By Emmanuel Nduka
Ex-Niger Delta militants under the platform of Urhobo-Isoko Youth Wing and Ex-agitator Leaders of phase 1, 2 and 3 of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), have submitted that the roles of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and Niger-Delta Senators in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is tantamount to violence in the region.
Speaking through its Chairman, Joseph Figbele, and Vice Chairman, Solomon Adu, the group said the Niger-Delta would hold Sylva and Senators from the region responsible for their failure to protect the interest of the region and frustrate President Buhari from signing the Bill.
Describing the leaders as cankerworms that have denied the region the needed development, the Urhobo-Isoko ex-militants vowed to resist any attempt to implement their unwholesome act to relegate the region to the background for their personal and selfish interest.
It further described the PIB as a total affront to the outcry of the people of the Niger Delta region and a show of disrespect to the plights and cry of the people over the years.
The group however vowed to make the region unbearable until the president is ready to send the Bill back to the National Assembly for upward review of the 3 per cent for equity share among the host communities, whose environments had suffered decades of oil exploration activities by the oil companies.
The ex-agitators added that if the bill is sent back to the house for upward review, it will give some level of developmental leverage to the host communities without any form of stress and agitation, hence the government has to with all sincerity of purpose have a rethink, as the region cannot continue to be treated as second class citizens in a country where they are major stakeholders.
