Goodluck Jonathan created Niger Delta Avengers? Read what Ijaw youths are saying
– Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, has debunked allegations that new militant group Niger Delta Avengers was created by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan
– Niger Delta Avengers are currently behind pipeline and oil installations bombings in the Niger Delta.
Former president Goodluck Jonathan
Following allegations by an ex-militant, Israel Akpodoro that new militant group Niger Delta Avengers was created by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, the umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, has debunked allegations.
Niger Delta Avengers are currently behind pipeline and oil installations bombings in the Niger Delta.
Reacting to the allegations, the IYC spokesman, Eric Omare, in a statement obtained by Naij.com said it was spurious to imagine that Jonathan, who conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent even before the final result was announced, would contrive such a plan.
The IYC said: “The attention of the group has been drawn to a statement by one Israel Akpodoro, who claimed to be the National President of the National Coalition of Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, alleging that former President Jonathan founded the Niger Delta Avengers.
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“The initial reaction of the IYC was to ignore the said statement considering the fact that the said Akpodoro is unknown and has no pedigree in the Niger Delta region.
“However, we have consistently been inundated with calls and messages by concerned Nigerians all over the world as to the true position as far as the allegations are concern. This response is to set the record straight for the benefit of the reading public.
“The allegation that the NDA was formed by Jonathan in a meeting he attended in January 2015, preparatory to the 2015 general elections to make the country ungovernable for his successor, is absolutely untrue.
“It is nonsensical to imagine that former President Jonathan, who conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent, current President Muhammadu Buhari, even before the final result was announced, would make such a plan.
“In the first place, the January 2015 meeting of ex-agitators and stakeholders in the region was not attended by Jonathan and the meeting never resolved to make Nigeria ungovernable for President Buhari.
“The IYC leadership also attended the meeting and the President of the IYC, Udengs Eradiri, was one of the speakers at that meeting. The meeting was called to calm down the youths of the Niger Delta, who were aggrieved with the attack on former President Jonathan in some northern states during the campaign for the 2015 presidential election.”
The group alleged that Akpodoro was involved in questionable activities in Delta State, noting that he was only incorporated into the second and third phase of the Amnesty programme to rehabilitate him and take him out of those questionable activities.
“For the records, the said Akpodoro was never an ex-agitator; hence he could not have been selected to address such an important gathering of stakeholders in the region. The issue of his being moved out of the meeting because he opposed the idea does not arise as even the media personnel, who were at the meeting, can attest this fact.”
The IYC, therefore, called on the general public to ignore the wild and unfounded allegations of Akpodoro against Jonathan as he was only looking for relevance.
“It is now the stock in trade of people from the South-South, who are looking for relevance from the Federal Government, to castigate leaders from the region. We call on such characters in the class of Akpodoro to have a rethink as their antics may not take them far,” the group said.
Meanwhile the Nigerian army has said that it has information on Niger Delta Avengers and will soon publish names of its sponsors.
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