...US senator urges Obama to intervene

A prominent United States Senator, Senator Russ Feingold, has called on President Barack Obama to intervene in the military offensive in the Niger Delta.

This is coming as Nigerians especially Niger Delta indigenes resident in the United States on Saturday canvassed the need for dialogue in resolving the crisis.

Also the Ijaw National Congress has called for the immediate suspension of the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary, Alhaji Bala N’Allah for saying the nation could afford to waste 20 million people in the Niger Delta to save the remaining 100 million population.

Feingold, who is the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Africa, said on Friday that there was the urgent need for a multilateral approach by the Obama administration towards the quick resolution of the crisis. Feingold, who expressed concern at the high death toll and number of displaced persons, said in the statement posted on his website that a wider political strategy was needed to resolve the situation in the restive region.

In a related development, the Ijaw in the US, Empowered Newswire reports have called for introspection with the Niger Delta crisis.

Following this, the Ijaw National Alliance of the Americas has fixed, Saturday, May 30 for its 13th convention in New Jersey.

It is entitled the Niger Delta Question: Imperation for Self Introspection.

Also the Ijaw National Congress has called for the immediate suspension of the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary, Alhaji Bala N’Allah, for declaring that the nation could afford to waste 20 million people in the Niger Delta to save the remaining 20 million population.

The congress also ordered him to retract the statement in the interest of peace and true reconciliation.

Similarly, the Izon Community in Lagos State has called on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, to either resign his position or apologise to the people of the Niger Delta for saying that the military presence in the area was for ‘peace keeping’.

The INC President, Dr. Atuboyedia Obianime, who stated this in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos on Friday, said the likes of N’Allah thrived in crisis and, as such, should not be in the House.

He said, ‘‘Bala N’Allah belongs to the cabal who are just interested in the oil in the Niger Delta. He should retract the statement; the business and rules committee in the House of Representatives should suspend him for being a disgrace to the House. Hon. Dimeji Bankole should use his good offices to call the man to order and inform him that in the chamber, you don‘t make reckless statements.”

Obianime said if the lawmaker was interested in those that voted for him, he would not have made that remark.

He queried, “Who voted him to power in the first place? It all shows that the products of our democracy are those we shouldn‘t just rely on. He should not be in the House.”

The congress condemned the military invasion of Gbaramatu kingdom, saying such display of military might smack of genocide.

According to Obianime, “We do not believe in the use of violence dispute resolution, neither do we believe in using violence to seek legitimate justice. We do not support criminality. What was done in the area was very bad. We believe the police should have been used to stop the crisis. This is the practice in civilized societies, not use of Army, Navy and Air Force