Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt

Niger Delta militants have described
Tuesday’s meeting with the Federal
Government by some stakeholders in the region
as an exercise that will not put an end to the
attacks on oil facilities.

The agitators stated that none of the
stakeholders chosen to be part of the meeting
with the Federal Government was aware of the
plight of the Niger Delta people.

Speaking through separate statements, the
Niger Delta Peoples Democratic Front and the
Concerned Militant Leaders, expressed
dissatisfaction that no former militant leader
was among those chosen to be part of
representatives of the region in the meeting with government.

Leaders of the two groups, General Ben and
General Playboy maintained that such a meeting without any recognised former Niger Delta militant would not protect the interest of the people of the region. They also doubted the Federal Government’s sincerity on the $10bn development fund to be earmarked for the Niger Delta.
“Pipeline bombing cannot stop because the
people going for the meeting do not know why
they are going there. It is not the first, second,
or third time and would not be the last. So, we
cannot be deceived or bamboozled by
whatever tag is given to the meeting.
“We insist on implementation of the report of
the National Conference and other reports on
the development of Niger Delta region.
Anything short of this is insincere and will not be
accepted. For a genuine peace, past reports of
several commissions on Niger Delta must be visited,” they said.

General Playboy specifically said,
“Our elders and leaders are not helping matters at all. They do not really know the plight of Niger Delta people because they are wealthy, quite rich and do not take issues about the region seriously.
“They do not know the common people in the
region because they are not based in Niger
Delta and cannot show holistic commitment to
our struggle. Our elders represent themselves,
and not the people in the rural areas.
“We don’t need people who will play politics
with the genuine struggle of Niger Delta people.
We don’t want people, who are not agitators.

The real agitators are people like Alhaji Asari
Dokubo, High Chief Government Tompolo,
Egberipapa, General Africa, General Joshua and many others.
“These are the kind of people that can
negotiate for our people. They know the plights
of the Niger Delta people because they live in
the same environment with them. They are not
based abroad. They come down to the
communities to know the feelings of the people. Such people should represent us.”

He (General Playboy), however, noted that their
position did not mean that they were
disrespectful to the elders in the region, insisting that they (elders) were not needed at the meeting with the Federal Government.

Olasco93:
What is the essense of Blowing up your country's resources all because you want to prove a point. It's of no use endangering the lives of ther future generation from your ignorant action taken today...
Starting what you cannot finish like the below fellow;

MrEverest:
Why dont you demand that the government should do the right thing once and for all so we could have peace? Why is it impossible to implement PIB & true fiscal federalism they have been demanding since 1967?