War threats: Niger Delta ex-militants give Danjuma 7-day ultimatum or he should forget his asset in the Niger Delta

Former defence minister, Gen. Yakubu Danjuma,
yesterday got a seven-day ultimatum from a group
of ex-militants in the Niger Delta to withdraw his
statement in which he called for the arrest of some
former warlords or face their wrath.
Gen. Danjuma had, on Wednesday, condemned last
weekend’s meeting of the former warlords in
Yenagoa where they threatened to unleash terror
on the country if President Goodluck Jonathan
loses next month’s election.
Danjuma called for immediate arrest of the war
mongers including Government Ekpemupolo a.k.a.
Tompolo, Asari Dokubo and Victor Ben Ebikabowei
a.k.a. Boyloaf.
A group of ex-militants —the Leadership, Peace
and Cultural Development Initiative—led by Reuben
Wilson, issued the ultimatum to Danjuma to
withdraw the ‘insult’, failing which it said he would
be courting trouble.
Boyloaf, reacting separately to Danjuma’s call for
the arrest of the militants, threatened yesterday to
attack the general’s assets in the Niger Delta if he
fails to “retrace his steps” and apologise to the
former militants and the people of the Niger Delta.
The Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development
Initiative, in a statement by its President, Reuben
Wilson, said that Danjuma, by calling for the arrest
of the militants “has walked on the tail of the
serpent.”
The group said: “As much as he has the right to
free speech, Danjuma ought to know that the oil
money he is enjoying today, through his
ownership of oil blocs, came from our sacrifices
and blood. We staked our lives to fight for the
development of our country.
“We fought for freedom for our land and it pains
us that people like Danjuma who have reaped
bountifully from the Niger Delta, can wake up to
insult our sensibilities.
“For Danjuma to call for the arrest of Asari Dokubo,
then he has walked on the tail of the serpent.
“The much we know is that we the ex militants
who decided to drop our guns to join forces with
the federal government to develop the country,
especially the Niger Delta, have never said anything
or taken any action that would warrant such
explosives from Danjuma.“
Restating its support for President Jonathan in
next month’s election,the group said: “All we have
said overtime is that our brother and president, Dr
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, a true son of the Niger
Delta, deserves to enjoy the two terms in office
provided for in the constitution.
“We stand by this right and we will do everything
legal and legitimate to make sure that he is not
robbed of that right; not by a thousand Danjumas.
“Danjuma cannot be enjoying our oil money and
be insulting us at the same time. We are therefore
giving him seven days from today to retract the
statement he made to the media on the arrest of
Asari Dokubo. We see his call as a declaration of
war with the former fighters and we will like to tell
him that we are ready to face him, having declared
himself our enemy.
“We are well aware that he owns oil blocs in the
Niger Delta. He cannot be eating from our farm
and at the same time calling us stupid and wishing
that we should be arrested while he continues to
harvest from our farm.
“Danjuma should apologise to all the former
fighters or we will assume that he has no regrets
for his utterances.
“We wish to sound this note of warning to all those
who think they can intimidate us and force us to
abandon our struggle for the re-election of
Jonathan-their joint effort aimed at denying us our
right will not work. They may be in the majority
but we have a minority oil and that is what is
feeding this country.
“If they want to push a minority man out of Aso
Rock by force, they should start thinking of where
they will get money to keep their man in Aso Rock
because our oil money will no more be there for
them to share.
“Danjuma must retract the statement within 7 days
and apologise to us.”
Ebokabowei, on his part described Danjuma’s
demand for their arrest as “reckless and
provocative,” and wondered why the former chief of
army staff did not condemn the attack on the
president’s convoy in some northern states.
His words:“What are the issues that elicited retired
General TY Danjuma’s reckless and provocative
call? When the motor convoy (sic) of the symbol of
our collective national sovereignty, President
Goodluck Jonathan, was attacked in northern cities
of Jos, Katsina and Bauchi, by hegemonic Northern
establishment and their hired elements, retired
General T.Y Danjuma did not grant any interview
to condemn the act.
“He lost his voice because he is in tacit support of
such manoeuvres to disgrace and remove
President Goodluck Jonathan from office using
whatever means possible.
“Nigerians should not be deceived; retired General
TY Danjuma is not moved to intervene in national
issues for altruistic reasons.”
He alleged that Danjuma has failed to provide for
the Niger Delta communities where his company
prospects for oil.
“Is this the kind of man that will now speak about
the unity of Nigeria? For General TY Danjuma and
his likes, the unity of Nigeria centres on the control
of the oil resources in the Niger Delta.
“Our eyes are now open. Wwe are watching. Any
attempt to cause any inconvenience by way of
arrest or intimidation of any Niger Delta leader will
be met with stiff resistance and the consequences
will be grave and disproportional. This is a
promise and not a threat,” he said.
However, Special Adviser to President Goodluck
Jonathan on the amnesty programme, Mr Kingsley
Kuku, dismissed reports that the Ijaw will go to
war if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-
elected into office.
Tompolo, Dokubo, Boyloaf and other former
warlords, Kuku said, only expressed concern over
the way the president was treated during his
campaign in Bauchi and Katsina states.
Kuku reacted to the reports in Abuja yesterday at a
forum on how to apply the lessons learnt from the
solutions that brought the Niger Delta militancy to
a calm, in solving the Boko Haram problem.
Aside from this, Kuku also asked leaders from the
North-East to take ownership of the Boko Haram
problem and end it.
Kuku and Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa
State were at the Yenagoa meeting of the ex-
warlords.
The meeting took place at the Government House,
Yenagoa.
Also yesterday, the Northern Coalition for Good
Governance condemned the recent war threats
issued by the Niger Delta militants.
It urged politicians to shun acts capable of
endangering the country’s democracy.
The group also insisted that all the people
suspected to have played any role in the post 2011
election violence should be brought to book with a
view to ensuring violence-free elections next
month.
The Group’s Director of Research and
Documentation, Dr. Ibrahim Baba, told journalists
in Abuja after a protest demanding justice during
the elections that Nigerians should not allow the
2011 post-election violence repeat itself.
He argued that one of the ways that election
violence could be averted is by the prosecution of
those involved.
He said the group would stand against anybody or
group trying to divide the country through religion,
ethnicity or tribalism.
On Dokubo, he said, “We condemn Dokubo’s
threat and any act of linguistics intimidation. We
condemn it in all entirety. There is nobody that is
above the law; nobody should try to sectionalize
the country for whatever reason. We condemn
Asari-Dokubo and his vituperations; we condemn
any person that is trying to promote ethnicity,
religion and tribalism. Asari-Dokubo is not an
exception and we want to say that if he is found
culpable in any thing we will also take him head
on”.