GENOCIDE IN OPOROZA
N’Delta: 3 more Ijaw communities razed
…4000 additional troops deployed to beef up JTF
From MURPHY GANAGANA, Abuja
Friday, June 5, 2009
After about 10 days of fragile peace, tension has erupted again in the coastal Ijaw communities in Delta State, as three more villages were razed by troops of the Joint Military Task Force [JTF] in the troubled Niger Delta region between late Wednesday and 3.30pm yesterday.
This is coming barely 24 hours after the House of Representatives made a U-turn from its earlier support for military action and cautioned authorities at the Defence Headquarters against full application of force in routing out militants from their various camps and hideouts.
Dependable sources hinted Daily Sun that JTF troops on Wednesday stormed Tungbo and Akangbene villages with a large contingent using over 10 gunboats.
During the operation, entire structures and other properties were reduced to rubble. The two Ijaw villages are in Gbaramatu Kingdom, in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State
Daily Sun further gathered that just as the dust from the surprise attack was yet to settle, the JTF at about 3.30pm yesterday, raided Goba Town, another Ijaw community on the fringes of Chanomi Creek, which is also said to have been completely razed. The casualty figure including the dead and wounded could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, but over 2000 villagers comprising mostly women, children and the aged, are said to be currently trapped in the mangrove forests.
Meanwhile, the Presidency has reportedly approved the deployment of 4000 additional troops to beef up the JTF operations. Top security sources said the troops are made up of soldiers drawn from various military formations, and are expected to arrive the JTF headquarters by weekend or early next week.
However, the House of Representatives had on Tuesday at a closed-door meeting of its Committees on the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defence, attended by the three Service Chiefs, the Minister of State for Defence, Ademola Seriki, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Paul Dike, kicked against full military action in the Niger Delta on the grounds that “we are not fighting war against Nigerians”.
Gbaramatu Massacre 2009
Adaka Boro Centre - Documenting the Niger Delta Struggle
http://adakaboro.org/crises/65-gbaramtumassacre
U.S. Senator Russ Feingold issues statement on Niger Delta crisis and current attacks by Nigerian Military
May 22, 2009, Seattle – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold today issued a statement on the nine-day, continuing Nigerian military offensive in the Niger Delta. Feingold expressed concern about civilian casualties and refugees, and called on the Nigerian government to address underlying causes of the crisis in the region. He also urged the Obama administration to enjoin a multilateral effort to help end the crisis. Feingold is a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
The attacks by the Joint Task Force (JTF) of the Nigerian military began May 13th. Unconfirmed reports put civilian casualty figures as high as 2,000 and the number of refugees as high as 20,000. It’s reported that at least five villages have been razed by the JTF. At last report, the region was blockaded by the Nigerian military and aid workers were unable to get food, water and medical assistance to the injured and displaced, many of whom have fled into the bush. Journalists and human rights groups have also been barred.
“We applaud Senator Feingold’s statement. It’s critical that high profile people speak out in this moment calling for an end to the violence and highlighting the tragic toll on civilians,” says Sandy Cioffi, filmmaker and director of Sweet Crude, a documentary about the Niger Delta currently screening at film festivals. “I am heartened by his understanding of what it will take to achieve peace in the region and encourage the U.S. government to get involved as he urges. I believe that can be very influential. The region is on the brink – we must pay attention before it devolves into full-scale war.”
“The military attacks in the Niger Delta are a tragedy for local villagers that is becoming a humanitarian crisis,” says Laura Livoti, founder of Justice in Nigeria Now (JINN). “I hope more U.S. officials will take the lead from Senator Feingold and work toward a negotiated peace settlement between all parties in Nigeria that promotes justice in the region. The United States is heavily dependent on Nigerian oil for its own energy needs, and a resolution to this crisis is in the long-term interest of the United States as well.”
Please see below:
Senator Feingold’s statement May 22
Amnesty International’s statement May 21
More information at www.sweetcrudemovie .com/attacks
———— —-
For Immediate Release – May 22, 2009
Contact: Zach Lowe or Katie Rowley – (202) 224-8657
Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
On the Nigerian military’s ongoing offensive in the Niger Delta
“I am very concerned by reports that hundreds of civilians have been killed and potentially thousands displaced by the Nigerian military’s ongoing offensive in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region. Some military actions may be justified to stop the criminality, kidnappings and killings by militants in the Niger Delta, but such measures should be accompanied by a larger political strategy. Genuine peacemaking will require not only legitimate political negotiations but a convincing case for transforming the illicit war economy into one of peace. The Nigerian government needs to undertake a serious and sustained initiative to address the underdevelopment of the region. I urge the Obama administration to think creatively about how we can work multilaterally to help end this long-standing crisis in the Niger Delta.”
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International Criminal Court urged to prosecute Nigeria
A letter written and jointly signed by over a dozen concerned NGOs to Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo, of the Office of the Prosecutor in the International Criminal Court in the Hague, about the recent events in the Niger Delta.
International Criminal Court
Office of the Prosecutor
Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
Also sent by email to otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int
Also sent by fax to +31 70 515 85 55
May 19, 2009
Dear Mr. Moreno Ocampo:
The organizations listed below write to draw your urgent attention to the
unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gbaramatu Kingdom in the Niger Delta
region of Nigeria. We request that the Office of the Prosecutor open an
immediate investigation into those responsible for what appears to be a
systematic and widespread campaign of violence against civilians by the
Armed Forces of the Nigerian government.
On Wednesday, May 13, 2009 the Nigerian military Joint Task Force (JTF)
commenced the land, water and aerial bombardment of a large area in
Gbaramatu Kingdom that includes the villages of Oporoza, Kurutie,
Kunukunuma, Kokodiagbene, Okerenkoko, Azama, Benikurukuru and
Ubefan, under the guise of attacking a MEND militant Camp. Residents of
the villages and those visiting for a festival on the day the bombing
began were forced to flee their homes and villages. They are hiding in the
bush and do not have adequate food or medical supplies. The JTF has not
allowed humanitarian aid groups or journalists into the area. As of today
the coordinated aerial and ground attacks by the JTF and mass starvation
continues. Reports suggest that thousands of innocent civilians are dead
already. Reports also suggest that this was a well planned attack with the
possible collusion of State government officials.
Together the human rights and environmental organizations listed below
urge the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor to use its power to investigate and
prosecute those responsible for these crimes against humanity, including
Brigadier General Sarkin Bello who is reportedly in command of the JTF’s
operations today. Questions regarding President Yar’Adua’s involvement
must also be investigated.
The killings in the Delta today can be traced back to similar massacres in
1990 in Umecheum, in Ogoni led by Major Gen Paul Okuntimo in the mid
1990’s, and the 1999 massacre in Odi under the command of Col
Agbabiaka. To-date no investigation of previous massacres has been
undertaken, although each was well documented by the international
NGO community, including Human Rights Watch.
The Nigerian military must be made aware that it cannot act with
impunity. We respectfully request your attention and investigation. Your
interest and involvement in this matter has the potential to help save
lives in the oil rich regions of the Niger Delta now and in the future.
Sincerely,
Imani Countess for TransAfrica Forum
Patrick Bond for the University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society
Environmental Justice Project
Sandy Cioffi for Sweet Crude
Bill Gallegos for Communities for a Better Environment
Jessica Lawrence for The Borneo Project
Laura Livoti for Justice in Nigeria Now
Danielle Mahonnes for the Center for Third World Organizing
Kirsten Moller for Global Exchange
Brant Olson for Rainforest Action Network
Roger Kim for Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Michelle Kinman for Crude Accountability
Steve Kretzmann for Oil Change International
John Wilner for CounterCorp
Emira Woods for Foreign Policy In Focus
Daphne Wysham for Sustainable Energy and Economy Network
2017 Mission Street 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94110
PHONE: 415 575 5521 FAX: 415 255 7498 URL: www.justiceinnigerianow.org
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
URGENT ACTION
20 May 2009
Nigeria: Unlawful killings/displaceme nt/access to medical care
Since 13 May 2009, thousands of villagers have been displaced and thousands more are trapped in the cross fire between the Joint Task Force (JTF), which is composed from troops of the army, navy, air force and the mobile police set up in 2004 to restore order in the Niger Delta and armed groupsin Delta State, South West Nigeria. The JTF attacks on the communities in the area, including the Okerenkoko and Oporoza communities,are continuing on a daily basis, reportedly because they believe the armed groups are hiding in the communities.
The JTF offensive began on 13 May after the JTF was reportedly attacked by armed groups in Delta State. The JTF have been conducting land and air strikes on communities across the Warri south and south-west local government areas where the Nigerian government believes the camps of the armed groups are located. Hundreds of people are feared dead.
On 15 May, using helicopters equipped with machine guns, the JTF attacked several communities of the Gbaramatu Kingdom, including Okerenkoko and Oporoza. In Oporoza, around 500 people had gathered for a yearly festival that was being celebrated in several communities of the Gbaramatu Kingdom. Exact casualty figures following the attacks are as yet unknown. According to reports received by Amnesty International, hundreds of bystanders, including women and children, are believed to have been killed and injured by the JTF, and by the armed groups, while shooting at the JTF.
The 20,000 people who live in the area of the attack are trapped there by the JTF’s continuing operations. The main method of transportation for these communities is by boat; however, people attempting to travel by water are reportedly targeted by the JTF or members of the armed groups.
Thousands have fled their communities and are unable to return to their homes. Many houses in the communities have been set on fire and destroyed by the military. People are still in hiding in the forest, with no access to medical care and food.
Amnesty International is calling on the JTF and armed groups to use force only in a way that does not result in human right abuses, not to forcibly displace people, and ensure free access to those in need of medical care.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Poverty, corruption and the presence of oil, arms and gangs, have made the Niger Delta a very volatile region. In the past years, armed groups and criminal gangs have explicitly sought to control resources, and have engaged in acts of violence. This has lead to an increase in violent confrontations between the armed groups and the JTF.
The JTF has been frequently accused of using excessive force when attacking armed groups and gangs and often bystanders from local communities were injured and killed. In August 2008, following an attack on the JTF by armed groups, at least 4 people were killed when the military raided the village of Agge, Bayelsea State. In August 2007, the JTF intervened in a clash between two rival gangs in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, using helicopters and machine-guns and killing at least 32 gang members, members of the security forces and bystanders.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:
-expressing concern about the number of people who have been killed, injured and displaced in the recent operations in Warri area of Delta State;
- calling on the Federal Government to ensure that the JTF uses force only in a way that does not result in human right abuses;
- calling on the Federal government not to forcibly displace people;
- calling on the Federal Government to carry out a thorough, independent and impartial investigation into violations committed by the JTF and the abuses committed by the armed groups.
APPEALS TO:
His Excellency Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua
President of the Republic of Nigeria
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
Office of the President
Aso Rock
Abuja,
Federal Capital Territory
Nigeria
Tel: +234-9-2341010/ +234 9 523 5053
Fax: +234-9-2341733/ +234 9 314 8793
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Commander of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta (Operation Restore Hope)
Brigadier General Sakin-Yaki Bello
Efferun Barracks
Warri, Delta State
Nigeria
Salutation: Dear Brigadier General,
Embassies: Copies to diplomatic representatives of Nigeria in your own country.
Ijaw People’s Association of Great Britain & Ireland and
Bayelsa State Union of Great Britain & Ireland
20/5/09
Joint Press Statement
THE GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA AND ITS ACTS OF GENOCIDE & TERROR AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF THE NIGER DELTA
The Ijaw People’s Association and Bayelsa State Union, all of Great Britain and Ireland are greatly concerned about the reports reaching us that the Nigerian Armed Forces in the form of the Joint Task Force (JTF) for the Niger Delta is attacking and invading a number of towns and villages in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State Nigeria, from Wednesday 13 up till now, Thursday 21 May 2009. These towns and villages comprise of Oporoza and satellite villages of Gbaranmatu kingdom in the said local government area. We are greatly alarmed and shocked, because the attacks and invasion with the attendant destruction of lives and property were unprovoked, and seemed to have been planned for quite a while.
The JTF spoke-person issued a statement that “militants or oil thieves attacked their forward base and that the JTF was going after them and flushing out the said militants or oil thieves”; but we find this utterly unacceptable, and it is a deception to justify this premeditated terror campaign against defenceless communities in the Western Niger Delta, because of the oil beneath their feet.
The JTF needs to explain to the whole world why it needed to use jet fighters and helicopter gun-ships to flush out ‘oil thieves’ by bombing and mowed down innocent civilian villagers who had gathered at Oporoza for a traditional cultural event? It is clear that the Nigerian President ordered the JTF to commit these atrocities to the people of Gbaranmatu Kingdom in order to protect the vested interests in the military oil bunkering operations. The government of Nigeria has been consistent in its brutality of the people of the Niger Delta, which started with the Ogoni-land invasions, the invasion of Kaiama, the attack and complete destruction of Odi, the destructions of towns and villages in Kalabari kingdom in eastern Niger Delta, and now the obliteration of Oporoza and Gbaranmatu Kingdom.
CONTINUED DECEPTION
The Nigerian Government continues to deceive the whole World that the JTF is stationed in the Niger Delta to prevent crude oil theft and protect oil installations from Niger Delta militants. This is laughable, when in reality, it is clear that the JTF is stationed in the Niger Delta to protect the oil bunkering interests of federal government officials, former and present serving military officers and politicians connected to the current government. These are the real oil thieves. It is even more laughable that the federal government claim to be spending over 400 billion naira a year on security in the Niger Delta, when security has actually been taken away from the people by the JTF. It is universally known that there are some criminal elements that are involved in oil theft, but that is no reason for the annihilation of an entire already-suffering people who has nothing to do with the corrupt and bankrupt politics of the Nigerian Federation. Basically, these long-suffering people of Oporoza and Gbaranmatu kingdom are killed doubly. People should make President Musa Yar’Adua understand this sort of behaviour is not acceptable in civilised and democratic countries.
In order to justify its continued presence in the Niger Delta, the JTF periodically manufacture conflict scenarios in order to perpetrate hostilities. Delta State was enjoying a long period of relative peace and reconciliation and the Governor of Delta State had recently called upon the Nigerian Government to withdraw the JTF from the state, as the area was now peaceful. There was no independent confirmation that militants attacked the JTF, prior to this invasion, and no militant group has come forward to claim responsibility for the supposed attack on the JTF(apart from the JTF claim that e-mail messages received by it, is supposed to be from a militant source). The latest murderous act by the JTF has gone too far, and it is time to bring Mr Yar’Adua and the JTF to order.
Therefore, the Ijaw People’s Association of Great Britain and Ireland and the Bayelsa State Union of Great Britain and Ireland strongly and utterly condemn these outrageous actions of barbarism by President Yar’Adua and the JTF. This is a complete betrayal of trust by Mr Yar’Adua to find a permanent and lasting solution to the Niger Delta problems. It is clear that all along, the Yar’Adua Administration and successive Nigerian Governments have been deceiving the Nigerian people and the whole world as to their sincerity in resolving the issues in the Niger Delta.
We strongly condemn the deliberate and planned killing of innocent Nigerian civilians and the mass destruction of property by the JTF. We strongly condemn the criminal use of force by the Nigerian Armed Forces. Our thoughts are with the families of the many women, children and innocent people that have been killed by the Government of Nigeria. We believe that attacking and punishing whole communities because of a few criminals is the most barbaric and undemocratic method in controlling law and order. Mr Yar’adua should know that no country that aspire to be regarded as civilised and democratic, trains its army to kill its own people. The role of the army is to defence its country from external aggression.
We fear that these atrocities that have been committed by Mr Yar’Adua and his government would:-
• Further escalate hostilities in the region, as the destruction of Odi by Mr Obasanjo led to the current level of militancy;
• Further increase the instability in the region;
• Further alienate the people of the Niger Delta;
• Further impede Nigeria’s economic progress; and
• Make Nigeria a more hopeless and miserable country
We want a situation, where every single part of Nigeria is as developed as Western Europe and North America, because Nigeria can achieve that if the politicians gain sanity. We also believe that the Niger Delta should be treated specially and with respect (as other civilised countries do); as it is the bread basket of Nigeria and it is its people that face the dire consequences of negligent oil exploration practices of the oil companies in the Niger Delta. Thus, the current invasion and the ongoing killing and destruction of towns in the Niger Delta, is a direct attack on the development of Nigeria as a whole, because the consequences of these atrocities could be far reaching for Nigeria’s progress.
We therefore, call on every well-meaning Nigerian to condemn these atrocities that are perpetrated by Mr Yar’Adua and the Nigeria military. We want the good people of Nigeria and the international community to educate the President that proper governance of a country is more than sending tanks, bombs and bullets. True power comes when you have been able to provide to the Nigerian people constant electricity, clear water, good healthcare and good education. The truth is the Mr Yar’Adua has failed in his role as the Chief Provider and Protector of his people.
If it transpires that genocide or crimes against humanity was committed (as we are hearing), we will work rigorously towards mobilising the people of the civilised world to bring to the International Criminal Court, Mr Yar’Adua, military officers, ministers, advisers, politicians and any other persons that are involved in promoting, encouraging, facilitating, aiding or abetting the perpetration of these gruesome acts of barbarism. The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crimes of Genocide is clear as indicated below:-
Article 1
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Article 2
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article 3
The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d ) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide.
Article 4
Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
According to the UN Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, 1968, there is no time limitation on when criminal proceedings can be brought against the perpetrators of War Crime, Crimes Against Human and Crime of Genocide. The offices are committed under international law whether or not local law did not recognise the atrocities as offences. Genocide is Crimes Against Humanity. The Nigerian Government ratified this Convention on 1st December 1970.
We believe that Nigerian will never be prosperous economically or politically, with a president that is clueless in the effective management of his people and the economy. Vision 2020 is dead and buried.
May God bless the people of the Niger Delta, and may God bless the ordinary hard working good people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that are constantly been deceived and humiliated by crooked successive Nigerian governments.
Signed by:
Mr Benaebi Benatari
Secretary
Ijaw Peoples Association of Great Britain and Ireland
www.ijawland.com
Mr Ebiye Asuka
Secretary
Bayelsa State Union of Great Britain and Ireland
www.bayelsa.org.uk
N/Delta crisis: Students protest in Warri
NAPOLEON EHIREMEN, Warri
Members of the National Union of Izon-Ebe Students (NUIS) yesterday in Warri staged a peaceful protest, and called on the United Nations (UN) to prevail on the Federal Government to stop the war in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.
The students who were all dressed in black attire in solidarity with their kinsmen, said about 10 students who went for holiday in Oporoza were killed
The students, who condemned militancy and criminality on the waterways said no Ijaw son or daughter will encourage criminality.
They, however, blamed the federal and state governments for the long neglect and underdevelopment that have resulted in the conflicts threatening to tear the nation apart.
National Public Relations Officer (PRO), NUIS, Comrade Obiri Ebilade, said the fighting was uncalled for, describing it as a clear case of genocide. He said many died while trying to escape the attack.
He accused President Musa Yar’Adua of keeping a sealed lip while the Ijaw people were being killed by the military.
“We call on the UN to call the Federal Government to order on this killings. We don’t want any further destruction of lives and properties under the guise of any military rhetoric like cordon and search. The silence of the President goes a long way to portray the insincerity of the Nigerian government in attending to issues affecting the Ijaw nation. This attack is premeditated and an attempt to unleash an onslaught on the Ijaw nation because we are aware that prior to this attack there had been a blueprint which the JTF is following,” he said.
Also, the national president of NUIS, Comrade Omare Oyimi, said the war was an attempt to humiliate the Ijaw nation so that the Federal Government will continue to exploit crude oil unhindered.
According to him, the Ijaw people have suffered so much injustice for too long in the hands of the government.
While appealing to international donor agencies to come to the aid of the people as many people displaced from their homeland were passing through untold hardship.
Ijaw Youths Allege Genocide Over Military Action
By Michael Jegede Reporter, Lagos
Arogbo Ijaw Youth Network (AIYN) has condemned the Federal Government’s action in declaring military action on Ijaw communities in the guise of searching for militants in the areas.
AIYN wondered why the government that is supposed to protect the people resorted to killing them because of their God-given resources.
In a statement jointly signed by its National Co-ordinator, Fiyebo Eperetei, and General Secretary, Ajagbini Samson, the group said the Ijaw people are not surprised about the action, stressing that the President Umaru Yar’Adua government does not have any tangible plan for the development of the Niger Delta region.
“Nigeria should realise that the whole world is watching the enormity of its evil acts, by invading communities in Ijaw Nation, which it refuses to develop. Nigeria will never go free, being an ingrate to the goose that lays the golden egg.
“The Ijaws are not surprised about the incident, because the name, Nigeria, exists notoriously by intimidating, victimising, marginalising and killing her citizens,” the statement reads.
It added that “it is obvious that the Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan-led government doesn’t have any good plan for the Niger Delta in terms of development and making peace.
STOP NIGERIA ’S GENOCIDE AGAINST THE IJAWS OF THE NIGER DELTA: A CALL FOR IMMEDIATE GLOBAL ACTION
We, the fifteen million aboriginal Ijaw people of the oil-rich Niger Delta hereby call on the world to save us immediately from the ongoing brazen high-intensity genocide being perpetrated against us by the extremely ungrateful Nigerian State that paradoxically depends on our Ijaw Oil Wealth for its sustenance and survival!
The Gbaramatu Kingdom of the Ijaw Nation was peacefully celebrating the installation of its Regent when it was atrociously attacked by the Nigerian military forces of occupation in the Niger Delta, the Joint Task Force (JTF), without any provocation, on Wednesday, May 13, 2009! The Nigerian State has since sent a military armada and several battalions of soldiers to Ijawland in a deliberate and calculated military onslaught to annihilate our Ijaw people. Please save our souls! Stop the ethnic cleansing!! Stop Nigeria ’s extermination of the Ijaws!!!
We are anguished and appalled, beyond description, at the thousands of our unarmed, oppressed and suffering Ijaw civilians in the Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State that have been savagely (brutally) murdered or maimed, and the towns and villages that have been viciously decimated and ferociously razed, by aerial bombardments, grenade attacks, and artillery attacks from warships and naval gunboats. Tens of thousands of our people have been rendered homeless, and have fled into the bushes where they are hunted and slaughtered by the rampaging genocidal Nigerian military. Thousands of injured people cannot have access to much-needed live-saving emergency medical care because they are cut off from the outside world by the genocidal military siege, and are therefore dying helplessly!
We hereby call on all humanitarian agencies worldwide, particularly the International Red Cross and the United Nations Committee on Refugees, to send relief materials and humanitarian workers to save and help the victims of the terrible humanitarian crisis.
It is universal knowledge that the Ijaws and Nigeria are engaged in a serious conflict that has been occasioned by the relentless ruthless oppression of the Ijaws by the Nigerian state. In response to our peaceful agitation for fairness, equity and self-determination, the Nigerian government has inflicted an ever-intensifying Genocidal Reign of Terror on our defenseless people. In the last decade, members of the Nigerian Security Forces, acting at the behest of the Nigerian government, have wrongfully and needlessly murdered thousands of Ijaws, raided and burnt Ijaw towns and villages, cruelly tortured many of our people, imprisoned several Ijaw Rights Activists and raped numerous Ijaw women and children; in response to our legitimate demands for a halt to our oppression, the wanton destruction of our habitat and looting of our God-given wealth.
The prevailing pervasive Ijaw Youth Restiveness and Insurgency are compelled and propelled by the imperative for survival and self-defense, in the Spirit of Isaac Adaka Boro, against the political subjugation and relentless ruthless oppression of the Ijaw people, unbridled plundering of their oil and gas resources, wanton destruction of their habitat and means of subsistence, their utter neglect and deprivation, atrocious violation of their basic human rights and dignity, continual heinous genocides perpetrated by an occupying military force of the Nigerian State that kills Ijaws with impunity, and resultant abominable squalor, hopelessness, despair and anarchy.
Ijaw Foundation, a platform for collective action by all Ijaws and all Ijaw organizations in the Diaspora and the Ijaw homeland, condemns in the strongest terms, the heinous genocide being committed against the Ijaws by the Nigerian State . We ask President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the Nigerian government to withdraw all military forces of occupation in the Niger Delta immediately. The Niger Delta Conflict is a political conflict and therefore demands a political solution rather than a military solution. The Ijaws want and demand a peaceful political solution to the Niger Delta Conflict.
We take this opportunity to reiterate that the Ijaws are extremely peace loving and longsuffering. We, the Ijaws, are engaged in a noble and legitimate agitation for Self Determination, socioeconomic justice, environmental protection and survival. We only claim, demand and defend that which is rightly and justly ours. Our motivation is love, our passion is justice, and our goal is peace. The Ijaws want peace in the Niger Delta, Nigeria and in the entire world.
Our oppressors are the advocates of violence because they are using guns and violence, military force and genocide, to keep us oppressed. No Ijaw person would take a gun to fight if the oppressive Nigerian State does not use military power or guns to repress us and deny us justice! A thief knows that it is wrong for him to take your personal property from you without your consent, and he knows that you will not allow him to do so, so he comes armed with a gun to coerce you to relinquish your property to him. Nigeria is committing armed robbery against the Ijaws. A thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Nigeria is stealing our resources, killing us, and destroying our habitat and means of livelihood.
It is the most cruel irony of fate that our Ijaw people are being killed by Nigerian soldiers that are paid, clothed, fed, housed and armed with our Ijaw Oil Money; to enable the Nigerian government and the Oil Companies to plunder our resources and destroy our habitat. The fighter jets, warships, naval gunboats, grenades, artillery and bombs being unleashed on our hapless Ijaw people are bought with the Ijaw oil money! It is unacceptable that our God-given wealth has become our inexorable curse!
It is the Nigerian State that has made dialogue and peaceful resolution of the Niger Delta Conflict impossible by militarizing Ijawland (occupying Ijawland with military troops), and ensuring that Ijaws who protest their oppression are murdered or imprisoned as a deterrent to other Ijaws. The murders of Dr. Marshall Harry and Chief Aminasori Dikibo as well as the imprisonment of Dokubo-Asari and other Niger Delta Activists are prime examples in this regard. No Ijaw person will carry gun to fight the Nigerian State if Nigeria withdraws all its military forces of occupation in Ijawland and allows Ijaws to express their grievances without harassment and intimidation.
The world cannot sit idly by when the internationally affirmed and ratified fundamental human rights of the approximately fifteen million Ijaw people are being so egregiously and continuously violated by a signatory of the United Nations Charter. It would be an indefensible dereliction of duty if the United Nations does not act to uphold the sanctity of its Universal Declarations of Human Rights or fail to protect the oppressed and abused in any part of the world.
The Niger Delta Crisis has assumed epic global proportions and therefore calls for concerted international action. The adverse effect of the Niger Delta Crisis on global oil prices makes it imperative for concerted global action to resolve the crisis. Furthermore, it is important to note that the oppression being suffered by the Ijaws of the Niger Delta is arguably worse than that suffered by black South Africans during the terrible Apartheid Regime because, besides political subjugation, disenfranchisement, sub-humanization and dehumanization, the Ijaws also suffer resource plunder, environmental degradation and ecological genocide that were never suffered by black South Africans! As the world was rightly moved into action to stop the terrible oppression of black South Africa , the world must also act with urgency to stop the ruthless oppression of the Ijaws.
Similarly, the oppression that was suffered by the Kosovo people did not entail ecological genocide; it was less terrible than that being suffered by the Ijaws of the Niger Delta. Yet the people of Kosovo got the support of the United Nations and the international community for their self-determination. Just as the United Nations intervened in Kosovo to bring justice and peace, it should also intervene in the Niger Delta to bring justice and peace there!
To this end, as a matter of utmost urgency, we call on the international community, under the aegis of the United Nations, to orchestrate a peaceful resolution of the Niger Delta Crisis by enforcing an immediate demilitarization of the Niger Delta and by organizing Referendum on Ijaw Political Autonomy.
In his historic speech to his fellow Americans, the legendary Patrick Henry of blessed memory declared: “Give me liberty or give me death”! The United States of America was the torchbearer of liberty about two hundred and thirty-three years ago. Today, the Ijaws are proud to be the torchbearers of liberty.
This is a battle of good against evil. We are confident of the glorious triumph of good over evil! We are absolutely confident of our victory God has promised and decreed.
We call on all champions and lovers of freedom, and indeed the entire world, to join the Alliance for Freedom and stand with us against oppression. We call on the United Nations to convene an emergency meeting of its Security Council to take emergency action to stop the genocide against the Ijaws, as follows:
1. Declare the Ijaw Region in Nigeria a Protectorate of the United Nations pending the completion of our transition to self-government.
2. Establish a United Nations Committee for Self-determination of the Ijaws to: (a) mediate our negotiations with the Nigerian State for our peaceful separation from Nigeria ; (b) provide us with technical assistance to conduct our Referendum on Self-government; (c) oversee our transition to self-rule.
3. Grant the Ijaws representation as an OBSERVER NATION in the United Nations General Assembly (same status currently enjoyed by the Palestinians) , pending our transition to self-rule.
4. Order the Nigerian government, by Security Council Resolution, to immediately withdraw all its military troops, submarines, gunboats and weaponry deployed to the Niger Delta to kill and repress the Ijaws.
5. Impose tough economic sanctions on Nigeria , including an absolute international embargo on Nigeria ’s, oil until all Nigerian military forces in the Niger Delta are withdrawn.
Signed:
Dr. Ebipamone N. Nanakumo
President, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
Mr. Lincoln Snithers
Secretary, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
STOP MILITARY ASSAULT IN NIGER DELTA NOW!
Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, is saddened by the dangerous turn of
events in the Niger Delta which has seen a full-blown war situation
arising from serial bombardments of towns and villages in the Niger
Delta by the Joint Task Force, JTF.
The warfare has led to untimely deaths and an unspecified number of
casualties, including innocent civilians getting caught in the fire
prowess of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Thousands have been displaced
with serious humanitarian crisis looming in the affected areas.
We condemn this genocidal attack on innocent people being carried out
by troops who have been deployed to the oil-bearing region.
While we do not condone any acts of criminality, we insist that it is
the criminal activities that have over the years characterized oil
explorations by the Nigerian state in the Niger Delta region that have
given rise to militancy in the region.
The agitation against the injustices of the Nigerian state against the
Niger Delta region has taken twists and turns before reaching this
crescendo. A more responsive and responsible state would have nipped
the situatio
n in the bud by addressing the grievances of the people.
Rather, the Nigerian state, often barren of ideas, has resorted to
strong arm tactics against the messengers (Adaka Boro, Ken Saro Wiwa,
etc) and ignoring the message. Now, the message has become so strong
and has acquired a life of its own.
As against poems, flowery speeches, massive rallies, which were the
Modus Operandi of Ken Saro Wiwa, a new generation of agitators has come
up who speak the only language the Nigerian state speaks: violence.
It is only a people without a clear understanding of social dynamics
that would believe that misguided military assaults would resolve the
problem of the Niger Delta.
When President Umar Yar’Adua, in 2009 budget, lumped Niger Delta and
Security together, we had asked if that was a pointer to the fact that
the regime’s mind was working towards military assault to resolve the
Niger Delta crisis. These military assaults have clearly answered that
question.
The genocidal act in the Niger Delta has again exposed the double-speak
of President Yar’Adua. On the one hand, he talks about a peaceful
solution to the Niger Delta crisis and Amnesty arrangements while, on
the other hand, a murderous war is being executed.
We call on President Yar’Adua to immediately call off this genocidal
assault against Niger Delta. The president should not be deceived by20
the exuberant call for military action which has been the sing-song of
Rotimi Amaechi, the Supreme Court-appointed governor of Rivers State.
The social fabric of Nigeria is at the moment in tatters to be able to
withstand a conflagration which these mindless assaults can only bring
about.
To stem this crisis, we call for an immediate convocation of a Niger
Delta Summit, to be composed of leaders of the people of the Niger
Delta and their elected representatives, representatives of ethnic
nationalities of Nigeria, social forces and the Federal Government. The
sole agenda of this summit should be to find concrete steps that would
guarantee peace and justice in the Niger Delta. This is imperative as
the escalation of the present hostilities portend grave dangers to
every part of Nigeria.
‘Yinka Odumakin,
National Publicity Secretary, ARG
08033004665
N’Delta: Federal troops intensify bombing
• Over 200 dead, 20,000 displaced as air raid on Ijaw communities continues
From MURPHY GANAGANA, Abuja and EMMANUEL OGOIGBE, Warri
Monday, May 18, 2009
•Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section
The Nigerian Military on Sunday intensified its air raid of some communities suspected to be militant enclaves in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State, with the deployment of two fighter jets to Oporoza, Kokodiagbene and Okarankoko villages, all of which were said to have been reduced to rubble by Sunday evening. Over 20,000 fleeing villagers are said to have taken refuge in Burutu, Bomadi, Sagbama, Patani, and the urban towns of Warri and Ughelli.
No fewer than 80 additional lives were allegedly lost during the military air bombardment which had reportedly claimed over 120 lives in an earlier offensive last Friday.
Four Ijaw villages, namely, Kolokoloama, Okarankoko, Kurutie, and Oporoza, had at the weekend, suffered severe air raids complimented with ground troops, using a naval warship and 15 gunboats.
The initial casualties included militant fighters and men of the Joint Military Task Force [JTF] in the Niger Delta region, code-named ‘Operation Restore Hope’.
Although the number of civilian casualties was yet to be ascertained, at least two expatriate oil workers, who were allegedly kidnapped by the militants shortly after sinking two military gunboats last Wednesday, were reportedly killed during the air raid last Friday, even as the military authorities said about 10 hostages were rescued in that operation in which no fewer than six fighter jets were allegedly used.
The JTF has in the meantime denied killing civilians in the military operatives.
While reports said the militants had engaged the government forces in a fierce gun battle last Friday, burning the naval warship and capturing six out of the 15 gunboats deployed by the JTF, the scenario was not the same on Sunday, when the two military fighter jets reportedly launched a surprise attack on one more community, Kokodiagbene, before returning to Oporoza and Okarankoko, to bring down structures that survived the Friday bombardment.
So far, the militants have reportedly fled their operational bases, especially the dreaded Camp 5, a stronghold of the petite but fiery militant leader, Government Egbomgbolo, a.k.a Tompollo, whose guest house at Oporoza and the palace of the community’s traditional ruler, were said to have been already destroyed during last Friday’s air raid, before the community was completely leveled on Sunday.
Reports said Camp 5, situated by the Chanomi Creek along the Escravos River, was captured by the JTF troops in the early hours of Frday, reclaimed by the militants later in the evening, but has been re-captured by the military with the aid of intensive aerial offensive propelled by the sinking last Wednesday, of two military gunboats by the militants, during which 14 soldiers, including two officers (an Army Major and a Lieutenant), reportedly lost their lives.
The JTF, however, said it recorded no casualties except two of its men who were injured.
Even as Sunday’s gun battle was said to be on till dusk, unconfirmed reports indicated that troops from 81 Battalion of the Nigerian Army and two other battalions had been placed on standby to move in and effectively occupy the already captured five Ijaw villages, where charred remains of victims and property are the visible reminders of the gun battle.
A native of Kokodiagbene in Gbaramatu Clan, Mr Ari S. Ari told Daily Sun that one of his younger brothers was killed in the air raid, while many others were injured.
An old woman was also said to have drowned in Oporoza in an attempt to flee the community, during the military attack.
In the meantime, a cat and mouse drama is reportedly playing out between President Umaru Yar’Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, as concerned top politicians, traditional rulers, and high-ranking public officials including ministers, especially of Niger Delta origin, make frantic efforts to halt the continued bombing of Ijaw communities.
Sources close to the Presidency alleged that so far, efforts made by Goodluck Jonathan and the Chief Uffot Ekaette, minister of Niger Delta Affairs, to seek audience with President Yar’Adua over the development had not been fruitful, fuelling speculations that the president might have tactfully shielded himself away from discussing the military action.
Mum is also the word at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, where a top brass who pleaded anonymity simply said, “the situation is under control.”
Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition(NDCSC)
Secretariat: c/o 2B, Railway Close, D/Line, Port Harcourt.
Rivers State. Niger Delta Region. Nigeria.
Tel/Fax: 234- 84-231 – 716
Press Statement - Port Harcourt, May 16, 2009
STATE SPONSORED MASSACRE DEEPENS INSECURITY IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION.
The Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition(NDCSC) is shocked beyond believe learning of the latest massacre of people and razing to ground zero, communities of the Niger Delta by the President Yar’ Adua led regime in a ‘democracy’. The very sick, impotent and illegitimate government of President Ya’Adua, that have hardly moved Nigeria an inch forward in terms of any visible human development, have shown by its authorization of the latest massacre and orphaning of further thousands of children in the Gbaranmatu kingdom, of the region in the latest inferno, that there is a well written script and strategy for regimes in Nigeria, to go to any length – genocide inclusive, to expend the peoples of the region, wipe out their livelihood, to enable oil that fed their primitive accumulation of wealth, flow without let or hindrance.
The indiscriminate shelling and slaughtering of women, children and helpless seniors in the communities by federal soldiers of fortune, has no doubt put a lid on the mockery public relation exercise, flagged off recently by the President, in the name of amnesty and peaceful settlement in the region.
The cleansing strategy adopted in the wasting of Odi, Odioma, Agge, Umuechem has been repeated in the Gbaranmatu kingdom, all the time, the military making sure that the number of the raped, slaughtered, maimed and abused are never fully known in order not to horrify a conscious humane world. The level of human rights abuses in the region by the governments and military task forces has assumed a very high level proportion, that merits international attention for necessary action, by way of bringing pressure to bear on an unresponsive illiberal regime, to humanely deal with the legitimate and just demands of the peoples of the region.
The NDCSC maintains and very strongly too, that the conflict in the Niger Delta is about age long gross and attested violations of cultural, social, economic, political and environmental rights of the minority citizens, therefore, beyond the orchestration of criminality and oil bunkering that deflates from the fundamentality and community support for the genuine struggle for social justice. The orchestration of criminality and greed theory, leaving out friends and members of the regime who drive the arms proliferation and oil bunkering industrial complex for punishment, continue to make the federal government and oil multinationals look good internationally, in the face of human depradation in the region. Let it not be forgotten that structural violence of the State linked with inhuman standards of operations of oil multinationals, began the current cycle of violence. The criminal response of the State to what was a peaceful agitation by the
Ogoni social movement , led by late Ken Saro-Wiwa, led to a change of strategy by peoples who now genuinely believe that an imposed government, holds no measure of security to their livelihood. This has inevitably led to the growing secondary forms of violence, such as hostage taking and destruction of oil facilities.
The NDCSC wishes to strongly draw the attention of the international community and sister democracy movements, to the fact human needs are continually being frustrated on a large scale by illegitimate federal and state regimes in the Niger Delta. Experience over the decades has shown that the more arbitrary law and order is enforced in the region to control helplessness and frustration, in the midst of abundance and evil governance, the more the helplessness and frustration. Our genuine fears and concern is that, rather than military massacre to put a lid on demand for just peace; from the humiliation and further loss, will spring some other forms of extreme agitation, to continue to emphasize and demonstrate to the world, that continue to tolerate competititve authoritarian regimes in Nigeria, that there are features of the regimes in the Niger Delta that are repugnant to justice and human dignity, that are unacceptable to the peoples,
and are worth dying for.
The NDCSC therefore, wishes to renew the demand of the peoples of the region for just peace to mean: demand for sustainable development that has been deliberately kept away from them. They ask that the poor and vulnerable be at the centre of the development process in their communities – also the protection of the life opportunities of future generations and the natural systems on which all life depends.
The NDCSC once again calls on the global civilized nations and democracy movements to take their responsibility to protect human subjects anywhere in the world, including democratic principles seriously, by calling on the illiberal regimes in Nigeria, who are intent on destroying the enormous investment in democracy building by democracy defenders, to urgently respond to the just demands of the peoples of the Niger Delta, as forced peace will surely compound the avoidable catastrophe waiting to happen in that part of the world.
Signed:
Anyakwee Nsirimovu
Chair, NDCSC
Clarion call for cease of hostility on Ijaw communities by JTF.
The IYC has watched with disdain and chagrin the recent bombardment of Ijaw communities by members of the JTF of the federal republic of Nigeria in the pretence of cleansing our communities off militants.
As at the time this communiqué was been issued; the following communities namely; AZAMA, KUNUKUNUAMA, KURUTIE, OKERENKOKO, OPOROZA, BENIKURUKURU, OKOARANKO, KOKODIA-GBE, KOLOKUMA and the entire GBARAMATU communities has been sacked. This has led to an untold suffering by the inhabitants of the aforementioned towns and villages. A case of double jeopardy, with the blatant slaying of over a 500 law abiding citizens mostly women and children, and over 200,000 people rendered homeless without food or water.
To buttress the insincerity of the Federal Government and the calculated genocide by the Yar’adua administration. There has been heavy military presence in the following major Ijaw towns, namely KAIAMA, ODI, OPOKUMA,YENAGOA, BOMADI,PATANI, OKRIKA, DEGEMA, BONNY, BUGUMA, BELE to mention but a few.
It should be restated here that IYC under my leadership believes in dialogue as a means of peaceful mediation in conflict resolution and vehemently opposes the use of force in achieving peace. This genocide by the Yar’adua administration can only escalate the fragile peace been enjoyed in the region and thus, should be stopped.
I am also using this as a means to call on the international communities, well meaning Nigerians to prevail on the federal government to stop this genocide, conduct a thorough investigation on those responsible for the show down and bring them to justice, not minding whose horse is gored.
The recent onslaught has brought to bear the insincerity of President Yar’adua’s administration on the question of amnesty.
Is it not a national shame that President Yar’adua has refused to meet with Vice- President Goodluck Jonathan on this or any other issue in the past 72 hours?
Similarly, the IYC calls for total restrain from both side of the conflicts. We have already appealed to our kith and kin in Ijaw communities to remain calm and law abiding while we find a peaceful resolution to this avoidable aggression on our communities.
WE still will maintain our position on Nonviolence direction action as a mean to resolving the crisis.
Dr. Chris Ekiyor
President, Ijaw Youth Council
Nigeria accuses over oil ‘deaths’
The military in Nigeria has been accused of killing 1,000 civilians during an upsurge in operations against militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
“They…bombard entire communities from the air, sea and land,” said the Ijaw National Congress which represents the region’s largest ethnic group.
A Nigerian military spokesman dismissed the allegations as unfounded.
The army has freed 17 hostages, mostly foreigners, held by militants fighting for a greater share of oil revenues.
But the military action has “resulted in over a thousand deaths, because we dared to ask for our rights,” said Victor Burubo, spokesman for the Ijaw National Congress.
He called on the United Nations to intervene in a BBC interview.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) declared “all-out war” on the Nigerian government after an attack on one of its camps deep in the swamp lands on Friday.
‘Rescue operation’
A second hostage being held by Mend militants was killed in fighting with government forces.
In the upsurge of violence - the worst in months - the military have used naval gunboats and there are claims of helicopter gunship attacks, the BBC’s Caroline Duffield reports from Nigeria.
The army says the offensive is a rescue operation to save the crews of two ships hijacked by gunmen last Thursday, and that nine Filipinos, four Ukrainians and four Nigerians have been freed so far.
A Mend statement said: “We regret to announce that two hostages have been killed by the indiscriminate shelling.”
‘Blood oil’ dripping from Nigeria
Elusive peace in Nigeria’s oil Delta
It said their bodies would be given to the Red Cross, but gave no details of nationality.
The group added that Briton Matthew Maguire, who was taken hostage separately last year, was now being moved to a new location.
Mend - the most visible of numerous armed gangs operating in the Delta - says it is fighting for a fairer share of Nigeria’s oil wealth for local people.
However they are involved in extortion and massive oil theft as well as kidnapping, our correspondent says.
They had ordered oil companies to pull out their staff by Saturday. The group also says it blew up two major gas pipelines over the weekend.
Analysts expected renewed violence between militants and the military after Mend rejected an amnesty offered by the government.
The government has still not officially said the offer is off the table.
Niger Delta: 300 Militants Feared Dead - As Soldiers Engage Them In Fierce Fight
Sylvester Idowu, Warri - 09.05.2009
No fewer than 300 militants reportedly died on Friday as an all-out war broke out between them and operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) code-named Operation Restore Hope.
The soldiers stormed Oporoza in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State to retaliate the killings of their colleagues and sinking of two of their gun boats on Wednesday.
Security sources told Saturday Tribune that the soldiers moved into Camp 5, the major base of militants in Delta State axis of the Niger Delta, by 10:00 am and bombarded the place with heavy shellings.
Soldiers also moved in on ground with artillery while the air force wing of the special security outfit gave an aerial cover while the operation lasted.
The operation, it was learnt, was put together by the new Commander of the JTF, Major General Sarkin Yaki Bello, who was at the JTF headquarters for another programme with his deputy, Brigadier-General Wuyep Rimtip, when the militants struck last Wednesday.
The heads of the Special security outfit was said to have briefed the Chief of Defence Staff who in turn sought for the permission of the Presidency for the military operation.
“The militants gave a feeble resistance but cave in to the fire power of our boys. There is no doubt that about 200 of them must have died in the engagement. The battle was simple for our boys. They had been spoiling for action against that Tompolo and his boys in that camp who always claim they have more strength that them,” a security source disclosed.
It was gathered that after the Oporoza’s raid, the soldiers then moved to the nearby Kunukunuma and Okerenkoko, all around Chanomi creeks where the militants held sway, and leveled the communities.
The fate of the leader of Camp 5 militants, Government Ekpemukpolo alias Tompolo could not be ascertained as he was feared to be amongst those killed.
Saturday Tribune gathered that the Management of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has started evacuating their personnel from the troubled area while Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) restricted the movement of their workers within their facility.
The coodinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre of JTF, Colonel Rabe Abubakar did not deny nor confirm the raid on the militants a camp attributing the exercise to cordon and search operation to weed out the criminals that attacked their soldiers and hijacked two vessels in the area.
While the raid lasted, there was palpable fear in Warri and environs as residents feared being caught up in possible cross fire between the soldiers and some of the known militants residing in the town and loyal to Camp5.
Meanwhile, all Ijaw youths may have gone underground for the fear of arrest as security men mounted survellance on them.