By Harris-Okon Emmanuel
UYO- Again, Niger Delta militants under the aegis
of Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators (CNDA) have
warned the Federal Government to heed several
calls for the restructuring of the nation, threatening
to harm the major interest of the Federal
Government in the region if such calls were not
observed.
In a statement obtained by Vanguard in Uyo on
Monday, the leader of the Niger Delta Watchdogs
(NDW), Gen. John Duku, said the action became
necessary following series of democratic
infractions perpetrated by the federal government
and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in recent
times.
He listed such contraventions to include, the
alleged persistent hounding of the Senate
President Bukola Saraki, the freezing of the Akwa
Ibom State government’ accounts by the EFCC
and the freedom being enjoyed by Myetti Allah
cattle union despite committing series of atrocities
without prosecution.
The statement reads in part: “After carefully
studying the recent political development in
Nigeria in general and Niger Delta in particular; the
Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators hereby wishes to
state as follows:
“We hereby condemn the recent freezing of the
Akwa Ibom State Government Account by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC
and we view it as an act of intimidation by agent
of the federal government and APC in order to
weaken t”he smooth running of government in the
Niger Delta State and we hereby warn the EFCC
and other agents of government to desist from this
act of official recklessness and breach of
constitution.
“It is indeed regrettable to observe that the EFCC
has been used as a tool to fight against the
perceived political opponents, instead of carrying
out its constitutional duties without bias as
stipulated in the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The EFCCs fight against corruption has been
lopsided without proper investigation or arrest of
so many treasury looters who are still looting the
public treasury in the Presidency till date.
“The action of the EFCC and the federal
government is against the laid down procedure of
investigation stipulated in the EFCC Acts; the EFCC
has no right or basis whatsoever to freeze any
state government account. Doing so against the
Akwa Ibom State government is therefore a
calculated attempt to cripple the activities of the
state government, label its officials as corrupt and
punish the innocent people of Akwa Ibom State.
From all indications, the attack is not on Governor
Udom Emmanuel but on the good people of the
state because of the personal hatred the APC-led
government has for the people of the state in
particular and the Niger Delta as a whole.
“We want to ask, why is it that EFCC singles out
opposition states like Akwa Ibom and Benue
states for this unjust act? Why are they not seeing
the glaring corruption pepetrated by Kogi and Imo
states Governors and other APC states? Why does
the EFCC not arrest many corrupt officials
celebrated in the Presidency till now? Why dont
they arrest the script writer and most corrupt
Senator Godswill Akpabio who looted the state
treasury for eight years and suddenly becomes a
saint as soon as he crossed over to APC and
instructed the EFCC to freeze Akwa Ibom State
government account without any evidence of
corruption against its officials?
“We hereby condemn the recent Anti-Saraki threat
by Miyetti Allah leaders and describe it as
treasonable. We also warn that any further
attempt to attack or forcefully remove the Senate
President from office shall be met with stiff
resistance from the Coalition of Niger Delta
Agitators and we promise that all business
activities in the Niger Delta shall be completely
shut down. To prove to us that the Federal
Government and APC are not using Miyetti Allah
group, the government should as a matter of
urgency arrest and prosecute the leader of Miyetti
Allah to serve as a deterrent to others.
“Finally, we shall not fold our arms and watch
these criminal activities continue unabated as any
further attempt or attack on any official of Akwa
Ibom state government shall be seen as an attack
on Niger Delta people and we shall take it
personally with the federal government. We
therefore call on the federal government to sack
the EFCC Chairman with immediate effect for
abuse of office and restructure the country before
2019 general elections otherwise; we shall ensure
that the economy base from the Niger Delta is
shut down”.