Presidency Warns Of “Dire Consequences” In Niger Delta If Jonathan Is Not Re-elected

A presidential aide has warned of “dire consequences” in the oil rich Niger Delta should President Goodluck Jonathan fail to secure a fresh term in 2015.

In a startling remark to U.S. officials in Washington on Thursday, Special Adviser to the president on Niger Delta, and chairman, presidential amnesty programme, Kingsley Kuku, said current relative peace in the Niger Delta is tied to the continued stay in office of Mr. Jonathan, and strongly urged the American government to back his presidency.
Mr. Kuku, who spoke at a session with officials of the U.S. State Department led by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (Bureau of African Affairs), Donald Teitelbaum, told the Americans that only Mr. Jonathan can guarantee peace in the restive region and hence, the compelling need to persuade him to seek re-election in 2015.
“It is true that the presidential amnesty programme has engendered peace, safety and security in the sensitive and strategic Niger Delta. Permit me to add that the peace that currently prevails in the zone is largely because Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who is from that same place, is the President of Nigeria. That is the truth.
“It is only a Jonathan presidency that can guarantee continued peace and energy security in the Niger Delta,” Mr. Kuku said.
The presidential aide said the consequences would be dire if the U.S. gets distracted by the activities of terror cells in parts of northern Nigeria, and takes its attention off the Niger Delta.
“Terrorism is a global phenomenon. President Jonathan inherited the situation in northern Nigeria and he has adopted a multifaceted approach to tackle this unfortunate situation. So far, profound results are being achieved,” he said. “But I insist that this must not distract the U.S. and the international community from giving the Niger Delta region of Nigeria the requisite attention.”
“I hope the U.S. is aware that with peace and stability in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s economy will remain buoyant enough to empower the Federal Government to contend with terrorism and other forms of insecurity in other parts of the country.
“However if we allow anything to hurt the peace in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s economy will be endangered and energy security in Nigeria and even America will not be guaranteed. The attention and interest of the U.S. in Nigeria must remain the stability of the Niger Delta and the easiest way to ensure this is to encourage President Jonathan to complete an eight-year term,” he said.
Mr. Kuku, who has pushed for talks with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, after the group warned of restarting fighting in the region, told the session that the Niger Delta continues to yearn for attention and development.
More“In spite of the peace that prevails in the Niger Delta now, the issues that led to militancy in the first place are yet to be properly addressed. The issues of development, greater say in the control of the resource that comes from the place, issues of environmental remediation, youth unemployment among others are still there,” he said.
“However, the agitators are prepared to patiently await development as long as one of their own, Dr. Jonathan remains the President, and I think this is one thing the American government should reflect seriously on.”
In response, Mr. Teitelbaum acknowledged his country was worried about the activities of terror cells in northern Nigeria, but said the U.S remains committed to deepening of the peace in the Niger Delta.
He said that the U.S. views the Niger Delta amnesty programme as a huge success, and pledged that the State Department will brief other organs of the U.S. Government on possible ways of offering technical support to the amnesty programme.
At a separate meeting with members of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in Washington DC on Thursday, Mr. Kuku challenged investors, particularly Americans, to leverage on the relative peace that the amnesty programme has engendered in the Niger Delta to invest in the region.
He told the members that following the proclamation and the acceptance of amnesty by former agitators in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s economy witnessed astronomical growth as crude oil production, which had declined to as low as 700,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2009, has been rising steadily and currently stands about 2.6 million barrels per day.
Mr. Kuku however warned that unless the thousands of youths being offered skills and vocational training by the Amnesty Office become gainfully employed, peace may once again elude the Niger Delta.
“We were given the mandate to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate these ex-agitators. We are doing just that and peace has returned to the Niger Delta as several of the ex-agitators are now very busy in schools and vocational centres across the world. But what becomes of them after their training is our biggest challenge now.
"On our part, we have done our best but we now need the practical support of all persons and nations who truly seek and want peace in the Niger Delta, to join efforts to create employment opportunities for our youths,” Mr. Kuku told the American investors.
The CCA President and Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Hayes, said the Council was irrevocably committed to attracting American investors to Africa.

Source: Premium Times

Boko Haram Got $3.15 million to Free French Hostages

Boko Haram was paid an equivalent of around $3.15 million by French and Cameroonian negotiators before freeing seven French hostages this month, a confidential Nigerian government report obtained by Reuters said.

The memo does not say who paid the ransom for the family of seven, who were all released on April 19, although it says Cameroon freed some Boko Haram detainees as part of the deal.

France and Cameroon reiterated denials that any ransom was paid. Nigerian authorities declined to comment.

 

Armed men on motorcycles snatched Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife, brother and the couple's four young children, the youngest of whom was four years old, on February 19 while they were on holiday near the Waza national park in north Cameroon, some 10 km (six miles) from the Nigerian border. They were believed to have been held in northeast Nigeria.

Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed the capture of the family of Moulin-Fournier, who worked in Cameroon for French utility firm GDF Suez.

 

French President Francois Hollande at the time denied any money was paid when the family was released on April 19.

The Nigerian report suggests that 1.6 billion CFA francs ($3.15 million) was paid, but that right up until the last minute Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had insisted on double that, before agreeing to reduce it if some Boko Haram members in Cameroonian jails were freed.

 

Reacting to the report, a French foreign ministry official said that France has passed a clear message that it does not pay ransoms. Cameroon government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said "Cameroon did not pay any ransom".

A spokesman for Nigeria's government declined to comment.

 

The report suggests Nigerian security forces decided not to try to rescue the hostages so as not to endanger their lives. A botched rescue attempt of a British and an Italian hostage believed to have been held by Islamist sect Ansaru in March last year resulted in both hostages being killed.

 

French news network i-tele reported earlier on Friday that a ransom had of $7 million had been paid, suggesting either Cameroon President Paul Biya or GDF-Suez had paid it.

 

Eight French hostages are being held in the Sahel region, although the fate of one of them is unclear after al-Qaeda's north African arm last month said it had beheaded Philippe Verdon.

 

Hollande has said Paris has ended a policy of paying ransoms for hostages, but suspicion that the country still does despite official denials has been a source of tension with the United States.

 

France brushed off an allegation by a former U.S. diplomat that it paid a $17 million ransom in vain for the release of four hostages abducted in 2010 from Niger.

 

Hollande told the family of the Sahel hostages in January that the new policy also meant that he had told companies and insurance firms to not pay ransoms.

 

 

Source: Reuters

Give Amnesty Committee A Chance -David Mark Tells Nigerians

Senate President, Senator David Mark has called on Nigerians to give the Federal Government Committee on Amnesty for Boko Haram members a chance, saying that the job of the panel is a delicate one that requires patience.

He also noted that the present attempts at amending the 1999 constitution would not be the last, adding that the National Assembly is committed to providing an acceptable constitution.
Mark, who said this yesterday in Lagos at a Working Retreat convened by Senate Committee on Constitution Review, urged Nigerians to refrain from condemning the move to constitute an amnesty committee on Boko Haram.
His words:” Why don’t we  give the committee a chance  now, because we have got to a situation where people don’t just make comments anyhow. This is a very delicate situation and it’s even better for you the media men not to ask any question on that because the committee is in charge and the issue is delicate.
‘’When the matter  on Baga came up, I allowed the Senator who is from Baga to inform us and there was no further comment from anybody because we don’t know the facts and we cannot begin to make comments when  we don’t know the facts. All we are saying is that for all those human beings to be killed, something has to be done.”
He further said, ‘’It is not the military that handed over the constitution, there was a constitution drafting committee that prepared the document and the drafters were not military men. There are areas we need to make amendment on and this is not going to be the last constitution amendment because as democracy develops and improves there   will be grey areas that people will continue to agitate for amendment. ‘’
Also speaking, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu   said the constitution review committee, had not taken any position on any of the issues for amendment.
He said, “I want to restate that the committee has not taken position on any issue. The committee has no such powers. Senate’s   position on any matter on proposed amendment can only come by way of voting and resolution in plenary. There will be exhaustive debate to dissect all sides to each proposed amendment.
Senators will continue to be in touch with their constituents to ensure that they continue to resonate their views on every issue. Live broadcast and online streaming will be encouraged as much as possible to enable Nigerians from all parts to follow the development.”
In addition, Ekweremadu said, “In keeping faith with our timelines, our mission at this retreat, therefore, is essentially to review all the bills refer to the Senate Committee on the review of the 1999 constitution by the senate as well as the thematic areas we have been working on in relation to the inputs by Nigerians.
We are working to dissect the reports of  various public hearings and other channels of inputs by Nigerians and  articulate a bill to cover especially those issues we appear to have achieved public consensus.”
Continuing, he said, “The committee is mindful of the self- sacrifice and support by Nigerians, which have helped nurture the process to this stage.
The people of this nation have demonstrated great enthusiasm and commitment to addressing our perceived constitutional deficits through the instrument of constitution amendment.”

Source: Vanguard

Notorious Boko Haram Operative, Mohammed Chad, Shot Dead

The notorious Boko Haram operative, Mohammed Chad, was yesterday evening killed in a gun battle with JTF.
The fight occurred at Ruwan-Zafi area of Maiduguri metropolis when the officers of the JTF’s Operation Restore Order and operatives of the State Security Service confronted Boko Haram fighters.
Mohammed has been on the top list of the most wanted Boko Haram leaders. Intelligence sources told Saharareporters  that Mohammed was involved in the planning and execution of various terrorists attacks in and outside Borno state.
He was allegedly the mastermind of the March 18th Boko Haram’s attack on Sanda Karami Secondary School at Ruwan-Zafi in which a teacher and three female students were killed.
Mr. Mohammed is believed to be the successor to Ba'ana Assalafi , a Boko Haram commander who was killed in a gun battle with security agencies in Sokoto.

Source: Sahara Reporters