SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, (THEWILL) – Leaders and elders of communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State have called on the Federal Government to pay the N99.9 billion fine awarded to their communities by a Federal High Court for the 2009 military bombardment of Gbaramatu Kingdom.
Speaking under the aegis of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities, FNDIC, and Gbaramatu Rebirth Initiative, GIR, the leaders warned that further delay in the payment of the fine may lead to fresh violent agitations in the area.
The leaders, in a statement signed by FNDIC President, Chief Bello Oboko; FNDIC Research Team Member, Mr Fred Pink, GRI Coordinator, Mr. Moses Yabrade, and Mr. Godswill Doubra Wuruyai, also urged the Federal Government to try the former Joint Task Force, JTF, commander, Brig. Gen. Sarkin Yarki Bello, over the 2009 military offensive against the people of Gbaramatu Kingdom.
They held that it has become necessary for the Federal Government to initiate disciplinary measures against Bello, whose action led to the December 5, 2013 judgment, which culminated in the Federal Government being ordered to pay the 53 communities N99, 999,999,999.30.
The community leaders, who spoke after a week-long activities marking the May 15 Gbaramatu Freedom Day, insisted that Bello’s excesses during the Gbaramatu bombardment must be redressed through disciplinary measures, recalling that the bombardment brought unforgettable horror to the people of Gbaramatu enclave.
They also expressed concerns that the Federal Government had delayed payment of the N99.9 billion judgment sum awarded to the affected communities since 2013, saying that the delay may trigger fresh agitations in the area, even as they called on the government to initiate the rebuilding and rehabilitation of the communities destroyed by the military in the 2009 bombardment.
They went on to request the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to redress what they termed the “arbitrary electoral ward adoptions for elections in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State since 1999, which INEC admitted produced skewed results to satisfy certain selfish (ethnic) interests.”
The leaders stated that the 40 years of devastating environmental pollution and double standards by the oil companies were the principal causes of the tension in the Niger Delta region, stressing: “We believe that no responsible oil company can operate behind the terror of armed soldiers.”
They reiterated their earlier call on oil companies as demanded by the Organisations of Conscience around the world dated January 6, 1999, to cease their activities in the region “until all military units are removed, all activists released from prison, and situation is peacefully resolved.”
According to them, “We strongly advise the international oil companies (IOCs), especially Chevron, Shell and Agip, to heed to the wise advice of Citizens and Organisations of Conscience around the world to consider the removal of military units behind oil operations.
“Military-aided oil operations have been associated with hostilities in the creeks and should be discouraged in order to guarantee genuine peace, devoid of intimidation which is an element of structural violence against the good Ijaw People of Gbaramatu Kingdom.”
Pointing out that freedom means enjoying the fruit of the Escravos Export Processing Zone, EPZ, project with sense of right, not privilege, the Gbaramatu leaders said, “Freedom to us means the right to host Nigerian Maritime University (NMU), Okerenkoko. Freedom to us means the right to host Escravos Modular Refinery, Kunukunuma.
“Freedom to us means to execute the agreed provision of constant turbine electricity light to all Gbaramatu communities, including Kokodiagbene. Freedom to us means peaceful relations with our ethnic neighbours.”
