\u2018General\u2019 Isreal Akpodoro, a former militant leader in the Niger Delta. In<\/p>\n
this interview, he spoke on the renewed militant activities in the Niger
\nDelta. He also condemned the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers while
\ncalling on the President to probe those around him. Excerpts
\nQ:You had a meeting with representatives from the federal government in
\nTranscorp Hilton recently, what transpired at the meeting and what should
\nwe expect from the meeting?<\/p>\n
A: We had a meeting at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, and it was
\ncalled for by the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu,
\nNational Security Adviser, Monguno, Special Adviser to the President on
\nAmnesty Program, Paul Boroh, Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole. The
\nMinister of Niger Delta Affairs was also there, Heineken Lokpobiri,
\nMinister of State for Agric was there and so on. At the meeting, I told
\neverybody that Boroh needs to be sacked. I told the NSA that Boroh should
\nbe sacked from that office.<\/p>\n
Q: Was Boroh there when you said so?<\/p>\n
A: Yes, he was there. I said so because I believe that 70 percent of the
\ncause of the current problem in the region was caused by Boroh. He doesn\u2019t
\nknow who to reach in this matter. When Kingsley Kuku was in office, he
\ndoes not allow matter to get to this level. He would reach out to the
\npeople. In fact, he created three phases of meetings to resolve the
\nmatter. We have had phase one of the programme, phase two and phase three.
\nIn each of the phases, he will reach out to relevant stakeholders like
\nex-militant leaders. He will get them to talk to their boys. Since Boroh
\nassumed office he has called nobody. Rather he is harassing some of us who
\nare working for Buhari. Boroh was in the security committee of Jonathan\u2019s
\ncampaign. I don\u2019t know who nominated that man for this appointment. Buhari
\nshould speedily sack him along with his CSO, Lt. Col O Kugbere. Both of
\nthem worked for Jonathan. Kugbere was CSO to Kuku, too. Today, he has been
\ngoing about condemning Kuku. In fact, Boroh is still working with the same
\nset up left by Jonathan. I am even aware that Tompolo tells him what to
\ndo. Can you tell us exactly what is going on in the Niger Delta and among
\nthe militants? The truth is that we do not want another civil war in
\nNigeria. What is going on now has nothing to do with attempt to arrest
\nTompolo. That is the misinformation out there. I say this because as far
\nas the Niger Delta ex-Militants, myself, General Africa and Akpariasa were
\nthe only people who declared our support for President Muhammadu Buhari
\nbefore and after the 2015 election. I can say that a great many of us do
\nnot want any conflict in our region. We want peace and nothing more. If
\nyou say you want peace, then it appears that the ex-militants are no
\nlonger speaking with one voice. You are saying you don\u2019t want war; others
\nlike the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, and another Isoko Liberation Front are
\ndoing the exact opposite.<\/p>\n
Q: What really is responsible for this?<\/p>\n
A: Like I said, the renewed fight in the region has nothing to do with
\nEFCC declaring Tompolo wanted. Before the election, sometime in January
\n2014, we had a meeting in Bayelsa State, at the Government House. The
\nBayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson was there, Kingsley Kuku, former
\nAmnesty Program DG was there, all the prominent ex-militants like Tompolo,
\nAsari Dokubo, many other were there. The only person, not present was
\nAteke Tom. At the meeting, a motion was raised that if our brother, then
\nPresident Goodluck Jonathan did not win the 2015 election, we would make
\nthe country ungovernable for whoever emerges. There was a motion to divide
\nthe country and blow all oil installations in the region. If you recall,
\nGeneral TY Danjuma replied them at the time. I opposed the move too at the
\ntime. I argued that the man who gave us amnesty was a man from the North.
\nThis was late President Umaru Musa Yar\u2019Adua. I said that whoever wins
\nshould be who we would work with, that we should not cause any problem.
\nWhen I said this at the meeting, they almost killed me. They called me a
\nbetrayer and spy for Buhari. They then declared war on me. They withdrew
\nall my security personnel.<\/p>\n
Q: By security personnel do you mean police, army or private security?<\/p>\n
A: I had Mobile Police attached to me. They withdrew all of them from me
\nbecause of what I said. Now that Buhari has emerged as president, their
\npromise at the time is what we are seeing now. Nigerians should not look
\nat the matter as people agitating over neglect. The neglect in Niger Delta
\nhas been long. It was there even before Jonathan came to power. In fact,
\nJonathan did not address it. We agitated over resource control,
\nmarginalization and unequal distribution of oil wells before Jonathan came
\non board. Jonathan stayed in power for six years but couldn\u2019t address the
\nmatter. Look at the East-West Road; he did not complete it. Look at the
\nUmaru Yar\u2019Adua Airport awarded to Bayelsa; Jonathan did not implement it.
\nJonathan contributed a lot to what has been happening. That is why three
\nweeks ago, I told the country that Jonathan is behind the Avengers. Ever
\nsince the bombing started again, Jonathan did not say a word. Even
\nministers who are from the region present Buhari\u2019s cabinet are saying
\nnothing. Yet they still claim to be APC people. The people around the
\nPresident are also not helping him. The man does not know what is going on
\nin this country. They are not telling him the truth. I have a personal
\nrelationship with Buhari. I met him in 2013 and urged him to contest. I
\ntold him that we are behind him. When I met him, I told him I was breaking
\naway from the ranks of the ex-militants to support him.<\/p>\n
Q: How did you meet him?<\/p>\n
A: I met him through Colonel Abdul. He was the one who took me to see him
\nat that time. Buhari told me that there was no problem and that he was
\nready to work with me. Even before the election, I met with the leaders of
\nAPC. I met with Rotimi Amaechi, then governor of Rivers. When I met him
\nand told him that I was coming out to endorse Buhari, he warned that they
\nwould kill me. I told him that nobody would kill me and that the worst
\nthat could happen is that we end up killing each other. They promised to
\nmobilise funds for me for the endorsement, but they failed. I endorsed
\nBuhari on national televisions, on papers, on the internet. I took full
\npages in newspapers to endorse the president. I did all this with my money
\nand got no kobo from APC. I sent text messages to Amaechi asking whether
\nhe saw what I have done in the media. He replied yes. I met Amaechi again
\nat Eko Hotel when Tinubu was having a function there. I told him again of
\nwhat I did, to which he replied that he saw it all but that we could not
\ntalk at the place. I said no problem. Since then till this moment I am
\ntalking to you, I have not heard from Amaechi. He has even refused to pick
\nmy call. This put me in a bad situation with my people.<\/p>\n
Q: How did it put you in bad situation?<\/p>\n
A: The people I used to do the endorsement expected me to pay them
\nallowances for the trips we undertook. At a point, they thought I was
\ndeceiving them after collecting money from Amaechi, pretending I had no
\nmoney. They came to my house and threatened to burn my home. I had to run
\naround to source money to settle them before the election.<\/p>\n
Five days to that election, I went to see Bola Tinubu to report the matter.<\/p>\n
I told Tinubu of Amaechi\u2019s failed promise. I showed Tinubu all the works I
\nhave done. Tinubu then told his Chief Security Officer to write my name as
\nthe number one APC ex-militant general. He then gave me some money for
\ntransport; I don\u2019t want to mention the figure. He then asked that I put
\ndown my account number and that he would reach Amaechi and asks him to
\nwire money to me. As soon as I left, Tinubu has since refused to pick my
\ncalls. Amaechi has refused to see me. As I am talking to you now, I am
\nfacing a lot of challenges both from APC politicians and those in the
\ngovernment who do not believe in Buhari\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n
Q: Can you explain further on those in Buhari\u2019s government who don\u2019t
\nbelieve in his agenda?<\/p>\n
A: I am talking about people like Paul Boroh and his chief security
\nofficer, Col Kugbere. They have been after me saying that I am supporting
\ngovernment against my people. As I am talking to you now, I don\u2019t sleep in
\nmy house anymore. My children and wife have to look for a safe place to
\nstay.<\/p>\n
Q: So if you are to rate Amaechi now, will you say that he has passed
\nleadership test for Niger Delta?<\/p>\n
A: My brother if I tell you that Amechi has not failed then it means I am
\na total liar. Amaechi failed 100 percent, even 200 percent. Amaechi was a
\nformer governor, now a minister. Israel Akpodoro is a private citizen. But
\nsee what I am doing now in this matter. He is one that put Dakuku
\nPeterside as NIMASA DG. He is the one who put Ibim Semenitari as NDDC
\nboss. These people have failed to use their office to reach out to their
\npeople to calm things in the region. They are not making statements to
\ncondemn these bombings. This shows that Amaechi is a total failure. On
\nOctober 17, 2015, while the Senate was screening Amaechi, myself, Michael
\nJonny, Akpariasa, warned the Senate of dire consequence if Amaechi does
\nnot scale the screening hurdle. We passed a vote of confidence on Amaechi.
\nWe did this on AIT. Could you believe that on 18th, Paul Boroh, who was
\nsecurity official during Jonathan\u2019s campaign, led security agents to my
\nplace to kidnap me?<\/p>\n
They invaded my place, blindfolded me, handcuffed me and took me away. One
\nof the people who abducted me queried me on why I was supporting Amaechi.
\nI was shocked. Initially, they claimed that it was Nyesom Wike who sent
\nthe operatives after me. I later learnt that it was not him. Boroh
\nkidnapped me using his CSO, Kugbere and took me to an unknown destination.
\nFor two days I was in a blindfold. It was after they removed the blindfold
\nthat I realised that I was in EFCC. They then stated that I had been
\npetitioned. When I looked at the petition, I saw that it was Boroh that
\npetitioned me through his chief of staff. They accused me of not paying my
\nboys under the amnesty program. I had only 39 slots while Tompolo has 6,
\n000. Others have 5,000. Nobody petitioned them. I don\u2019t know how that was
\npossible because the money is paid to individuals accounts. After the
\nthree days, they gave me bail. The bail conditions were like the ones they
\ngrant governors. But in two days, I managed to perfect the bail
\nconditions. Back to what you said about Amaechi\u2019s appointees in NDDC and
\nNIMASA, you said they are in Position to solve this renewed insurgency?
\nThese agencies have the means to reach out to the common people and the
\nstakeholders in the region. If they had done their bit and put their ears
\nto the ground, they would have known that the crisis was coming. Since the
\nbombings started, they have refused to make any meaningful comment
\ncondemning the activities of the Avengers. This shows that these
\nappointees are not capable; they have refused to help Buhari.<\/p>\n
Q: On this resurgent militancy, have you met with Mr. President on how to
\nsolve the problem?<\/p>\n
A: A week to the inauguration of Mr. President, I met him. I met when
\nOlorogun Otega, governorship candidate of Delta State in 2015 led a
\ndelegation to see Mr. President; I went with him. Otega introduced me to
\nMr. President saying that I was the only ex-militant that stood by Mr.
\nPresident during the election. When the president shook my hand, I then
\nsaid \u2018Sir, I was the one who met you in 2013 to pledge my support for you
\nand asking you to run for election.’ The President then said no problem,
\nthat I should calm the region until after the inauguration then we would
\nmeet. Until this moment, I have been unable to see the man. People around
\nhim have refused me an audience. They have caged him. I have been going to
\nthe Villa severally but have met with no success. What is now happening in
\nthe Niger Delta, I had forewarned. I wrote some letters through some
\nsecurity personnel in government but got no response. I told them where
\ntheir arms and camps are located, but nobody paid attention. I don\u2019t want
\nto mention names here, but if I meet Mr. President, I will mention names
\nof those I gave the letters to. I warned that after the Bayelsa election,
\nthis people will start to bomb. This happened as I predicted. In January
\nthis year, they started to bomb the places. I am not going to blame the
\npresident for the insurgency because he is not the cause. The people
\naround him are the cause of the problem. We have leaders in the Niger
\nDelta who know what to do to solve this problem but have refused to do so.
\nOnly a few of us, myself, Africa, Akpariasa, we are the ones facing this
\nperson. As I am talking to you now, we have become targets. Even some
\nNortherners are involved in this scheming against Buhari because of his
\nfight against corruption. This matter should not be taken lightly because
\nthese Avengers mean business. Now they have their own currency. They want
\nto share this country.<\/p>\n
Q: The US and the UK have urged Buhari to thread with caution on the use
\nof the military to quell the Niger Delta crisis. What is your view of the
\nuse the military to quell the insurgency?<\/p>\n
A: What the West is saying is partly true. Without the military, we can
\nsolve this problem. This is so because their people on the ground in the
\nregion from various communities who know them. The Avengers are not
\nghosts. The president should engage these people to work with the JTF.
\nThey have to do this so that innocent people will not be killed. What the
\nUK government is saying is that they don\u2019t want innocent blood to be shed
\nwhile trying to quell the conflict.<\/p>\n
Daily Independent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018General\u2019 Isreal Akpodoro, a former militant leader in the Niger Delta. In this interview, he spoke on the renewed militant activities in the Niger Delta. He also condemned the activities…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n