south-south Nigeria speaks on the Warri crisis and his government’s position.

BY EYO BASSEY, Niger Delta region

Governor Rotimi Ameachi of Rivers state believes that negotiating with militants was a compromising approach to finding a solution to the restiveness in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, giving the on-going war in Warri, Delta state, what is your government’s position?


The problem is just in some part of Warri, not the entire city. We understand that people are still going about their legal activities without any molestation whatsoever. What is going on now is exactly what we have been fighting to prevent. There had been fear that in an attempt to flush out people who have lost direction,
the Niger Delta could become a theatre of war. Nobody doubts the principle that there has been Niger Delta struggle. Abinitio, that struggle has to exist on the platform of intellectualism. It makes a sense now that the issue of developing the region has been brought to the front burner due mainly to constructive engagement.
What is happening in some part of Delta state, regrettable as it is, is a proof of what I have always said that violence can never be an answer to our collective problems. At the moment there is a lot of hue and cry about what people see and the views of the military. The military and Nigerian federal government has insisted that no nation can fold its arms and allowed some group of people hold it to ransom by any means. It is appalling that people who have no right whatsoever are parading the communities in the name of freedom fighters. These people were boasting that they are strong and those who are crying out now did very little. Why
did they not expose the criminals in their communities! Those young men were in those communities using the people as human shields. Now the action has come, they went to create the impression that it is genocide. Since this problem has turned out this way, we now have the opportunity Nigerians to address it once and for all. The development of the Niger Delta is what all of us from this part of the country want, but the approach of carrying guns against the trained Nigerian Army is totally wrong. This could be adversely counter-productive

Nigerian Lawmakers are backing the federal government in the use of force to flush out the militants from Delta state and extend the same treatment to Bayelsa and Rivers states, what is the view of your government on this use of force considering its  implications on the civilian?

The federal government has been wary about the collateral damage or the consequences of embarking on military expeditions. You will agree that here is a government that recently told the militants we are ready to grant you amnesty if you can drop your weapons and turn a new leaf. The militants did not see that while government was waving the olive branch, there was also the military exercise was also being conducted. The same government the militants saw as weak was also preparing. I may be in government now, but I have my analytical mind as a Journalist. It was wrong for the militants or the insurgents or criminals as the case maybe to ignore these signs as they were coming. Asari Dokubo (leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Voluntary Force, NDPVF) saw that this was an opening and wished that the militants grabbed it. That came from one ideologically minded freedom fighter. He was reasonable enough to see it, but others did not. Am worried though in every conflict lives would be lost and properties destroyed. Nigerian Army is one of the
best in the world, they know that the innocent people have part in this crisis and they should be protected. The Army is only there to deal with those who act outside the law. Our position as a government is that all parties in the conflict should exercise restrain for the interest of the Nigeria state. We use this medium to
sympathize the good people of Delta state and also tell our brothers on the other side to turn a new leaf and reconsider the option of an amnesty in our pursuit of the Niger Delta struggle. It is not about weapons. On the contrary it makes us sitting dogs. Nobody can dare the Nigerian Army. They can crush any insurgency
if provoked. Let us not turn the region to a battle ground.

Some critics especially in the northern part of the country are of the opinion that Ijaw leaders in Niger Delta are actually the ones fanning the embers of crisis by way of petting the militants because they benefit from it monetarily, what is your take on this?

People have their opinions. You can not look at this thing from one perspective alone. There are people who think that violence and stubborn resistance is the best way forward. There people who benefit from the bunkering, there are those who also are beneficiaries of negotiations between the militants on one side and the
authorities on the other and they see this as a way of business. Well, people are entitled to their opinions. It is not for me to pass a judgment here. But it stands to reason that as a responsible Niger Delta man that we can not continue to suffer from increasing capital flight, our image is being changed from that of hospitality
to hostile people. We cannot on our part by omission or commission continue to worsen the problem of unemployment in the region which is aggravated by incessant kidnapping of expatriates and other criminalities. I guess the lesson that needed to be learnt in this conflict has been learnt by those who have
seen it. I witnessed the Nigerian civil war against the Biafrans. I saw a lot and hoped I will not see such horror again in my life. I may believe that some of the people brandishing guns to day were not part of or did not even born during that war. For them war mongering has become common place. Now war is here, and I do hope
we learn our lessons that the creeks we think are indeed masters of could be mastered by the defenders of the Nigerian nation, that is the Armed Forces. My take therefore is that this is not the time to say we should talk frankly and sincerely on those issues that constitute the Niger Delta problem.

Your Governor, Rotimi Amaechi was the Speaker of the State House of Assembly in Rivers state for eight years when two hydra-headed militants were allegedly bred by the government of the day, what actually did he do to salvage the ugly trend then?

He was amazed when he appeared before the former President, (Olusegun) Obasanjo with the former Governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili that the president could sit down to negotiate with people he called common criminals. These people’s actions led to the killing of over 2000 youths in the state. Governor Amaechi was appalled that a system could fraternize with persons like that. The then Speaker now Governor had the courage when other people were afraid to make the House of Assembly pass a law
that categorically listed over 100 hundred cult groups. As a Speaker he ensured sanity in the state. Now he has duly equipped the law enforcement agencies to stave off the criminals who were parading themselves as freedom fighters. Let me tell the world to day that in those days when there were so much killings in the state, one of the safest places to be was where he had control, and that is the Ikwerre area of the state compared to other areas that were on the boil.