Former
President Goodluck Jonathan has raised the alarm that his life is under threat.
Jonathan said a list, which
named him and other South-South leaders as Niger Delta Avengers sponsors, was
another attempt by a group, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, to
eliminate him.
A group, which split from the
NDA – Reformed Niger Delta Avengers – had named Jonathan as the grand patron of
the NDA.
An online medium, SaharaReporters, reported that in a statement by its
spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte, the RNDA also listed the Rivers State Governor,
Nyesom Wike, and the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, as sponsors of
the NDA.
Others mentioned in the list
were Chief Edwin Clark, a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill
Akpabio; ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo); the
founder, African Independent Television,Raymond
Dokpesi; Kingsley Kuku; Kimi Angozi, and Patrick Akpobolokemi.
According to SaharaReporters, the group said the NDA sympathisers
are Daniel Alabrah; Tony Uranta, Daniel; Ms. Annkio Briggs, and a former
spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh.
The Reformed Niger Delta
Avengers also named Oyege Nimi Brown, VIP Timothy, Joshua Macaiver, Paul
Bebenimibo, among others, as the main operatives of the NDA.
It added that the President of
the Ijaw Youth Council, Udengs Eradiri, aka Brig. Gen. Murdoch Agbinibo, served
as the NDA’s chief spokesman.
But Jonathan, in a statement on
Sunday by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, said the list by the splinter group
was political, adding that it was part of an attempt to assassinate him.
The statement read in part,
“Since it is not in our place to speak for all those named in the obvious
fabrication, we are only intervening to the extent that its hidden intent poses
a violent threat to the life of former President Goodluck Jonathan, a committed
patriot.
“We are seized by the feeling
of déjà vu occasioned by the resurrection of one
dim character masquerading as Cynthia Whyte, who had in the past served as the
spokesperson for a notorious group that had all along shown its hand to be
going after the life of former President Jonathan.”
The former President recalled
that in 2007, after he emerged as the running mate of the late President Umar
Yar’Adua, the group invaded Yenogoa in an effort to assassinate him.
He added that the members of
the group later bombed his compound in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, on a night he was
scheduled to attend to an important matter in his country home.
He said, “Do we need to remind
anybody that the so-called Cynthia Whyte is the self-declared spokesperson for
the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, a violent and murderous
underground group led by one Henry Okah, which has not hidden its intention to
destroy the former President?”
According to him, the bombing
that took place on October 1, 2010 at the Eagle Square, Abuja, showed
that the group was violent.
He stated, “We have no doubt in
our mind that MEND, as a group contracted to go after Jonathan with the mind of
assassinating him, has yet to abandon this criminal and ignominious craving. It
is in this light that we view the purported statement issued by Cynthia Whyte
as not only a sadistic continuation of this sick desire, but also a futile
attempt to instigate the Federal Government to needlessly go after the former
President.
“Those who have been following
the unsavoury developments in some parts of the country since the last general
election would have noticed that MEND, its paymasters and other unscrupulous
elements in the South-South region have been striving fruitlessly to exploit
the ensuing confusion by surreptitiously working for the fulfilment of its
yet-to-be declared political agenda.
“We are not under any illusion
that more accusations and allegations of this nature would not be hurled
Jonathan’s way in the future. But we are very positive that he can never be
fazed by such negative energy.”
Also, Clark, who spoke through
his lawyer, Mr. Dotun Sowemimo, wondered why he would be mentioned as one of
the sponsors of such a heinous crime against the nation.
He said, “The allegation is an
attempt to undermine the efforts of the Niger Delta leaders to bring true,
lasting peace to the region.
“Clark and other leaders in the
region believe in the unity of Nigeria. The list is a cheap lie, which is meant
to distract the peace moves by the elders and leaders in the Niger Delta.”
On his part, Wike, who spoke
through his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, said
the list should be ignored by the members of the public.
Dokpesi, also distanced himself
from the Niger Delta Avengers.
Dokpesi in an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday in Abuja, said he remained
committed to strengthening the unity and stability of Nigeria.
He said, “I don’t know who is
giving that report; I have never met any member of the NDA in my life, I have
no association with them and I don’t know who they are. I have been committed
to strengthening the unity and stability of the country.”
Also denying the allegation,
Metuh said he had nothing to do with the NDA.
He said, “Ordinarily, I would
not have responded to this, but on this occasion, I have chosen to respond, as
this particularly borders on matters affecting national security.
“This is a wicked, cruel and
devilish plot to link me with such activities, especially as the claim is outright
false.’’
A former spokesman for the
Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, also denied being a
sympathiser of the NDA.
Alabrah said in a statement on
Sunday that the report was a product of mischief designed to distract the
Federal Government from decisively addressing the resurgence of militancy in
the Niger Delta.
The Senate Minority Leader,
Senator Godswill Akpabio, denied being a sponsor of the Niger Delta Avengers or
any other militant group.
In a statement on Sunday by his
Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Anietie Ekong, the former Governor of Akwa Ibom
State described the allegation as “baseless, reckless and senseless.”
The statement read in part,
“Senator Akpabio has no link with the Niger Delta Avengers or any other
militant group for that matter.’’
Also, a former Adviser to
President Jonathan, on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, denied reports linking
him with the Avengers.
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