WE’LL SURRENDER FRIDAY -BIN LADEN, ATEKE TOM, BOYLOAF, OTHER MILITANTS PLEDGE, AS JTF ARRESTS 9 MILITANTS

MAINSTREAM militant leaders in the Niger Delta have met with the Presidential Panel on Amnesty and Disarmament of Militants in the Niger Delta, promising to disarm by Friday morning. The militants, who met by proxy with the Minister of Interior, General Godwin Abbe and the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, said the visit of the panel had strengthened their faith in the amnesty arrangement.

The militants, including Ateke Tom, Osama Bin Laden, Farah Dagogo, Boyloaf and Soboma George, said they would be most ready to toe the line of peace by the time the terms were made public. General Abbe, while fielding questions from journalists, clarified that the N50 billion earmarked for the panel was meant for arms buy-back, adding that the sum would not come out once and would not be borne by the Federal Government alone.

“Do not get scared of the amount (N50 billion for the panel on amnesty, which is not in the 2009 budget and where to raise the sum). Amnesty is not a one day exercise. There are several stages beyond now. The N50 billion may just be a part of it. It is not the FG alone that will take it up, it will involve everybody,” he said.

Also speaking, the IG, Mr. Okiro, said since Nigeria was a sovereign nation, whatever the president did for the benefit of Nigerians was not based on pressure and that prerogative of mercy in the 1999 Constitution had taken care of amnesty.

Speaking for Tom Ateke and Osama Bin Laden, a militant leader on the Ogoni axis of the state, Mr. Ikenna Enekweizu, however, objected to a view recently expressed by Rivers State government after Ateke’s declaration to accept amnesty.

“We have received assurances that all the issues we have stated will be fully incorporated into the terms of the amnesty. They have assured us that the fears will be taken care of. “We have seen, by virtue of this visit (of the IG and minister of interior) that the FG is really interested in the granting of amnesty. I can assure you that the militants will take part in the amnesty.

“One of the persons I represent (Osama Bin Laden) has assured that by Friday morning, he will surrender all the arms and ammunition with him to the FG. IG has assured that he will be here (Rivers State) in person to receive those arms and ammunition from us. “The fears expressed are legion. They include the safety of the militant leaders; fears for their welfare; fears as to the role of the Rivers State government.

“You will recall that shortly after I addressed the press on June 15, 2009, the president (Yar’Adua) reacted positively. Surprisingly, to our dismay and to the dismay of most of the militants, the Rivers State government, through the acting Chief Press Secretary (Blessing Wikina), described our efforts in making peace as something nobody should take seriously.

“Their attitude tends to show that Rivers State government is not interested in peace and we are going to have a situation where we will settle with the FG and come back to begin to fear about the activities of the Rivers State government. The minister has given us certain assurances, which to some extent, have satisfied us.

“We also talked about the Niger Delta issue. Militancy did not just start from nowhere. There were certain issues that gave rise to it. Is FG going to take it into consideration? We have received assurances. “After these long hours of deliberation, I can assure you that genuine efforts are being made. Let me also warn that if the assurances are not concretised, the amnesty may not stand.

“The FG has the responsibility to ensure that everything it said it would do, is done. On our part, we are assuring that the moment those things are done, the militants will turn in their arms,” spokesman of the militants said.

In a related development, the Joint Task Force (JTF) announced the arrest of nine suspected militants who took part in the attack on a Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) facility around Nembe Creek last week, just as another spokesperson of the major militants gave fresh conditions for the militants to surrender.

Soboma George, now leader of the Outlaws, an armed cult group, which operated in Rivers State was a former deputy commander to Ateke Tom of the Niger Delta Vigilante, who had already signalled his intention to surrender.
In 2005, George and some other militants escaped from the Port Harcourt prisons after a successful jail break.

Speaking through Onengiye Erekosima, President of the Niger Delta Non-Violent Movement (NDVM), at a press briefing held at the Federated Correspondents Chapel (FCC) of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State council, the militants demanded that their names be expunged from criminal records and a guarantee that they would not be hunted by the security agencies among conditions for accepting the Federal Government amnesty.

The militants also wanted the Federal Government to unconditionally release Henry Okah, the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) and strike out treason charges against Alhaji Asari Dokubo, including the release of Soboma Jackreece a.k.a Egberi Papa. “Their names should be expunged from criminal records on the logic that they are products of government’s intransigence on the Niger Delta question, victims of the political class’s extreme lust for power and rabid ambition,” Erekosima said.

He explained that his group had reached out to many warlords, who had appointed them to speak with the government on their behalf towards accepting the government’s olive branch. Meanwhile, in a statement sent to journalists in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, by the JTF spokesman, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, said nine of those suspected to have carried out the attack on the Agip facility in Bayelsa State last week had been arrested.

According to the statement, the suspects were arrested in Nembe community, Bayelsa State during a cordon and search operation aimed at bringing those behind the attack to book.

Abubakar said some arms and ammunition were recovered from the suspects whom he said had started giving useful information on the attack.
“In continuation of its effort to get rid of criminality in the Niger Delta, the Joint Task Force Operation Restore Hope, has conducted a cordon and search operation recently, at Nembe community in Bayelsa State. The operation was conducted to bring to justice those responsible for the attack on the security forces’ location at Obioku, near Nembe community.

“In the course of the operation, nine suspected criminals were arrested while 142 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 6 empty magazines, 2 Dane guns and a speed boat were recovered. The suspects are currently assisting the JTF to uncover the masterminds of the attack,” Abubakar said.