By Nnamdi Ojiego

The Ijaw Youths Council, IYC, has said it averted what could have been a significant bloodbath on Abalama, Asari Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, last Saturday during a reception in honor of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

The IYC, in a statement on Tuesday by its Secretary-General, Maobuye Nangi Obu, said the event was held to provoke the Ijaw youths to engage themselves in fisticuffs that would have resulted in carnage and put the peaceful community under military lockdown.

Obu alleged that the organizers, who forced themselves on the community, had envisaged stiff resistance from the youths and would have used the opportunity to cause mayhem but were disappointed when the IYC decided to make a retreat.

He also claimed that an intelligence report at their disposal had indicated that security forces, alongside some non-state actors, were instructed to carry out the mindless bloodletting.

According to him, having received the sensitive report, it became wise for them to retreat hastily and allow a sense of natural justice to prevail in the interest of the people and the peace of the area.

The IYC scribe stated that their decision should never be attributed to an act of cowardice, insisting that they acted in the best interest of the people, whose peaceful community was under siege by heartless politicians and paid thugs.

He stressed that, from time immemorial, the Ijaw have never been defeated in any war but have always been wise in choosing their battles. He added that they would stop at nothing to protect their land from being turned into a killing field.

He said: “I have read on social media and heard people making statements that suggested that the IYC, and by extension, the Ijaw people, particularly those in Kalabari, are weak people because of the event of last Saturday in Abalama.

“Well, it is better to be described as weak or cowards than let enemies of our land kill innocent people. The event was an act of provocation, but we resisted it. They did everything to ensure we reacted in ways that they would have capitalised on to kill our people, but we were too smart to allow them to succeed.

“The sad incident of the killings of some Ijaw youths in Abuloma last year is still fresh in our hearts. We didn’t want a repeat of that. I was personally at the forefront of the entire saga. They shot at us, threw tear gas canisters, and desperately waited for us to react, but we chose to swallow the bitter pill.

“I have never been afraid of death because it will come when it will come, and if I die in the course of justice, then it is fine. The Ijaw all over are never afraid of fighting for what they believe in, but we choose our battles. As someone who has been part of the struggle, I always know when to beat a hasty retreat and prepare for another time.”

Obu commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara for allowing peace to prevail in the entire saga, saying unlike what some of his predecessors would have done, Fubara did not sponsor any group or youth to attack the gathering under whatever guise.

He also commended some leaders of the Kalabari kingdom, including Boma Goodhead, who represents the Asari Toru/Akuku Toru federal constituency in the House of Representatives, for her bravery and for always leading from the front.

He also urged President Bola Tinubu to take a second look at his FCT minister, ‘as his actions and larger-than-life attitude are gradually ruining his chances of re-election.’

He said the IYC would continue to interface with other leaders of the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta and take a common position if Tinubu does not call Wike to order and if the FCT minister does not tender an unreserved apology over all his anti-Ijaw comments.

Vanguard News