By Dapo Akinrefon

Akure—FOLLOWING its National Working Committee meeting in Akure, a coalition of ethnic nationalities of the Niger Delta, UNDEDSS, has berated what it described as the Federal Government’s poor handling of ongoing efforts at resolving the Niger Delta crisis.

The statement signed by UNDEDSS General Secretary, Mr Tony Uranta stated that: “the increasingly excessive and anti-people attempts by the Federal Government of Nigeria to intimidate and coerce the peoples of the Niger Delta, via military harassment, into submitting to what is perceived as an attempt to openly steal its resources and rights worries all right-thinking people of the world, especially at a time that the Chief Edwin Clark-led Pan Niger Delta Group has succeeded in getting the armed agitators to cease fire and express their collective readiness to embrace dialogue.

“The world should note that the armed agitators have kept faith with their ceasefire, and the creeks of the Niger Delta are relatively at peace, save for the Nigerian military operations.”
Besides, he faulted the government for failing to negotiate with aggrieved Niger Delta youths during the ceasefire period.

According to him: “We do not understand how any peace-intent government would waste weeks before accepting any olive branch that would help free Nigerians from the present economic hardship, when we can trace dwindling government revenues, power instabilities and mass impoverishment directly to the ongoing imbroglio in our region.”

President Buhari

“The delay in the government responding to these positive peace moves from the region as a whole, is making many lose faith in the sincerity of this administration to see Nigeria as its constituency and has again resurrected the bogey of a virtual 97-5% dichotomy which Mr. President appears not to have progressively renewed his mind on.”

“Whilst we want the world to know that there appears to be a myopic hawkish agenda at play within federal government’s. leadership circles, we unconditionally reiterate our 100 per cent confidence in the Chief Clark-led Pan Niger Delta Group; we strongly reiterate our position that only a sincere embracing of the 2009 Yar’Adua Niger Delta/National Peace Template can comprehensively and sustainably bring this impasse to an end, once and for all; we unequivocally condemn all continuing innocent harassment of innocent citizens and communities under the guise of a thinly disguised military offensive, aka aptly as ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’; we urgently call on all international observers to keep keen watch on the federal governent and the Niger Delta; we advise Mr. President to show that he really is President of all Nigerians, and begin demonstrating true positive change that begins with him doing the right things at all times; and, we call on President Buhari to urgently issue a Presidential Position embracing the peace overtures from the Niger Delta armed agitators, and summoning all to a negotiation table, so as to more help speedily ameliorate the hardship currently bedevilling most Nigerians nationwide”, the statement said.