EU, Clark warn against military occupation of N-Delta
*As Ndoma-Egba laments non-implementation of master plan ABUJA—The European Union, EU, has warned against the “militarization” of the restive Niger Delta region, contending that while it is necessary to punish those who break the law, military option alone is not the solution to the crisis. Head of EU Delegation in Nigeria, Ambassador Michel Arrion, gave the warning, weekend, when he visited the Executive Chairman, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, in Abuja.
His admonition came as the leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Development Forum, PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, also spoke in the same vein. Clark, who spoke in a separate interview with Vanguard in Abuja, said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration must understand that Nigeria was not in a military era, saying the use of force in the Niger Delta would be disastrous and counter-productive. According to him: “The Federal Government should realize that we are not in a military regime. We are in a democracy. Therefore, armed conflict would be disastrous. It will not help anybody. It will not help the government and it will not help the Niger Delta people. That is why we are advising that let us dialogue.
When we dialogue, we will know where the differences are and we will know how to come to an agreement. That is our advice to Mr. President and he should not sit on our demands for too long. These things must be attended to as soon as possible. We may not have this opportunity (of meeting him) again.
If nothing is done for some time and you ask Niger Delta people to go and see Mr. President, they might not go and that will be very dangerous.
E. K. Clark So, my advice is that, one, when the Federal Government threatened the Niger Delta with force, that they would go into the area, oil production fell to about a million barrels per day. The Minister of State for Petroleum said the other day that since we have been talking to our “boys”, and since we have been trying to discuss with the Federal Government, the oil production has gone up to about 2.1 million barrels per day. So, that is the present position now and with the fall in oil prices, you need the quantity to make up.
So, if the Federal Government decides to take the other way round of trying to attack people, occupy our community and kill people, it would be very disastrous. It will not be in anybody’s interest. The oil production will go down while innocent people would be killed. So, we advise Mr President to treat this matter as a priority.” The EU, on its part, said the Niger Delta issue deserved a multi-pronged approach situated within the global context.
