Niger Delta People V.F.

From:	`Cynthia Whyte <cynthia.whyte@gmail.com>`
Date:	`19 Jan 2006, 07:39:01 PM`
Subject:	`Press Statement: The Latest Onslaught`

Martyrs Brigade


On Wednesday 20th of January 2006, at about 10.58 pm, armed militants of the
Martyrs Brigade blew up the petroleum products pipeline located between
Adowawa and NNPC depot along Agbor road in Benin City.

We have made it clear that the despotic forces of the occupation Nigerian
state and her imperialist collaborators should vacate the Niger Delta area
and they would not listen. Bearing great semblance to arrogance and dubious
persona of the ruler of the Nigerian State, these imperialist collaborators
have continued to scorn our alerts.

Let us make this clear to them once more. Eyes have not seen. Neither have
ears ever heard what we shall do to you and your operations in our
fatherland. We will bleed you to your marrows and you shall beg to leave our
fatherland.

The Nigerian state will see peace no more. Never again will those who cart
away our resources and leave us in abject squalor enjoy a free ride. Never
again will our people be subject to the oppressive whims and caprices of a
malicious and ungrateful Nigerian state lorded over by criminally minded
sycophants and over zealous power hungry despots.

Like the Biblical Nebuchadnezzar, General Obasanjo and his officers have
refused to give ear to our calls. Therefore we shall turn them into beasts
and they shall crawl to us and beg for mercy.

For more than 112 years, the sovereignty of our fatherland has been traded
like some cheap commodity between the British Crown and an ungrateful
Nigerian state. Our forefathers were hoodwinked into signing protectorate
treaties with the British crown. We the survivors and inheritors of these
treaties today reject it. This treaty was not legal and binding and
therefore it was more illegal for the British crown to transfer our
sovereignty to the ungrateful Nigerian state.

The Niger Delta has a population of almost 20 million people spread out in
more than 5000 communities. The region has about 5,500 oil wells, 235 flow
stations and about 7,000 km of pipeline/flow lines in almost 31,000 square
kilometers of space.

Today with all these wealth, these communities provide the perfect
description of poverty, squalor, deprivation and neglect, parading a per
capita income of less than $100. Never before in the history of God's earth
have a people so blessed been made so poor. We reject this satanic
imposition of poverty on our people and so we shall take what belongs to us
by FORCE.

We shall continue to unleash acts of sabotage against agents and
infrastructures of the Nigerian state and her collaborators until they
vacate our lands.

A word is enough for the wise and we shall not spare the rod to ensure their
demise!


The Struggle Continues


Cynthia Whyte

Leader & Spokesperson, Martyrs Brigade

From:	`Cynthia Whyte <cynthia.whyte@gmail.com>`
Date:	`17 Jan 2006, 05:40:13 PM`
Subject:	`Press Statement: The Frontiers of War Have Drawn Close`

Martyrs Brigade


Today, our patriotic and esteemed leader, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari,
Prince of Kalabari Kingdom and great great grandson of ancient Ijaw &
Kalabari warlord King Amakiri will once more appear in the courts of the
despotic and dubious occupation Nigerian state in Abuja.

We do not care whether a new judge will be quickly conscripted from
maiduguri, lagos, sokoto or ibadan to replace the one who was brought in to
fix the job from Benin.

We are not deterred and we will not relent. We call on the Almighty God and
the world to be our witnesses in this grave abuse of the judicial process by
the kakistocratic Nigerian state ruled by her pharaohic leader General
Olusegun Obasanjo and her officers.

By now, they would have realized that the time for TALK, TALK, and TALK is
over! Now it is time for BANG, BANG, and BANG!!

We will hit them and smoke them out from every corner of our fatherland. We
will not spare them. Our Rivers will be reddened with their blood. Our
fishes and birds of the air will feast on their flesh. If they attempt any
Odi or Odioma style invasion, we will not sit idly by. We will give to them
the way they have given to us.

To the traitors and collaborators, there shall be no hiding place for you.
We will fish you out from wherever you are hiding and feeding the enemy with
information. We will have no pity.

For you the imperialist collaborators of the Nigerian state, we warned you
before like we are warning you now to leave our territory on your own
volition, but you have chosen to scorn our warning and believe that the
occupation Nigerian forces can protect you and provide you with the security
that you desire.

Let us make this clear once again. This is only the beginning of the
beginning. The next phase of this onslaught shall be the end of the
beginning of the beginning. Then, we shall take the battle down to the
corridors of our enemies.

We call on all the groups that have emerged after our clarion call to battle
to know that we have only one sacred mandate that is to rid our fatherland
of the occupation Nigerian forces. We must work together. We are not rivals
but compatriots and pathfinders of a new Niger Delta history. There is
victory waiting for us at the other side.

Today, the Martyrs Brigade has entered into a war alliance with the 4,223
men strong Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). We call
on other groups to come and be part of this militant revolution as we join
hands in the creation of the new history of the world's most deprived
region.

We call on all Niger Deltans; market women, unemployed & employed, all
youths, men and women to come out and be part of this historic struggle. We
must resist the enemy so that they will flee from our lands.

O yes O yes O yes, Freedom is near

I can feel it in my heart, Freedom is near

Standing at the shore, looking across the sea

I can see vividly that freedom is near.

The frontiers of war have drawn close. Let us all pick up our garments of
battle and go forth.


Cynthia Whyte

Leader & Spokesperson of the Martyrs Brigade

From:	`Cynthia Whyte <cynthia.whyte@gmail.com>`
Date:	`23 Dec 2005, 07:12:08 PM`
Subject:	`Press Statement: Our resolve will remain unshaken !`

*The Martyrs Brigade*

Dear All,


Early this week, dedicated combatants of The Martyrs Brigade successfully
took out two high capacity crude oil pipeline operated by NNPC and Shell
Petroleum Development Company, an imperialist collaborator of the Nigerian
state and co-participant in the despicable looting and depravation of the
Niger Delta.

On this campaign, we make bold to say that we were fully able to achieve our
objective.

Our intention at this point, is to slowly and steadily cripple every
operation of those who have continued to conspire against the people of the
Niger Delta. Not one will be spared in this new onslaught.

We commiserate with all those who lost their lives or lost dear ones in the
aftermath of the strike. In both instances, we made concerted and committed
efforts to ensure that inhabitants of surrounding high-risk areas were duly
alerted and advised to evacuate.

At this point, let us restate an earlier call to all oil and gas companies
operating in the Niger Delta to henceforth evacuate or be made targets in
this new initiative. It is our intention to wipe out every existence of oil
& gas operation in the Niger Delta FOR rather than being a gain, oil and gas
has become a pain in our lives. We have been deprived, exploited, oppressed
and marginalized. In spite of the fact that our resources sustain the more
than 120 million citizens of the Nigerian contraption, we remain the least
developed region. This is unacceptable.

Our resolve to wipe out every existence of oil and gas operations in the
Niger Delta will remain unshaken as long as the oppressive and dictatorial
hegemony that lord over the Nigerian state today continue to have their way.
Their blindness to the Niger Delta question and continued intention to hold
under unlawful detention, our patriotic and esteemed leader Alhaji Mujahid
Dokubo-Asari will be resisted with every drop of our blood.

To this end, we call on all Niger Deltans who reside close to heavy oil and
gas operational infrastructures to evacuate to safer grounds as soon as they
can. In the future, we may not have the luxury to provide before-attack
alerts like we did in the near recent Edo and Rivers onslaught.

Fellow Niger Deltans, we encourage you to tighten your seat-belts and be
ready to make certain sacrifices for the soon coming rainy day. The
government of the Nigerian state and her imperialist collaborators must be
punished to the fullest.

Until we are given a pride of place in this contraption called Nigeria,
until the satanic hegemony gains the good sense to release our patriotic and
esteemed leader, we will continue to unleash grave breaches of insecurity in
their system. At maxima, we will hit right behind their backyards and cause
them to sleep no more.

While they wine and make merry this yuletide, they are happy to cause pain
and discomfort to other families. Breadwinners and heads of families are
illegally and unlawfully detained under unpleasant circumstances all because
they oppose the current status quo. This is unwelcome and should be resisted
by all. This act of wickedness must be repaid.

As they conspire to impose another term of misguided governance on us, let
us all come together and be willing to give our lives so that our children
will have a much more better life.

The season of complacency is over. We must take over that which belongs to
us.


God is with us.


Cynthia Whyte

*Chief Spokesperson, The Martyrs Brigade*

"I cannot surrender the sovereignty that was given to me by the Nigerian people". President Olusegun Obasanjo, Oyo State February, 2001.

As a direct consequence of the gradual degeneration of the Nigerian state, the passionate campaign and vigorous agitation for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) is once again steadily gathering momentum. For even though we have a "democratically" elected government in power today, the fact remains that the "National Question" is yet to be answered. And until we have searched our souls and settled some outstanding fundamental issues that still exist among our varous nationalities, until the brutal role of internal colonialism has been completely and irrevocably shattered, Nigeria cannot possibly prosper and neither can she achieve her full potentials. This is because there can be little doubt that the many problems that this country faces cannot be solved simply by the establishment of democracy, the provision of good government and the equitable distribution of ministerial portfolios.

There is far more to it than that and anyone that seriously believes otherwise must have been living on another planet for the last 41 (forty-one) years. And with all due respect to President Obasanjo's efforts, it is painfully obvious that a sovereign national conference remains the only permanent solution to the myriad of complex problems in this country. For example, when did we as a people ever agree to stay together as one? And even if we ever did what were the terms of our union? Did the people of the south ever agree to become perpetual slaves to the Fulani ruling class and their military collaborators? And even though we have a southerner in power today, what happens in 2007 after Obasanjo goes? Or can he remain there forever? Will the hegemonic forces, at that point, not insist on taking the Presidency back to the core conservative north? And in the event of this happening will we not have come back to square one? And in any case when did the south ever agree to assume the role of a wealthy yet submissive and timid wife that has been systematically and consistently cheated, raped and sodomised by a parasitic, domineering and arrogant northern husband? And what makes matters worse is that this is a habitually lazy husband who is not only poverty-stricken but also barely educated and ill-prepared for the 21st century.

Again, could the Yoruba ever seriously agree for a man like Obasanjo to adequately and honestly represent their interests at the centre? A man who saw "political sharia" and rather than face it squarely instead tucked his tail between his legs and ran. Can anyone dispute the fact that the young Ganiyu Adams is steadily acquiring the status of the William Wallace of Yoruba politics? And in case anyone has forgotten, William Wallace was the courageous and heroic morning-class Scotsman who gallantly led his people against the brutal tyranny of their English overlords in the 15th century but who was eventually betrayed by some unscrupulous members of his own Scottish ruling class (see the film titled "Braveheart"). Even though Wallace was eventually caught and executed by the English, the irresistible flame of rebellion to tyranny that he had effectively and selflessly kindled eventually led to the liberation of Scotland and to the establishment of an independent Scottish monarchy. Let no one be in any doubt that, despite the "shoot to kill" orders and the ongoing yet covert "elimination" policy of the federal police, there are literally millions of closet Ganiyu Adams in the west today who are simply waiting for the right time to manifest their outrage and disgust about what is still happening in this country.

If you kill Ganiyu Adams today one thousand will rise up in his place and whether anyone likes it or not the truth is that Nigeria is once again silently on the boil. Consequently, I have no doubt that sometime in the not too distant future a set of circumstances will unfold that will ensure that a sovereign national conference is finally called and its recommendations will be implemented to the letter. It is only a matter of time. Again, the truth is that nothing has happened today that has encouraged those of us that share this view to have cause to change our minds: economic conditions in the Nigeria of today are far worse than they were 22 (twenty-two) months ago. And sadly it is a notorious fact that as despicable and heartless as the Abacha administration was, it at least managed to keep the exchange rate at approximately N80 (eighty naira) to $1 (on dollar for almost 4 (four) years running. Yet by way of contrast, the present administration has allowed the naira to drop to N125 (one hundred and twenty five naira) to $1 (one dollar in just 22 months). Now let me state categorically and clearly that this is not an indirect endorsement or an expression of supprt for Sani "Barao" Abacha's luciferian dictatorship. Rather it is merely a noteworthy and pertinent observation and an irrefutable statement of fact.

And even if some believe that this is "no big deal", can anyone disagree with the brilliant Ajose Adeogun when he recently said "this country is on its knees and in a state of crisis and yet the President is busy junketing all over the world." And even though this writer may not be prepared to go as far as my respected friend and "Egbon" Kanmi Ademiluyi, who recently said that, from an economic perspective, he believes that the present administration is "the worst since Nigeria's independence," I would certainly acknowledge the fact that there is considerable cause for concern. And just as one small example, in places like Apapa and Ikeja today (which are both primary industrial areas) the Federal Government cannot even supply more than three to four hours of electric power per day. Again in many other less "privileged" areas the residents have not had any power supply at all for days, weeks and, in some cases, even months. Of course, the dire implications of the fuel scarcity is an old story but even more worrying than that is the very serious problem of the newly acquired personality traits of President Olusegun Obasanjo. The President now seems to be gradually relapsing to his old, pre-1995 dictatorial self and there can be little doubt that the man suffers from what the British would describe as a "debilitating character flaw." The truth is that is appears that of late our President has cultivated what we in Pentecostal circles have come to recognise as a "Saulian anointing."

He started well but he is progressively deteriorating. And if he is not careful like the biblical Saul he will end in utter disaster and shame. Frankly, and in my humble opinion, he would do well to once again remember the chilling words of Pastor Tunde Bakare's "Agagian prophecy." Again it is clear that Mr President feels unduly threatened by everyone and anyone. He does not listen. He does not care and he appears to growl with a deep and disembling rage whenever anyone looks at things from a different perspective to his own. He finds it difficult to tolerate any form of criticism (even where such is constructive) and he has cultivated an obvious and relentless contempt for intellectual discourse. Again he has absolute disdain and contempt for those of us that contribute to public debate and intellectual discourse and that spend some of our time writing books or publishing articles. For people like Mr President the influencing of public opinion through the auspices of the print media does not matter and neither does public opinion itself count for anything. And this is to be expected from the likes of him for there is nothing that a soldier fears more than a powerful and loaded pen, and this is the case for one reason and one reason alone. The bullet from a soldier's gun can kill but only once but a well-primed shot from a powerful pen can wound and maim from generation to generation. Mr President's attitude is further worsened and compounded by the fact that he, for some reason or other, actually sees himself as not only an intellectual but also as a "messiah."

He believes that he has all the answers. He believes that he can never be wrong. Yet, sadly, the bitter truth is that in his first coming Obasanjo sold us to the Fulani caliphate and now, in his second, he is selling us not only to his American and Western European backers but also to his friends at the IMF and the World Bank. The president has turned himself into something that is akin to the proverbial heartless and extremely wicked African slave trader who actually takes pleasure in selling and humiliating his own people and of course when they begin to complain he attempts to intimidate and cowed them into silence and submission and he lashes them with his cruel whip. The truth is that this writer is sick and tired of attempting to gloss over and rationalise the gross inadequacies of the Obasanjo administration simply on the grounds that Obasanjo is a southerner and a Yoruba man.

The fact of the matter is that if Mr President had happened to be a northern there would probably have been rioting in the streets of the west by now as a consequence of the sheer incompetence and insensitivity of the Federal Government, and in any case Obasanjo was never the Yoruba candidate so he must stop taking the Yoruba support that he has recently cultivated for granted. We cannot whip the children of others when they do wrong and at the same time spare our own child the rod when he has failed. As a matter of fact, if things do not improve I can confidently say that he will be forced by the electorate to wave "bye'bye" to the Presidential Villa by 2003. Things are that bad. Yet I have absolutely nothing personal against the president and I say all these things out of love simply because I do not want him to fail in his endeavours. And when I cast my vote for him in 2003 I want to be able to do so in good conscience and as a consequence of his policies and not just because he is a devout Christian and a Yoruba man that I feel that I am obliged to support for primordial reasons.

Press Statement of the Current Developments Following the Arrest of The Supreme Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Abubakr Dokubo-Asari

On Thursday October 6, 2005, at about 9.00 am Nigerian time, The Supreme Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and Chairman of the Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front (NDPSF), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari would appear before the Federal High Court, OAU Quarters, Maitama in Abuja on trumped up charges of treason orchestrated by the government of the nigerian state headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd).

The defence of our Supreme Leader will be led by Festus Keyamo, supported by a tested and proven team of seasoned legal experts.

Some weeks ago, the leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari was invited to the office of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police. He quickly summoned his driver and an assistant and took off for the meeting with the police. Minutes later, he was abducted and flown to Abuja.

After being in detention for more than 48 hours, the Attorney General of nigeria state appeared before a court where he charged Dokubo-Asari for treason in his absence. His lawyer Uche Okwukwu who showed up to provide legal assistance was promptly arrested also.

Both arrests were done in total breach of due process and against relevant processes as spelt out in the constitution of the Nigerian state and were sad reminders of the dictator governments that this contraption called nigeria had experienced some years ago, where the current head of the nigerian state was also a victim and an awardee of an infamous life sentence. Today, this victim has begun his own rampage.

For too long now, the Niger Delta has been plundered and looted upon. Our rivers which used to be great source of fishes and other sea-food have been polluted beyond the imagination of any sane mind. Economically, socially and psychologically, the government of the Nigerian state and her cohorts have made it clear that they have a mission – that of despoiling the Niger Delta. They are succeeding. Our young women have been turned into prostitutes, our lands have lost their fertility, communities have been put at war against one another, hate has been sold into the minds of one close neighbors. So much has gone wrong.

Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari is one voice that has refused to be silenced in the quest for a new Niger Delta. He has been offered several inducements in time past by the Nigerian state, but has constantly refused.

However, in the spirit of the peace that our leader has been seeking after he was granted amnesty by the leadership of nigerian state last year, the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force has decided to soft-pedal and resist the temptation to vent our rage though violent means. The formation of the Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front (NDPSF) was based on the need to define peaceful and pragmatic solutions through which the voice of the Niger Delta could be heard.

The NDPSF is a populist political movement that seeks to gain popular political power through the strategic alignment of the needs, desires and earnest hope for change of our people.

We have stated publicly our decision to stay off any violent confrontation. We have advocated to our members and other groups, the need to build an inner resolve to pursue peace with as much strategic intelligence as much as humanly possible.

By this declaration, we dissociate ourselves from any violence that may occur in the Niger Delta as a result of the continued unconstitutional detention of Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari. All members of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) have been strongly discouraged from aligning with groups that have refused to see the need to allow the legal process, however dubious it is, to follow through.

However, we are consulting with all groups in the Niger Delta on the need to pursue heads-on and innovative ways of achieving the larger Niger Delta objective.

Over time and in recent times, Alhaji Dokubo-Asari has expressed his disgust with corruption and corrupt leaders. He has provided exemplary leadership and productive direction to youths in the Niger Delta in his pursuit of peaceful methods of achieving sovereignty and total resource takeover. Like the Kalabari Prince and great-grandson of the founder of the Kalabari Kingdom that he is, he has remained consistent and incorruptible. He has continued to stand out in the face of daunting realities and staunch threats and enticements from the government.

In 2003, in a press statement issued by the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) under Alhaji Dokubo-Asari’s leadership as World President, he condemned the 2003 elections in Rivers and Bayelsa State. Today, he stands vindicated. The governments of these states have demonstrated a total lack of focus, ineptitude and have traded the leadership and values of the people they govern to the circus masters in Abuja and sold their soul to corruption. Today, this same man is being charged to court for treason.

The Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and the Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front (NDPSF) will watch with all interest, the attempt by the government of the nigerian state to provoke the will of all Niger Deltans. We will watch with great interest, so that we can act with full intent.

• FG secures order to remand him in custody • To be arraigned for treason and unlawful assembly • His lawyer also detained

By Odudu Okpongete (Port Harcourt) Rotimi Fadeyi (Abuja) Ben Duru (Owerri) Okey Maduforo (Awka) and Taoheed Oladele (Lagos)

The government on Thursday secured an order from an Abuja High Court to remand the Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples’ Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujaheeden Dokubo-Asari, in police custody for the next two weeks. When investigations are completed, he will be arraigned for treason and unlawful assembly. The order, secured by federal Attorney General and Justice Minister, Adebayo Ojo, was issued by Justice Adebukola Banjoko about one hour before the police brought him to court.

Dokubo was brought in about 11.45 a.m. by a team of armed policemen and plain clothes security agents in a Fiat Ducato Mini Bus marked NPF 4074 B. He looked robust and was unruffled as he sat in the courtroom under the watchful eyes of security agents.

His lawyer, Uche Okwoko, who came from Port Harcourt to secure his bail, was arrested and taken away to Force Headquarters with Dokubo. When the police discovered that Ojo had already secured an order for his remand, they decided to take him back to Force Headquarters, but Dokubo protested. He said: “You can’t detain me beyond 48 hours, it’s a constitutional provision. You denied me the services of lawyers, you held me incommunicado. My lawyer came and you arrested him without a charge. I came here on my own volition, you didn’t arrest me. If this is what Obasanjo claims to be a democracy, it is the highest dictatorship in the land”.

The police ignored his protestation and both he and his lawyer were later taken away in the vehicle that brought him to court. Before Banjoko issued the order, Ojo had told her that between January and September this year Dokubo was alleged to be a member of an unlawful assembly contrary to Section 101 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He accused him of joining an unlawful assembly, contrary to Section 104 of the Penal Code. The judge asked Ojo: “Where is the accused? He replied: “The accused is with the police at the FCT, he is not in court”.

Ojo told her that the government wanted the order to remand Dokubo pending when formal charges would be brought against him after the conclusion of investigation. He later informed journalists why the government came to court to secure the order.

“We are here to get an order of court to remand him in custody pending when we will file formal charges before the court and it has been granted, the court said he should be remanded. The charges we are going to prefer against him are treason and unlawful assembly. We brought the matter here for cognisance before we file charges at the Federal High Court in the next two weeks”, he said.

On the ultimatum issued by the NDPVF that Dokubo be released, Ojo stated: “No citizen of this country can hold the government to ransom, nobody can intimidate the government. The government will not fold its arms and allow people to overrun it. So the government will do everything it can to protect the citizens. It is doing everything it can to maintain peace and order all over the country, particularly in the Niger Delta”.

Okwokwo, Dokubo’s lawyer, is his close associate and also President of the pro-Biafra Congress for the Liberation of Ikwerre People (COLIP). After Dokubo’s arrest, he issued a statement in conjunction with other activist groups describing the action as a threat to peace in the Niger Delta. He had been reportedly quizzed by the State Security Service (SSS) in Abuja before he was arrested on Thursday.

Some groups, including the Coalition of Igbo Youth Organisations (CIYO), the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), NDPVF and COLIP issued a statement in Port Harcourt in which they described the arrest of both men as provocative. “That the manner of arrest of Okwkwu as he went to discharge his legal duties for … Dokubo is barbaric, uncivilised, unconstitutional and unacceptable to us”, they said.

The statement was signed by Obinna Okoro (CIYO), Jack Lloyd (NDPVF), Cyprian Isaiah (COLIP) and Victor Uche (MASSOB). It threatened to cause mayhem in the Niger Delta if the two activists are not released unconditionally without further delay. MASSOB leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, gave the government seven days to either release Dokubo or charge him to court. He insisted in a telephone interview that the government has no powers to infringe on the fundamental rights of the man that has allegedly put the Niger Delta in international limelight.

He said Dokubo has not violated any law and that if the government feels otherwise it should go to court. His words: “What the Nigerian Government is doing is very wrong. It is against all known laws of international status. You can’t just arrest a person simply because he refused to accede to what you want”. He said Dokubo engages in some activities because his people are suffering despite the fact that they are the goose that lays the golden egg.

“Both the Ijaw National Council and MASSOB share the same views about the people and this is responsible for the agreement we reached. MASSOB and Dokubo’s people are working together, the only difference is that we have stuck to our guns that no matter the amount of raids and embarrassments we will never pick up arms”. The MASSOB hierarchy is holding a meeting over Dokubo’s arrest to demonstrate further solidarity with the Niger Delta struggle. MASSOB Director of Information, Uche Madu, said the mood in the organisation has been that of mourning and anger and that the arrest strengthens its struggle for independence.

MASSOB members in Nnewi described Dokubo’s travails as another plot by the government to frustrate the voices of the oppressed. “We have been vindicated by this arrest that the government does not like peace. They go about looking for trouble and when the affected people react, they will call it sedition. Someone needs to tell Obasanjo that the fire of destabilisation which he is fanning may be difficult to extinguish”, one of them said.

The Pro-National Conference Organisations (PRONACO) has repeated its call for the immediate release of Dokubo. The group said it is alarmed at the strange occurrence where “after several hours of delay, the judge appeared with a two-week detention order without trial”.

The Centre for the Defence of Democracy (CFTDD) described the arrest as capable of threatening democracy. Its statement was signed by its National Coordinator, Ayodele Adewale.

Also in a statement, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) National Coordinator, Gani Adams, regarded the arrest as “vindicative, unconstitutional and fascist” and demanded his trial in court if any offence is against him – or release him unconditionally.

More than 100 armed militants on Thursday forced the closure of a platform owned by Chevron in response to the arrest. They invaded the Idama platform in the Niger Delta armed with assault rifles.

Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Voluteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo was yesterday arrested by the police in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital apparently to forestall possible fresh outbreak of violence in the region.

Tension has peaked in the area since last Thursday when Bayelsa state Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was picked up by the British Police at London Heathrow Airport over alleged money laundering.

However a statement by Cynthia Whyte, the spokesperson for the NDPVF and the Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front, both of which Asari Dokubo - leads, said his arrest was effected about mid-day yesterday.

The statement, which said the militant leader was thereafter flown to Abuja in the company of the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Samuel Adefuyi also warned that if the groups fail to hear from their leader within 24 hours, "there is the possibility of the occurrence of the most unprecedented level of a breach of the peace and grave mayhem in the Niger Delta."

The groups further threatened that "security forces, agents of governments, oil companies and facilities so owned by these might likely be the object and focus of this sabotage."

The statement, made available to Daily Champion also warned that "all state agencies, oil companies and their agents should cease functioning in the Niger Delta. Flowstations and related facilities must be shut down. All oil company staff are advised to leave the Niger Delt at the expiration of this deadline."

Sources, which yesterday told Daily Champion that Asari-Dokubo maybe charged with treason wondered why the militant should be linked with the Gov. Alamieyeseigha saga, since according to them, he has been known to be publicly at loggerheads with the governor, especially since he was stopped from coming to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital for the programme to honour late Major Isaac Adaka Boro.

As though to lend their voice to this school of thought, the NDPVF statement said, "over time, it has been made very clear that our leader cannot be an ally of any orchestrator of corrupt practices, and will never in any circumstances, support corruption (sic)".

They said further that "it is therefore foolhardy to think or assume that our supreme leader will be party to any attempt to cause a breach of the peace because of the arrest of any person considered to be a partaker in corruption."

Also yesterday, the president of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof. Kimse Okoko denounced some groups which he said were making moves, under the guise of Ijaw Elders to go to Aso Rock Villa, Abuja to ‘beg’ President Olusegun Obasanjo over the injustice being meted out to governor DSP Alamieyeseigha in London.

According to Okoko, such groups did not have the mandate of the Ijaw people and were only going to re-enact the "Aso Rock Video Shows" of the years past, stressing that "while we are committed to dialogue, we refuse to be drawn into fruitless talks with Abuja, when we very well know Aso Rock to be the source of the governor’s troubles."

He said further that "clearly, any such visit will be misinterpreted as a capitulation, and an acceptance of perpetuated innuendoes and falsehood against the Governor".

The government of Bayelsa state, yesterday, said that the confirmation of the British High Commissioner, Mr. Richard Grozney, that the Federal government had a hand in Alamieyesegha’s travails vindicated their stand that "this is no more than an an orchestration of political strategies at various levels of government and interests in the build-up to 2007".

They also insisted that the governor was covered by the immunity clauses of section 308 of the 1999 constitution and the Diplomatic Privileges Act of 1964 (UK) and the state Immunity Act of 1978 (UK), pointing out that " outside the realms of crude politics, it is difficult to understand why the Federal Government chose to violate the laws of the land by purporting to withdraw the immunity of a serving governor and give the British the latitude to embarrass the country, the office of the governor and the person of Chief Alamieyeseigha."

The government’s statement, signed by Priye WarioWei, the Acting Chief Press Secretary to the governor, also denied the reports that 1 million pound was found with the governor, insisting that though those making the allegations have neither substantiated their claims nor made public their sources of information, "the governor was not with such a huge sum of money when he was picked at the airport. Indeed, there was no one at his London residence when it was searched."

Meanwhile, the Coalition of Oodua Self Determination Groups has condemned the arrest of Asari-Dokubo, his arrest the coalition noted is an indication that the Obasanjo regime does not respect the right of Nigerians to self-determination.

"Coming closely on the heels of the arrest of the governor of Bayelsa State, in the United Kingdom and condemnation of same by Ijaw Youth Congress, the arrest of Dokubo has further confirmed our earlier position that the regime of General Obasanjo is a lackey of British imperalism.

"COSEG calls on self-determinationists in Nigeria to rise up in one body to resist this renewed onslaught by OBJ and his cohorts, the body added in a statement signed by its secretary, Mr. Dayo Ogunlana.

The Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force

Press Statement of the Arrest of The Supreme Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Abubakr Dokubo-Asari

Around Mid-hours today, September 20, 2005, the Supreme Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force and the Chairman of the Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front, Alhaji Mujahid Abubakr Dokubo-Asari, was arrested and flown to Abuja in the company of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police.

The Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force & The Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front rejects the nature in which this arrest was orchestrated as it is a clear affront on the NDPVF & the NDPSF. The arrest was a clear breach of Due Process, constitutional processes and put a HUGE question mark on the integrity of the human rights credentials of the Nigerian State.

In line with this development, the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, the Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front and her alliance groups, herein categorically states that if we do have an affirmation of the state, wellbeing and condition of our leader, we will not be able to guarantee the security, safety and wellbeing of lives and properties in the Niger Delta.

Over time, it has been made very clear that our leader cannot be a party of any orchestrator of corrupt practices, and will never in any circumstances, support corruption. It is therefore foolhardy to think or assume that our Supreme Leader will be party to any attempt to cause a breach of the peace because of the arrest of any person considered to be a partaker in corruption.

The Government of the Nigerian State must not that the youth and people of the Niger Delta have been forsaken for so long and can be very prone to acts of violence and facility sabotage when an issue such as a THREAT TO ARREST or an ARREST of the flag bearer of the Niger Delta Struggle.

At the moment, tempers are at an all-time high and the count down has begun.

If word is heard about the safety and current wellbeing of the Supreme Leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDPVF) in the next 24 hours, there is the possibility of the occurrence of the most unprecedented level of a breach of the peace and grave mayhem in the Niger Delta. Security forces, agents of governments, oil companies and facilities so owned by these might likely be the object and focus of this sabotage.

It has become necessary to state this as overtime the government of the Nigerian state and her cohorts have continued to undermine the ability and capability of the Niger Delta struggle.

In consequence therefore, we DECLARE that after the 24 hr deadline, IF word has not been received from our leader, ALL STATE AGENCIES, OIL COMPANIES AND THEIR AGENTS SHOULD CEASE FUNCTIONING IN THEIR NIGER DELTA. FLOWSTATIONS AND RELATED FACILITIES MUST BE SHUTDOWN. ALL OIL COMPANY STAFF ARE ADVISED TO LEAVE THE NIGER DELTA AT THE EXPIRATION OF THIS DEADLINE.

A word has always been enough for the wise. The Countdown has begun.

Cynthia Whyte

Spokesperson

Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force & The Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front

September 20, 2005

Alamieyeseigha: Asari Dokubo Arrested

Protest in P/Harcourt
By Mike Oduniyi, Ndubuisi Ugah in Lagos, Chuks Okocha in Port Harcourt and John Awori in Yenegoa, 09.20.2005

Rivers State Police Command yesterday arrested one of the leaders of the Ijaw youths movement and Chairman of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteers Force (NDVF), Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo over alleged threats to blow up oil installations in the Niger Delta area.His arrest has been greeted with protests in Port Hacourt yesterday by Ijaw militant youths. The youths had earlier yesterday given the Federal Government 72-hours ultimatum to release Dokubo failing which they would start attacking from today, foreign oil workers found in the swamp and creeks of the Niger Delta.

Ijaw youths had threatened to inflict violence on British nationals and oil installations belonging to British firms in retaliation for last Thursday's arrest in London of Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha for money laundering The arrest of the self-acclaim leader of the Ijaw nation came on the heel of a planned visit by a delegation of Ijaw leaders to President Olusegun Obasanjo, to protest the arrest of Alamieyeseigha by the British Police.

THISDAY checks revealed that Dokubo was first invited by the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Samuel Adetuyi for a chat. On arrival however, he was arrested and detained at the Police Command for over 40 minutes before being flown to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

THISDAY gathered that the Rivers State Police Command told Asari Dokubo that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered his arrest. Sources linked the arrest to a statement credited to the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mr. Jon Jon, threatening that the youths would blow up oil installations if Alamieyeseigha was not released by the British Police. However, NDVF members yesterday, took over the streets of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital protesting the arrests of their leader.The protesters, who took over the streets in D-one Port Harcourt, were seen burning tyres, while residents of the D-line scampered for safety as shops and churches were huriedly closed down.

Also yesterday, a leader of the NDVF issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Federal Government to release Asari Dokubo or the group will blow up oil installations within the Niger Delta region. The group claimed that it had no business with the arrest of Alamieyeseigha in London. In a related development, the spokesman of the group, Comrade Mark Oliseh said it was unfortunate that the police could go out of its way to arrest Asari Dokubo, who from the outset had kicked against Alamieyeseigha's manner of administration, especially on the development of the Niger Delta area.

Oliseh, who spoke to THISDAY in a telephone chat, said Dokubo was arrested yesterday after he was invited by the police for a chat, which he honoured only for him to be arrested and taken to force headquarters, Abuja. He said the arrest of Asari Dokubo was coming on the heels of a planned mini-conference by the Pro-national Conference (PRONACO) scheduled for tomorrow and which he was expected to preside over.

Asari Dokubo first came to national limelight last November, when he and his NDVF threatened to blow up oil installations in the creeks. Following security reports which revealed then that the threat was real on the strength of arms and ammunition at the disposal of the group, the Federal Government was forced to negotiate a peace deal with Asari Dokubo before the NDVF called of the threat. However, the Pro-National Conference (PRONACO) has demanded the immediate release of Asari-Dokubo, who the group said was one of its stalwarts and coordinator in the Niger Delta area.

PRONACO said the arrest came just days after the last General Assembly meeting of the group, which was hosted by Alhaji Asari-Dokubo in Port Harcourt. “This is nothing but vindictive cowardice and it smack off dictatorship on the part of Government. PRONACO hereby demands the immediate release of its Stalwart–Alhaji Asari-Dokubo within 24 hours,” the group stated. Meanwhile, Bayelsa State's deputy governor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has restated that there was no formal charges levelled against Alamieyeseigha.

In a state-wide radio broadcast in the Bayelsa State Capital, Yenagoa, Jonathan maintained that the allegations against his boss by the London Metropolitan police lack substance and definition. He urged the people of the state to remain calm. The deputy governor enjoined the people to go about their normal business and eschew violence that could tarnish the image of the state. Also, the state government has described Monday's clarification by the British High Commissioner, Mr. Richard Grozney on the arrest of Governor Diepreye Alameiyeseigha as a vindication of its stance that the goveronor might have been a victim of "low-grade set-up by the highest political authorities of our land."

The British High Commissioner had told newmen in Abuja on Monday after a closed door meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo that Alameiyeseigha's arrest last Thursday in London over allegations of money laundering was the fall-out of a request two years ago by Nigeria seeking the assistance of the British Government in the war against money laundering. But in a press statement last night by the acting Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Preye Wariowei, the government said "for this to have happened to a serving governor of a federating component of Nigeria reeks of the worst example of executive lawlessness."

We want peaceful disintegration of Nigeria -Asari Dokubo

He is not a stranger to controversy. In fact, at a time, he was Nigeria’s most wanted man. But after the militia leader met face to face with President Olusegun Obasanjo in Aso Rock, critics said he became less confrontational. But Alhaji Muhajid Asari Dokubo, leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, says he has not stepped- down the tempo of the struggle for self- determination for the Ijaw people of oil-rich Niger Delta. Asari told EFE EBELO that the only thing the government understands is the language of confrontation. He said his group is ready for an all-out confrontation that may lead to the disintegration of Nigeria

I saac Boro’s name is always occurring in this struggle. Why?

For those of us who believe that it is only through armed confrontation that we can achieve results, he is the symbol of our struggle. Other political leaders like Harold Dappa Biriye, Melford Okilo and so on also tried to show us the way. They chose to fight through the ballot and this has not brought any tangible results to our people. It was only Isaac Boro whose action led to the creation of Rivers State. We believe that he, at that time, sacrificed a lot and put his life on the line and finally paid the supreme price so that we can be better.

Why do Ijaws of late seem to be renowned for agitation?

That might not be true. Ijaws have been in the vanguard of serious grassroots agitations unlike other nationalities. King Jaja of Opobo was an Ijaw. In 1941, the Ijaw Peoples Group started and for the first time in Nigerian political dictionary, we started hearing of phrases like self-determination. It started with the Ijaws. Then, people like Dappa Biriye articulated the view that it was the inalienable right of every nation to have self-determination. They went further. The agitation of the Ijaws led to the setting up of the Wilkin’s Commission of Inquiry to look into the plight of the minorities.In 1963, before the Biafran war, Biriye declared the Niger Delta Peoples Republic. So, we have been in the vanguard of the struggle. But after the creation of Rivers State, the struggle alleviated for a while because Ijaw intelligentsia, an elite group, took power in Rivers State, and mismanaged it. They did not use it for the development of the Ijaw homeland. They squandered the opportunity. So, the people became more agitated.

Was that what led to the formation of your group?

Our group is the reemergence of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force formed by Isaac Boro. For us, we have seen the failure and bankruptcy of the political class.

Why armed struggle?

Armed struggle is the only way out for men who have been in bondage, deprivation and slavery. It is through armed struggle that they can throw off the yoke of their oppressors. We have glorious antecedents everywhere in the world like Vietnam, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina, Palestine and others. None succeeded on the negotiation table. People must put their lives on the line to overthrow the illegal and cruel rule of their oppressors. And the Nigerian state has continued to cruelly take our resources.

What about the lives that would be lost along the line?

Whether you engage in armed struggle or not, people are still going to die. People are being killed everywhere on a daily basis

How is the struggle funded?

It is from the people.

In the event of a confrontation, can you match the federal might?

In places where revolutions have succeeded, there have been governments in place like in South Africa, Palestine and others. Why should I be afraid of the federal government? They are human beings and so are we. They feel pains and can die just like us. Why should I be afraid of them?

How do you coordinate the force?

The membership cuts across every strata of life: The young, the old and others. Although the old people cannot fight, they always inquire to see how things are going and to find out the progress we have made.

After you went to Abuja to see Mr. President, the general opinion was that you have sold out. Is it true?

When I started this struggle, I did not consult anybody, I called people and they believed in me and followed. The position we were before we went to Abuja is only known to us. The position we are today is also known to us. Somebody that has never been shot; somebody that does not have injuries cannot just stay in his house and ask questions. What is his business with what we are doing? What moral rights have they got to judge us?. Since I went to Abuja and came back, the people that said I sold out, what have they done? Why can’t they start so that people can follow them? I do not believe in joining issues with people who are only there to criticise other people. We know what we are doing. Our force has increased. People have come to understand us the more. They see our pamphlets freely now and they read what we are doing now. We are involved in a broad-based mass struggle that has nothing to do with anybody. If you do not want to volunteer, it's your own choice. Nobody will force you. We went to Abuja because at that time, it was expedient for us to do so.

What do you think about the activities of oil companies in the Niger-Delta?

Their activities are very harmful to our environment and our people. They are impoverishing us, throwing our lives away, destroying our environment. The best thing is for all of them to leave our land and we will renegotiate with them.

The oil holding families and communities should have the right to renegotiates with the various oil firms. It is not the right of the government whether state or local government to take control of the people’s oil. A mistake has already been made. Someone who does not own something has given out that which he does not own. For us to renegotiates, you must first of all leave so that the real owners of the resources can take control. We have started a process of resource takeover and demanding for reparation for what has already been taken.

What happens if the companies fail to leave?

If they refuse to leave, we will shut down their operations.

Why resource takeover and not resource control?

I do not believe in resource control. I don’t know what it is all about. There is a lot of confusion about it. What we are saying is that we want resource takeover. We are going to takeover our resources from whoever is controlling it. The man in Abuja in collaboration with the multinational oil companies is controlling our resources illegally and inhumanly. We are going to take it over, ask for reparation for what has already been stolen, then the issue of resource control comes in. You must first of all repossess that which you have been dispossessed of, then, we can talk about resource control. The bandits in Abuja and their foreign collaborators have taken our resources.

Going by the enormity of the responsibilities involved in the struggle, do you have any political ambition?

My political ambition is to see to the winding up of the Nigerian state.

What does that mean?

I am calling for and working towards the liquidation of the Nigerian state. I am going to the people’s conference organised by PRONACO to canvass and to present demands for the Czechoslovakian type of disintegration. We want peaceful disintegration of the Nigerian state. There are many nationalities in Nigeria. I am an Izon man hoping for a sovereign Ijaw nationality, so also the Yoruba man can demand for an independent Yoruba nation. But if a group of nations like the Urhobos, Itsekiris, decide that they want to come together to form a federation of nations, then they have to agree among themselves. If after we have gone, they say let us subject the condition canvassed by the Ijaws to a plebiscite in Ijaw land and generality of Ijaws say they want to remain with Nigeria under any new arrangement, then so be it.

My own belief is that Nigeria is an evil entity. It has nothing to stand on and I will continue to fight and try to see that Nigeria dissolves and disintegrates. That is my life ambition and that is why I have dedicated my life to the struggle till the day I die to see to the disintegration of Nigeria.

You sound like a rebel, are you one?

I do not know what you mean by a rebel. I cannot be a rebel when there is an occupation force on my land called the Nigerian state. I cannot be a rebel. I am an Ijaw man, a nationalist.

The other time you were to hold a rally, and you were denied permission, what do you think was the reason?

They were afraid. Many of our governors in the Niger-Delta are always afraid. They would rather do public relations for the federal government. They thought that if we carried on with the march, it would ruin their chances of getting 25 percent derivation at the confab. Now they are in trouble because they did not get the 25 percent. They now want to organise a march, but the people would not agree.

Are you saying you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the confab?

I do not believe there was a confab. Obasanjo gathered his people there to go and do what he has programmed them to do.

Obasanjo’s third term bid was one of the issues that were thrown up at the confab. What do you think about it?

We are very happy about it. He can go for as many terms as he desires. It is not our business. It will only help our programme of fighting for the disintegration of Nigeria.

Is there no way of achieving peace without fighting?

The Czechoslovakian experience is very clear. They just decided to go their separate ways. Why should you hold me? What is the connection or relationship between an Ijaw man and a Hausa man? Why should we be together without the consent of the people. If people choose that we are going to be together, they can remain so. After all, some states decided they wanted to be part of the United States like Hawaii, Alaska and today it is so. That is their decision.

Do you have a wife?

I have two and eight children

Due to the risky nature of the struggle, don’t you fear for your life?

Everyday, something can happen, life is in the hands of God. I am a Muslim and I believe that everything is destined by God. That I am alive today is not because of my power but because God has destined it. Whatever happens to me, God who has made me what I am will take care of my family.

What is the significance of your trade mark headgear?

It is the symbol of the struggle. My great ancestors used it to go to war. They call it Ogborigbo

How did you find yourself in this struggle?

It is destiny. My father does not like trouble. If he sees trouble, he runs. Nobody would believe that I would become somebody like this, so that is it.

Does this struggle not negate the disarmament agreement of which your group is a party?

Disarmament is a process in a process. We have not been in any activity since we decided. But that does not mean that we will not continue to articulate beliefs that it is only through armed struggle that freedom can be placed in our peoples hands. As long as the Nigeria state does not want to resolve this issue, we will have no other alternative than to pick up arms again. It might not be me, it might be someone else, but this struggle will not end as long as the Nigerian state continues to deprive our people of their right to life and self determination.

Asari Dokubo arrested

By John Ighodaro, Hector Igbikiowubo & Omoh Gabriel
Posted to the Web: Wednesday, September 21, 2005

*Alamieyeseigha's deputy broadcasts against inflamatory talks

*EFCC moves against politicians on money laundering

PORT-HARCOURT — LEADER of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Dokubo Asari, was yesterday arrested by the Police in Port Harcourt as a fallout of last Thursday’s arrest, in London, of Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State for money laundering.

Asari was picked up on account of a threat by the National President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mr Jonjon Oyinfie, that the Ijaw would attack British interests in Nigeria if Governor Alamieyeseigha was not released immediately.

Deputy Governor, Dr Jonathan Goodluck, in a broadcast to Bayelsans yesterday asked them to avoid inflammatory statements that could jeopardise government’s moves to get the governor out of trouble.

However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said yesterday that political office holders, their families, friends and surrogates would henceforth be put under surveillance to check money laundering.

Asari was invited to the State Police Command Headquarters by the Police Commissioner, Mr. Samuel Adetuyi, who then handed him over to the State Security Service (SSS). The SSS swiftly drove him to Port Harcourt Airport en route Abuja.

Vanguard gathered that he was arrested because of the threat made by the National President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mr. Jonjon Oyinfie, that Ijaw would blow up oil installations in the Niger Delta and kidnap British citizens in Nigerian if the Bayelsan State governor under arrest in London was not returned to Nigeria.

Hours before Dokubo Asari was arrested, he had told a source that "I don’t support criminality." He was also reported to have said the arrest of Alamieyeseigha in London was in order and that he was not against the arrest. He was to issue a statement today in support of the London arrest.

The President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), London branch, Mr. Kobina Johnson, who is on a visit to Nigeria, also told Vanguard that he was in support of the London Metropolitan Police arrest of Governor Alamieyeseigha, saying it’s the right thing to do. He said: "I don’t think any Ijaw man would support Alamieyeseigha or be against what the London Metropolitan Police have done in arresting him. I would like the London police to keep him and not allow him to come back to Nigeria."

The immediate past national deputy president of the IYC, Mr Famous Daunemighan, in a joint statement with Sgt. Werinipre Digifa and Mr. Engema Jumbo of Bayelsa Youth for Good Governance said: "If our Governor-General and Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief D. S. P Alamieyeseigha, is found to have fallen short in his responsibility or found culpable before the Nigerian or British law in connection with financial misappropriation, the Ijaw youths opinion is let justice prevail.

"There is, therefore, no gain saying that in the face of global efforts at fighting corruption and mismanagement of public funds, with particular interest in Africa countries whose leaders have an insatiable drive for embezzling public funds, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, while leading the campaign at the home front is also at the forefront of the international campaign to rid our continent of corrupt officials and leaders."

Mr. Famous Daunemighan said: "The Ijaw nation has particularly been a victim of corrupt leadership. Despite our long struggle for self actualisation and resource control and the resultant benefits of the 13 per cent derivation and the subsequent abolition of the onshore-offshore dichotomy and the on-going effort aimed at increasing our derivation, all of which have attracted enormous revenue to Ijaw land, the Ijaw nation as represented by the visible territory and landscape collective, in particularly, in Bayelsa State has known no meaningful infrastructure development.

"We have hundreds of billions of Naira allocated to us much of which has only enriched private pockets." He also said the Ijaw were not in support of the position of the Ijaw National Conference President, Prof. Kimse Okoko, saying: "He never consulted the Ijaw people and, therefore, could not have spoken the minds of the Ijaw people.

His words: "We cannot, therefore, fold our hands and watch a leader lure some misinformed youths into lawlessness. We express our unequivocal support for Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces at ridding our nation of corrupt leaders."

Mr. Engema Jumbo of Bayelsa Youths for Good Governance said: "It is heartbreaking to hear at this stage of our Ijaw youths struggle— a struggle hinged on the principles of fairness and equity, a struggle which derives from the long neglect and marginalisation of the Ijaw people, a struggle for the control of out God-given resources for the advancement and betterment of Ijaw land— that a youth leader as highly placed as Mr. Jonjon would express and publish a statement that is in clear contravention of the Ijaw man’s ethic.

"We wish to categorically state here that these views of Mr. Jonjon are not acceptable. In fact, they are misplaced opinions and decisions, as they do not represent the views of the Ijaw youths. We wish to further emphasize that no umbrella of Ijaw youths at any time met to discuss, deliberate or take decision on the issue bothering on the arrest of His Excellency, Chief D. S. P Alamieyeseigha, Governor of Bayelsa State."

On the arrest of Dokubo Asari, Mr. Daunemighan of Ijaw Youth Federation (IYF) said: "The arrest of Alhaji Dokubo Asari is provocative. Why arrest him when he is yet to make a public statement on the arrest of Alamieyesiegha in London? I want you to know that Alhaji Dokubo Asari is not in support of what Alamieyesiegha has done. I would say, he should be released immediately because we are not in support of criminality," he said.

Ijaw threaten foreign nationals

Comrade Joseph Evah, Coordinator of the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG) said Alhaji Asari was invited to the Rivers State Police Commissioners’ office by the Director-General of the State Security Services (SSS) and when he got there, the commissioner told him that Abuja (by implication the Presidency) said he should be brought to Abuja at all cost, that he was under arrest.

He said Alhaji Asari had since been moved from Port Harcourt to an undisclosed location. "And for that reason we want foreign oil workers whose governments we believe instigated the latest onslaught against the Ijaw to know that we can deal with them as far as Ijaw nation is concerned," Comrade Evah said.

"We want the Federal Government to release Alhaji Asari within the next 48 hours. We understand that he was not allowed to take his bath or carry his phone. We view this as a declaration of war by the Federal Government against the Ijaw people," he said.

Dep gov cautions Bayelsans

Bayelsa State deputy governor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday asked the people of the state and the entire Ijaw nation to avoid inflammatory acts and statements that could jeopardise the moves to get Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha off the hook.

Dr. Jonathan in a radio broadcast told Bayelsans that he had been in constant touch with the governor since his arrest. The deputy governor who summoned all commissioners and special advisers to an emergency meeting ostensibly to reiterate his unflinching loyalty for his troubled boss told the people of Bayelsa State that the event of the last five days had demonstrated the love, loyalty and devotion of the true sons and daughters to the leadership of the state as well as the goodwill from well wishes across the country and beyond.

In an emotional voice, Dr. Jonathan said: "These events are a clear test of our collective will and capacity to exercise maturity and cohesion. Even so, it has been brought to the notice of government that there have been threats of violence arising from sentiments of disenchantment over the incident."

To this end, he enjoined the people in all parts of the state and beyond to avoid inflammatory acts and statements that might undermine the will of government to pursue diplomatic avenues to resolve the matter at stake.

Lawyers mount pressure on London Police

Governor Alamieyeseigha’s lawyers were said to be mounting pressure on the London Metropolitan Police to allow him travel to Nigeria following his release on bail. He is currently recuperating from a surgery he had in Germany.

EFCC moves against politicians

Top political office holders, their families, friends and surrogates will henceforth come under surveillance in the expanded money laundering battle. Making the disclosure yesterday at the launch of Global Anti-Money Laundering Survey 2004 by KPMG, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, who was represented by Secretary of the Commission, Mr Emmanuel Akomaye, said politically exposed persons had now been brought into the scheme of money laundering by the Financial Action Task Force for which banks are to keep close tab on.

According to him, politically exposed persons are individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions such as heads of state, senior politicians, senior members of government, judicial, or military officials, senior executives of state-owned corporation, important political party officials. It is on the basis of the expanded money laundering definition that Nigerian politicians are under international financial surveillance by local and correspondent banks.

He said "business relationship with family members or close associates of such politically exposed persons involved reputational risk. Banks are, therefore, required to monitor these customers on the basis of know-your-customer and must go beyond simple account opening and record-keeping and formulate a customer acceptance policy and a tiered customer identification programme that involves more extensive due diligence for higher risk accounts, and include proactive account monitoring for suspicious activities."

Explosions, gunshots, war in Bayelsa, Rivers

By John Ighodaro & Sam Oyadongha
Posted to the Web: Thursday, September 22, 2005

*Dokubo's supporters on the rampage

*FG deploys troops in Port Harcourt

YENAGOA— EXPLOSIONS, Tuesday night, rocked Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State whose governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was arrested last week in London for alleged money laundering.

About 11 hours later, supporters of Asari-Dokubo, leader of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force NDPVF) went on the rampage in Port Harcourt, capital of the neighbouring Rivers State, demanding (Dokubo's) immediate release.

But the Federal Government vowed yesterday that it would not succumb to any threat or intimidation. Indeed, government deployed troops to Port Harcourt to clear the street of security risks, while Warri and Yenagoa were placed on security alert.

Counsel to Governor Alamieyeseigha in a statement said his "unlawful arrest" was a dangerous precedent in Nigeria, and appealed to the people of Bayelsa State not to take the laws into their hands.

The Yenagoa explosions—four of them— came one after the other at about 11p.m. Tuesday on Aretahin Street. An uncompleted building was badly damaged. It was not immediately clear what could have caused the explosions.

Fun seeking residents of Amarata, Onopa, Swali and Ovom took to their heels thinking it was a mortal attack on the capital city. The fear stemmed from the ultimatum given by supporters of the NDPVF leader calling for his release and the statement of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) threatening British nationals and investments in the Niger Delta if Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was not released immediately. back home. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Andrew Oborududu (DSP), who confirmed the incident said the police had stepped up investigation in the matter. He said a police patrol team rushed to the scene on hearing the deafening blasts but that no arrest was made. He, however, dismissed insinuations linking the explosions to the arrest of Asari-Dokubo. Armed Mobile Police were sighted at strategic locations in the state capital with more concentration around the Yenagoa waterfront.

A cloud of apprehension was to hang over Port Harcourt 10 hours later after followers of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Asari-Dokubo, went on the rampage, demanding his release. He was arrested Tuesday by the Police and taken to Abuja.

As early as 10a.m, hundreds of the NDPVF's members, most of them in white dresses took over areas of D_Line in Port Harcourt. Brandishing knives, bottles and machetes. They mounted a roadblock on Tombia Street and proceeded to burning tyres on the road, while demanding the release of their leader, Asari-Dokubo.

A top lieutenant of Asari-Dokubo, Mr. Erekosima, who spoke in Port Harcourt threatened, saying: "I am the second in command to Asari and I am saying that the world will hear it that we've gone round and have given a time frame that Alhaji Asari-Dokubo should be released and the time frame expired at 2.00p.m.today (yesterday).

"Meanwhile, we are saying that if the Nigerian State does not release Alhaji Asari at 2.00pm today (yesterday) whatever they see they should not blame anybody."

The Assistant Inspector_General of Police, Zone 6 Headquarters in Calabar, Mr. Yusuf Haruna, has, however, been drafted to coordinate the activities of the security forces that are on ground to maintain law and order.

Addressing newsmen in Port Harcourt, the AIG Zone 6 Headquarters Calabar and the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Samuel Adetuyi, Mr. Haruna said: "I am here to co_ordinate the activities of the law enforcement agencies and to reassure the people of the state that there is no curse for alarm and we are going to do all within the limits of the law to ensure that law and order is maintained in Rivers State.

"I wish to tell you that nobody is above the law. And it is the responsibility of every good government to see that lives and property of its citizen are well protected. And for that I am here to reassure you that the police have taken every step to make sure that no person is going to be molested. No person will be disturbed if the course of its lawful duties. Every person within the state is advised to pursue his legal business freely without any molestation.

"Any person who tries to disturb the peace of the state, we are definitely going to disturb his own peace too because it is a routine for any citizen when the government feels he has something to answer to be called and have a chat with and nothing has happened to this man and he is in safe custody and I can assure you nothing will happen to him. That's why I advise every citizen in the state to go about his lawful business without molestation. The police are on ground to make sure that you are all protected."

Rivers govt reacts

Reacting to the development, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Magnus Abe, said: "The attention of the Rivers State government has been drawn to the state of unease in certain parts of the city of Port Harcourt. Information available to Government is that this is connected to the invitation of Alhaji Asari-Dokubo by the Inspector General of Police in Abuja.

"We have confirmed that Alhaji Asari-Dokubo is in safe custody of the Inspector-General of Police in Abuja. We, therefore, urge all members of the public to remain calm and law-abiding. The Rivers State Government is committed to the protection of the rights and liberties of all Rivers men and women, and indeed all people resident in Rivers State.

"In the interim, government would like to warn all those who are trying to capitalise on the present situation to harass innocent persons and cause a breach of the peace, to desist forthwith or face the full wrath of the law. Law-abiding citizens are advised to go about their business without fear."

Meanwhile, former Security Adviser to the Rivers State Governor, Chief Sara Igbe, in a radio broadcast, while condemning the arrest of Asari-Dokubo, appealed to members of NDPVF not to resort to violence as efforts were on to resolve the impasse.

His words: "In as much as we condemn the arrest, intimidation and embarrassment of our leader in South-South geopolitical zone, we must approach the situation with wisdom and caution so as to effect the release of our leader. I appeal to all youth organisations in the state and the Niger Delta to exercise restraint by stopping any from of violence."

Ijaw insist on closing oil wells

Ijaw youths said they would make good their threat and shut down oil wells by mid-night if Dokubo was not released at the expiration of the 48-hour ultimatum handed down Tuesday.

In another reaction, the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) yesterday condemned the arrest as barbaric and called for the immediate release of the NDPVF leader.

Reacting to street protests in Port Harcourt yesterday over the arrest of Alhaji Asari-Dokubo, leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) in Port Harcourt, Comrade Joseph Evah, said the tension generated was a welcome development. "There is already tension in Port Harcourt because the deadline we handed the Federal Government is fast running out. So, foreign nationals should not hold the Ijaw responsible for what is about to befall them," he said.

Comrade Evah described the excuse that the government was holding Alhaji Asari-Dokubo on a holden charge as frivolous and ambiguous, noting that this is a democratic dispensation and not a military government.

FG deploys troops

The Federal Government yesterday ordered the deployment of troops in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State even as security alert has been placed on the Bayelsa State capital, Yenagoa, and Warri in Delta State.

The troops deployment followed shootouts and threats to lives and security by rampaging youths of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPVF) of Asari-Dokubo and other Ijaw militant groups in Port Harcourt between the early hours of Tuesday and yesterday.

Chief of Defence Staff, General Alexander Ogomudia, in a telephone chat, said the troops were currently patrolling the city of Port Harcourt to contain any attempt by the militant youths to take laws into their hands.

The action of the youths who were said to be in their hundreds, driving in open roof vehicles, dressed in combat gear and shooting sporadically into the air, followed what they called refusal of the Federal Government to heed their warning to release the Niger Delta warlord, Asari-Dokubo who was arrested by the Police and brought to Abuja on Tuesday.

According to General Ogomudia, the armed youths planned to move to Yenagoa in Bayelsa State to cause mayhem and violence but were prevented from doing so by troops of the 35 Amphibious Brigade of the Nigerian Army based in the Port Harcourt.

...dismisses threats

Also yesterday Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr. Frank Nweke, emerging from Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, in Abuja said government would not succumb to any intimidation by the Ijaw youths that are threatening mayhem unless Asari Dockubo was released. Nweke said that the militant Ijaw Youth leader was being interrogated over his seditious comments, insisting that interrogation and investigation against his activities would continue unabated. "Only this morning I confirmed that Asari Dokubo was arrested, but the truth is that these matters are under investigation at the moment, especially that of Asari Dokubo and I have not received any security briefing on this.

"But I want to say that government remains committed to protecting the lives and property of Nigerians and to preserve the integrity of our country. And you would agree with me that there is no responsible government that would sit back and condone these kinds of inflammatory and seditious statements that have been credited to Dokubo."

DSP's counsel speaks

And in a statement yesterday through his counsel, Mr. Charles Oditah (SAN), Governor Alamieyeseigha appealed for calm by Bayelsans.

The statement: "At about 2.30p.m. on 15 September 2005, the governor was unlawfully arrested by officers of the Special Unit of the Metropolitan Police aboard a British Airways aircraft which had just arrived from Germany where the governor had gone for medical treatment. The governor was interviewed by officers of the Metropolitan Police and released without charge. He is confident of returning home and resuming normal duties as soon as he finishes recuperating. In the meantime, he continues to be kept fully abreast of developments in the state.

"The governor notes that his unlawful arrest by the Metropolitan Police was apparently perpetrated with the full knowledge, co-operation and co-ordination of the Federal Government and the EFCC.. "It is apparent that the Metropolitan Police were informed of the governor's movements by the Federal Government, hence his unlawful arrest aboard the aircraft. The incident of 15 September 2005 is an affront to the sovereignty and integrity of the Nigerian nation of which Bayelsa State forms an integral part. It does not augur well for our nascent democracy. Indeed, it is a deliberate attempt to weaken the institutions upon which our democracy is based.

"Like the Federal Government, Bayelsa State has three arms of government— the executive, legislature and judiciary. Accordingly, as the Head of Bayelsa State, the governor has immunity from criminal jurisdiction under all applicable laws including the laws of Nigeria, England and international law, contrary to the misleading information being circulated within Nigeria. Under all applicable laws, it is only the governor that can waive this immunity. He has not done so."

"The British Police claim that the governor is being investigated for money laundering offences. The governor has not been charged with any offence and indeed is innocent of any wrongdoing. He will demonstrate his innocence should it ever become necessary for him do so. Under the English law, a crime must be committed before anyone can be guilty of money laundering.

"On any view, if any crime has been committed by the governor and this is totally denied by the governor, the crime must have been committed in Nigeria. No one has ever alleged any wrongdoing against the governor in Nigeria, still less has any allegation of criminal wrongdoing been made against the governor. The British Police say they have been investigating the governor since March 2005. Yet despite six months of investigation— a period which is ample to discover a crime if indeed one exists — no allegation of any criminal conduct has been made in the United Kingdom or elsewhere against the governor. It should be emphasised for the avoidance of doubt that there is no law in the United Kingdom preventing anybody from bringing in or taking out cash, as long as the source and use of the cash is legitimate. Indeed, there is even no requirement in the United Kingdom to declare any cash brought in or taken out of that country.

"Given that no criminal allegation has or can be made against him, the governor is surprised that the British government thought it appropriate even to contemplate the investigation or to effect his unlawful arrest. The British government has acted unlawfully and improperly and in a neo-colonialistic and bigoted manner. The Metropolitan Police has allowed itself to be used as a tool in furtherance of the Federal Government's overtly political objectives.

Sun Sep 25, 4:18 PM ET

Nigerian villagers 'beaten by oil rig troops'

IDAMA, Nigeria (AFP) - Nigerian soldiers posted to protect an oil plant owned by the US giant Chevron invaded a nearby village and severely beat some local people during a hunt for stolen weapons, witnesses said.

Three men -- Ababia Youngana, 33, Thompson Walson, 25 and Preye Kigigha, 28 -- showed reporters fresh scars they said they had received on Saturday when soldiers beat them with rifle butts and whipped them with electrical flex.

Youngana's eye was swollen shut. "I can open it now, but I can't see. It's blinded," he said.

A village elder said that three more people had been so badly hurt that they had been sent by boat to nearby towns for hospital treatment.

Many have fled the area, and a pregnant woman and two children have been missing since the raid, he added. The elder asked not to be named for fear he might lose government contracts as a punishment for speaking out.

Brigadier General Elias Zamani, the commander of a military task force sent to the Niger Delta to protect the oil industry, said his men were hunting for six rifles stolen on Thursday during a militia raid on Chevron's Idama plant.

"Some youths, about 90 of them in about eight speed boats, tried to shut down the flowstation. They failed but because of their overwhelming strength they were able to take back the rifles," he said.

Zamani said he was unaware of any violence during in the subsequent search, but said that local people had been warned to return the guns.

"We asked them to get the rifles back themselves, otherwise we will have to get them by our military methods. I am confident that they will be returned," he said. Villagers said the troops had threatened to burn Idiama to the ground.

The village elder told AFP that the militants, who are believed to be members of the illegal Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF), were not from Idama but that the message about the rifles had been passed on.

Last week NDPVF separatists threatened to attack oil facilities unless their leader Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo Asari was released from police custody.

Idama flowstation lies a short distance from the village on the Sambreiro River, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of the city of Port Harcourt.

On Sunday it was protected by a large force of Nigerian soldiers and sailors armed with rifles and machine guns. They had set up sandbagged firing positions on Chevron's floating accommodation and office block.

Villagers complained that a boat used by the company's own security officers had been used by the squad of soldiers who invaded the village and carried out the beatings. Chevron officials at the site refused to comment.

Culled from Daily Independent : Updated: Friday, November 5th, 2004

Dokubo gives FG conditions for final ceasefire

• Seeks constitutional amendment on Niger Delta

By Psaro Yornamu Senior Correspondent, P/H

Leader of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPVF) Mujahid Dokubo-Asari says the struggle on which he signed a cease fire agreement with the Federal Government is unstoppable until Abuja abrogates parts of the Constitution and 14 other “obnoxious laws” designed to “perpetually enslave the people” in the region.

He said with the amendment, ownership of lands and waterways in the Niger Delta would return to the people.

Dokubo spoke at a dinner party he organised for newsmen at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Port Harcourt on Wednesday night, where he insisted that the 10-point demand by the NDPVF was handed to the government before an agreement was reached to ceasefire, and hoped that the authorities would implement all the demands.

The “obnoxious laws”, according to him, are the Land Use Act cap 202, Revenue Allocation Act Cap 16, Exclusive Economic Zones Act Cap 116, Oil in Navigable Waters Act Cap 337, Oil Terminal Dues Act cap 339, Petroleum Control Act cap 351 and Petroleum Production and Distribution (Anti sabotage Act Cap 353).

Others include the Petroleum Profit Tax Act Cap 354, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act Cap 392, Territorial Waters Act Cap 428, Oil Pipeline Act Cap 338, Associated Gas Re-injection Act Cap 26 and the National Inland Water ways Authority Act.

Dokubo urged the government to ensure that all the communities destroyed in the Niger Delta crisis are rebuilt and members of cult groups reintegrated into the mainstream of society.

He, however, warned the multinational oil companies operating in the region not to discriminate in their employment policies while the Nigerian state should constitutionally guarantee the survival and sustenance of the languages of all ethnic nationalities.

He demanded a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), saying it is only at such a gathering that fundamental issues could be discussed, and urged oil firms to end practices that degrade the Niger Delta environment as well as destroy traditional means of livelihood.

Besides, “the government should immediately withdraw all military formations in all parts of the Niger Delta”, he stressed.

On the development of the region, Dokubo berated four agencies set up for the purpose, as they were “imposed on the people of the region who yearn for the control of their resources and destiny”.

He listed them to include the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) in 1962, Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA) 1976, Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) 1992 and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) 1999.

“These agencies have consistently failed to achieve the desired development of Niger Delta as they were not only starved of funds, they were actually designed to fail”.

Story from Disney Land: Alamieyeseigha, Obasanjo & Bayelsa State

Dear all,

Generalissimo Olusegun Obasanjo, regla maxima of the Nigerian state and commander-in-chief of corrupt forces..HABA !! So you have totally unmasked yourself, giving each senator one million US dollars (US $1m), each house of representatives member seventy million naira (N70m) and Each member of the house of assembly of the thirty six states (36) fifty million naira (N50m) !!

Metropolitan Police, the FBI, Homeland security and Interpol, you have a lot of job to do here and now.

Our great emperor of corruption land have finally decided to dance naked in the market square. Where are those parrots in the Naijapolitics forum? The anticorruption analysts, the religious leaders etc who were praising and parroting the anticorruption credentials of the criminal rogue and regla maxima of the Nigerian state, General Obasanjo??

The Alamieyeseigha saga should not be should not be used as a distraction to bury these stories from Disney land. The press drummed up the impeccable credentials of the Ciromas, the Audu Ogbehs, the Solomon Lars etc. These elders are now speaking out and are speaking the truth. We all know that General Obasanjo does not have any morals. The stories abound of how he sleeps with tea servants, cleaners, stewards and other Aso Rock domestic hands. The whispers are everywhere of how married women who work with him as ministers and assistants have suddenly become his bed warmers. This is the man that the people who are on his payroll try to present as a saint. A man who benefited from the heroic legacy bequeathed by MKO Abiola but now seeks to destroy the name and memory of MKO Abiola. General Obasanjo does not deserve the respect of any body. He is a man without honour and morals. The coward that he is. When our patriotic and esteemed leader was in the creeks, he begged him for peace. When he accepted the peace and laid down his arms, he refused to pay for the arms as agreed and arrested and incarcerated him on non-existent charges of treasonable felony.

We are indeed in Disney land. When will we come out of our hallucination?

Coming back to Bayelsa state, what are Bayelsa legislators doing in Abuja lodged in a hotel paid for by the government of General Obasanjo and threatened with death and imprisonment if they refuse to append their signatures to the documents to impeach Alamieyeseigha. This is anticorruption indeed.

Legislators forced to impeach their Governor!! Rented crowds from Port Harcourt, heavily protected by the police and the military. One of the legislators from Abuja has realized himself and run back to Bayelsa. He was re-arrested by the police stationed in Bayelsa state. We must open our eyes. What is there between Alamieyeseigha and Obasanjo? Why is Obasanjo so desperate to remove Alamieyeseigha as Governor of Bayelsa State? These are questions we must find answers to.

It is not an issue of comparing Alamieyeseigha to Asari. They are clearly not on the same pedestal.

Alamieyeseigha is a thief. Dokubo-Asari is an Ijaw Nationalist and purist, but even amongst thieves, there must be justice and honour. Is Alamieyeseigha a worse thief than those who are hunting him? What makes Alamieyeseigha’s corruption different from that of the criminal rogues; Obasanjo, Odili, Abdullahi Adamu or Gbenga Daniel? What makes Alamieyeseigha’s billions in Europe and North America different from the billions General Obasanjo is spending to spending and dishing out to corrupt legislators across the Nigerian state so that the dubious constitution of the Nigerian state would be further bastardized to give Obasanjo a life presidency? We are witnesses in this true life Disney land fairy tale…but we would rather prefer to commit perjury.

The removal of Alamieyeseigha from his position as Governor is one victory and one step closer to the realization of an Obasanjo life presidency. DSP might be evil, but General Obasanjo is the devil himself.

We are now being forced to choose between the devil and his fallen angels. I would prefer to choose the fallen angels. I might not be speaking the mind of our patriotic and esteemed leader, Alhaji Dokubo-Asari, but I know that his views and thoughts on the current happenings in the country would not be greatly differing. In this battle between midnight and late afternoon, I prefer to be in the dimming lights of the late afternoon than to be in the total darkness of midnight. We would be vindicated. God is our witness.

Cynthia Whyte
Spokesperson,
Niger Delta People’s Salvation Front

United Ijaw	We are tired of 100 years of forced amalgamation, servitude and outright scorn by Nigeria... Titoe Miriki ***Only the fear of a volcanic social eruption from below can stop barbaric behaviour by holders of political power..... Gani Fawehinmi * Above all, however, let no one deny this inalienable right of a people, a right of any people, at any moment, under any circumstances, to embark upon the quest of coming into their own self-defining, self-constitutive history... Prof. Wole Soyinka *"We’ll no longer restrain our youths" – David Ejoor, former Military Governor *** “ if the Confab and Nigerians are not willing to heed to Resource Control, they will take it by force” - Oronto Douglas We Dare To Be Different.
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