Press Release

DECLARATION OF ACTION AFTER THE EXTRA ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF THE NATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY CONSULTATIVE FORUM ON PEACE AND SECURITY ORGANIZED BY CIVIL SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY CENTRE (CISLAC) WITH SUPPORT FROM NIGERIA STABILITY AND RECONCILIATION PROGRAMME HELD IN KANEM SUITES, UTAKO DISTRICT, ABUJA ON THE 6th DAY OF MAY, 2016

Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) with support from NSRP held an extra ordinary General Meeting of the National Civil Society Consultative Forum on Peace and Security with specific focus on the blasphemy killing in Kano as well as the militancy activities in the Niger Delta region. 

The meeting was attended by the Chief of Army Staff represented by the Commander of Operation Pulo Shield, Bayelsa, Niger Delta Development Commission, Ministry of Niger Delta, National Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, National Human Rights Commission, Peace Corp of Nigeria, Women and Youth groups, Diplomatic Community, Faith Based Organizations, NGOs, Media Practitioners as well as experts in the peace and security sector. 

After exhaustive deliberations we, the participants:
Recognize That we live in a society governed by clearly stated rules and laws.

When such crimes of high magnitude or any at all, are allowed to go unpunished for any reason, we risk descending into a state of lawlessness and anarchy where anyone can assume the role of judge, jury and executioner. The rule of law must prevail. 

We urge all security agencies to ensure that they carry out a thorough investigation into the events that led to her untimely death and ensure that the perpetrators of this crime are brought to face the full wrath of the law

Also Recognize That Islam frowns at any mob action, as there are laid down procedures for apprehending anyone who breaks the law of the land. Even where blasphemy is committed; the woman should have been taken to the police station instead of being brutally attacked.

There is no jungle justice in Islam. Therefore, this is an act of criminality and those arrested in this respect must be treated as such.

Express our Deep Concern that like a storm from the blues, a new militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, NDA took the region by surprise when it announced its formation on February 3. It launched a website and social media page, which it uses to publish statements of its activities, including its February 10 blow up of the Bonny Soku Gas Line which carries natural gas to the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas plant and an independent power plant at Gbaran. 

This was followed by a major destabilizing attack on the Forcados 48-inch export pipe­line at the Forcados export terminal. 

Note that the attacks, among others, have no doubt had a devastating effect on the country’s oil revenue projection in the 2016 budget. Besides, the activities and statements of the group have led to restiveness in the region, a signpost of a return to the pre- 2009 militancy level.

Curiously, no known face or name has claimed the leadership of the NDA apart from one Col. Mudoch Agbinibo who has been signing press releases on behalf of the group. 

Security agents however, believe that Mudoch is a pseudo name and faceless like the notorious Jomo Gbomo of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, fame.

Also Note that the near collapse of social values, failure of leadership at all level, and neglect of the youth is now a current problem in Nigeria.

This vice now increases the spate of unemployment, abject poverty; illiteracy, frustrations and the resurgence of many militant and terrorist groups in different part of the country.

What then will be sustainable if amnesty is the does not seem to be the lasting solution to the problem in the region considering the unabated activities of the militants despite the amnesty programme, a more creative measures should be taken.

Further Note that In halting grammar, rambling syntax and embarrassingly poor English, the avengers have used their online resources to articulate the basis of their discontent with the Buhari administration.

They are angry over the continued marginalization of the Niger Delta, the unjust allocation of oil licenses to persons from non-oil producing areas, and hounding of officials of the Jonathan administration by the present regime. 

The NDA is also miffed about environmental pollution and scrapping of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko.

Some have denounced the insurgency as a rally of miscreants, but the campaign has proven to be deadly with attacks on oil infrastructure despite the heavy military presence in the area.

It is crystallizing into an all-out war against the nation’s economic lifeline. Shell has shut down its Forcados terminal. 

Chevron’s Escravos operation has been breached.

ENI and Exxon Mobil have declared “force majeure,” even as Shell and Chevron move their staff out of the Niger Delta. 

We Commit to engage gate keepers in the region to request the NDA to unequivocal terms channel their grievances without perpetrating acts that could be interpreted as an attempt to enthrone instability and render the country ungovernable. 

Whilst it is part of democracy that people should air their views, however jaundiced, they should, all the same, not translate grievances into violence and bloodshed. 

Those in the creeks, whose only political education comes from the misguided verbiage of clannish role models, should be cautious not to become cannon fodders for mischief-making.

Just as it is true for the insurgents, the army should not be provoked into violence-inciting actions as the collective punishment of the Niger Delta people suggests. 

We Affirm that this NDA insurgency speaks volumes about the fact that the Niger Delta challenge is far from over. 

And it must be tackled urgently and sincerely in the national interest. Certainly, there has been no serious effort on the part of government to tackle the Niger Delta development crisis beyond palliatives, vague gestures and empty rhetoric.

There are no good roads; the East-West Road has been abandoned; the water is polluted and electricity supply is still a luxury where it exists at all. 

Good schools, from primary to secondary, not to talk of tertiary institutions, are virtually non-existent. 

In other words, the people of the Niger Delta remain impoverished.

We Endorse the forging of community policing partnerships and implementing problem-solving strategies to necessitate assigning new responsibilities and adopting a flexible style of management.

Traditionally, patrol officers have been accorded lower status in police organizations and have been dominated by the agency’s command structure. 

Community policing, in contrast, emphasizes the value of the patrol function and the patrol officer as an individual. It requires the shifting of initiative, decision making, and responsibility downward within the police organization. 

The officer must become responsible for managing the delivery of police services to the community. Patrol officers are the most familiar with the needs and concern of their communities and are in the best position to forge the close ties with the community that lead to effective solutions to local problems.

Will ensure that advocacy for a new approach to the Niger Delta issue in the region and the country shall enjoy lasting peace. Such an approach should provide for a more sustainable protocol for managing the expectations of the region vis a vis the exploitation of the vital resources there. 

Some observers have already likened Niger Delta Avengers to Boko Haram.

In some respects that is true but in other respects, Niger Delta agitation can at least be tackled in a rational manner.

For instance, the Avengers are demanding that the 2014 National Conference’s recommendations as pertains to the region should be revisited.

One of them is the increase of the derivation fund from 13% to 17%.

Another recommendation calls for the setting up of a special intervention fund for the region.

Other parts of the country may not be happy with some of these recommendations and may not view the Conference that made them unfavourably, but the government can still discuss these matters in the National Assembly and other councils.

A good starting point is to provide effective coordination for all the ongoing remediation efforts in the region.

Way Forward

Shall Effectively mobilizes CSOs, key actors and the media to build collaborations, corporations to use its various radio platforms to advocate for dialogue as a panacea for sustainable peace and development as well as advocate for regular meetings to resolve issues of conflict that might affect all parties using a platform.

Will Support that the immediate, short, medium and long term intervention that will strengthen accountability and justice mechanism from security agencies, provide space for dialogue and interaction in various communities as well pressure the media to balance reportage to reduce misconception, perception and stigmatization of any group of people in Nigeria.

Agreed that Social media offers exciting possibilities for early-warning systems as well as violation reporting and monitoring activities.

Such systems should be approached with caution, however, as new media can just as easily be used to spread inflammatory rumors and false information.

Trusted citizen monitors should be culled from experienced, preexisting early-warning networks originally developed at the community level for monitoring ongoing tensions.

Signed:

Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
Executive Director
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
Abuja

Idris Musa
Centre for Justice and Peace
Abuja

Jaye Gaskia
Praxis Centre
Abuja

Ariori Jemina
Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria
Abuja