Amnesty: ‘Militants don’t trust Yar’Adua’
—Felix Tuodolo, former president, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC)
By Bayo Bernard
What are the terms of reference of your committee and what do you set to achieve, considering the restiveness in the Niger Delta?
There are two committees within this short period that have been working, and on both occasions I’m the chairman. We have the youth committee and the committee on security and economic development. The terms of reference of the committee – committee of security and economic development – is to find solution to the crisis in the Niger Delta, to enhance security and economic development. It was part of the thinking of that committee while doing its work and deliberations, that we came out with a resolution that there should be a youth committee to discuss the progress of security and economic development in the Niger Delta. That committee was organised on February 5, 2009, where Ijaw youths came together under the auspices of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), and decision taken that all combatant camps should be shut down, starting from Bayelsa State.
This is because we could not close militant camps in other states at once. So the directive was given to all camps in Bayelsa State. Also, it was agreed that the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) should be removed, even though the government said they were there to provide security in the region. So, those were our terms of reference and what we did. We gave a period of 90 days for the demilitarisation and demobilisation of militant camps in Bayelsa State, that every camp should start the process.
What are the constraints that your committee have been having in the face of growing militancy in the region?
Having studied periodic programmes or efforts at bringing about peace in the Niger Delta, we recollected the arms-for- money in Rivers State between 2004/2005, we also looked at the Niger Delta ministry that has been created, so many panels that had been set up: Ogomudia panel, the Technical Committee headed by Ledum Mitee and all others. We looked at these various processes, which are top-down processes created by the government and imposed on the people. Although this government has not made anything useful out of these committees; for example the Ledum Mitee committee. So, this, we said, is coming from up to the people, what, therefore, is the way out? And if it’s coming from above, we can also tell those people involved to withdraw. During the summit we had, all militant groups and camps were invited and the decision we took was a collective one. Having started this, we presented our position to the government of Bayelsa State because we said the process starts from Bayelsa State. And going back again to discussion with the boys, we outlined certain conditions that must be met. For example, a conducive environment for the youths. Now, so many of these youths have been accused of one thing or the others: of being militants, carrying guns, of oil bunkering, bursting pipelines. They have been accused of so many things. Though it is left to the court of law to decide whether these things actually happened or were committed by certain persons. But we know that it is tasking having been given this assignment, to bring back these youths from the creeks and camps and integrate them into normal society. But we have recorded so many cases of persons being arrested or killed, by the police or members of the JTF. For them to obey the order we have given– which I believe they are willing to the hindrances should be removed. And part of that is that armed youths should be granted amnesty, no matter the cost. And for any of the intervention programmes to succeed, such as that of the Niger Delta Ministry, the NDDC, the combatant militants must be provided with an alternative source of living. But in a situation where you ask them to lay down their arms and you later turn against them, is wrong. We are saying that if a better environment is created, we can convince these militants to come out and lay down their arms. We are not only talking about the issue of amnesty, we also drew up a programme of disarmament, demobilisation, re-integration, re-orientation and re-organisation. They must be disarmed and demobilised and their mindset changed. To achieve these we need to carry out a needs assessment, what they actually need, their aspirations and give them the necessary training. Some might want to undergo skill trading, some might want to further their education, because there are undergraduates and graduates among them. So, what type pf training do we give to the different categories? So these are the things we have outlined in our programme, so that they can become useful and contribute their quota to the development of the nation. We are not saying that our programme is what the government must adopt, if they buy the issue of amnesty, it must be well discussed and must include providing a conducive environment for the Niger Delta people.
We have presented our programme to the government, starting from the government of Bayelsa State. It was well received but the Governor of Bayelsa State made it known to us that the issue of amnesty is not within their own prerogative, that only the president can grant amnesty. So, we said he should take our case to Mr President, but we decided to go further than meeting the government of Bayelsa State. We started the process of lobbying, we moved to the Niger Delta Ministry and I want to let you know that the minister of the Niger Delta ministry, Ufot Ekaette, attended the Summit. In fact, he was the chairman of the occasion, and he was very happy. Himself and the governor of Bayelsa. Our communiqué was sent to him and the minister of state.
They all said they will present our case before Mr President. We went to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), we had a meeting with him on this issue and he was happy that the initiative was a grassroots one because it came from the youths. We met with the State Security Service (SSS). After that, we also went to many missions and embassies in the country, such as the British High Commission, the American Embassy, et cetera. We discused with many of our elders too. We’ve written letters to the Senate, the House of Representatives. And whenever they call us we are ready. What we are doing is to bring peace and economic development to the Niger Delta.
On the issue of amnesty, some militants appear doubtful over the sincerity of government?
We have suspicion that the government may not be sincere about the peace process in the Niger Delta. We are still very suspicious.
There have been occasions when some militants surrendered their arms, but they later went back, maybe that is why the government is very careful regarding this amnesty thing?
We are in an era of sustainability. Since 1997, we have been talking of sustainable development. So most government efforts in the past have been fraught with anomalies. You initiated a process like arms-for- money, for goodness sake, I will go and buy arms and return to the business. Our investigations show that the cost of gun was N70,000 and the government was buying each gun with N250,000 from the combatants. Is that not a business? Even some government officials were involved in this arms- for- money business. They got involved in this arms- -for- money, and they take their cut. Definitely, everybody will go and buy arms and begin to sell to government. But this our programme is talking of arms for development. For example, if a cluster of people return their arms and these set of people belong to a particular community, development programme should be focused on that community. So that it could be said that the development occurred in the community as a result of the militants that laid down their arms.
We also talk of development for individuals. You handover your arms, we demobilise you, make a need assessment, give you medical treatment and see how to develop you to become a better citizen. Government should support this programme.
We have discussed with the UNDP and the National Council for Small Arms Control. We have discussed with the Kofi Annan Centre in Ghana. We want the civil society and the oil companies to come in. I can say that most programmes in the past were not sustainable. But when a programme comes from the people themselves, the degree of sustainability becomes higher.
We know our people and we understand their needs. Many of us started this struggle working under people like Saro-Wiwa. Our intention was to engage the government in a non-violent struggle, but unfortunately it has taken a violent turn. People are dying because of the JTF that have taken over so many communities.