By Danjuma Katsina @katsina times
The Niger Delta region is where the petroleum resources of the country are found, it is seen as the economic pillar of Nigeria.
It is a region that it's people have struggled for long I have economic independence and enjoy the right to access the resources.
The first group to take up arms then was the one led by Adam Adaka Boro. He raised an armed group in 1966, and commenced attacking the Nigerian military on 13th February, 1966 after declaring the zone independent. The Nigerian Army was able to crush him in a battle known as the 12-day operation. He was later granted amnesty where he even supported the Nigerian Army during the Civil War, he died in 1968.
The first to start an unarmed struggle for the Niger Delta to access it's resources was Ken Saror Wiwa as the leader of MOSSOP. He was an author and a writer who also wrote film scripts. He struggle for the independence of the Ogoni land calling on the Shell Oil company to pay compensations to his people.
I know Ken Saror Wiwa, and have attended several papers he delivered in Abuja, Kaduna and Lagos. That was where we knew one another.
In November of the year 1995 he was hanged to death by the Abacha regime for being found guilty of the murder of some of his people that don share the same views with him.
Killing of Ken Saror Wiwa had affected this country in such a way that it is still unable to stabilize again because, a lot of foreign countries have withdrawn different types of support they were giving Nigeria which up to date have not been reinstated.
Those countries gave their reasons saying Saror Wiwa was not leading an armed struggle and Abacha was using that to shut down all forms of opposition to his military dictatorship.
The first person to pick up arms as a militant group then was Dokubo Asari who is an Ijaw Muslim trained in Libya by Mu'ammar Ghaddafi.
Dokubo Asari was well armed and had enough resources before he commenced his attacks that really shook the country. He attacked military jet fighters as well as oil pipelines in the region in 2004.
He continued his attacks persistently. It was thereafter that he called a press conference. I was one of the journalists that met him at his camp.
We were taken by car to the river bank where we boarded a motor boat our eyes were covered with red cloths by some armed and fierce looking youths.
We kept moving around on the motor boat for some time and we're later asked to open our eyes and come down. We went through a very thick forest to get to his camp.
We met him performing Salat. After he finished the Salat he addressed his people and then turned to us and told us why he was doing what he was doing.
At that time, among his armed followers were people from different tribes including a Hausa man from Katsina who sai he was employed as a personal security personnel. He said at that time, 2004, he was paid N200,000 monthly for his services.
It was in our report that we advised that the authorities negotiate with Dokubo Asari based on what we saw and based also on what he said.
The Obasanjo administration then engaged Dokubo Asari in a negotiation where he was invited to the presidential villa. He gave his conditions that he would only come to the presidency with his men armed.
That was what happened and they went to the presidential villa fully armed in their militants regalia. The president gave a high class reception to Dokubo Asari. This took place on 13th October, 2004.
It was this meeting that led to peace in the region although they did some things that weakened Dokubo, and he was even arrested and detained for a while. He was later released.
Some months after his release, we met with Dokubo Asari at his Abuja residence. He is a very religious person that exhibit good Islamic virtues. He is presently living in his hometown as a community leader there.
Another group that became popular just a few months before Obasanjo's exit from power was MEND, (Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta). They have several leaders, but the most popular of them is Tompolo.
MEND was a coalition of all the militant groups in the Niger Delta zone. It has a committee of trustees that include Dokubo Asari as one of the members as well as Henry Okah. This coalition is still very much united to date, they speak with the government at individual and at general level, especially when they see one of them or his group facing any form of threat.
It was after some military operations that weakened the group that the federal government opened the door for negotiation. A journalist from the Daily Trust was able to meet Tompolo amidst the crises and his report was published on the paper then.
There is someone from Katsina whose name I will not mention because I did not seek his permission, he was working at a refinery in Bayelsa and holds a big position there. He played a big role in linking MENDS under Tompolo with late president Yar'adua in 2009. He told me in details what actually happened and how it succeeded. He is still in very good relationship with Tompolo.
In this negotiation, the Nigerian government successfully brought an end to attacks by MEND on the Nigerian government and security.
Tompolo and his boys are now in charge of protecting the Nigeria oil pipelines under a contract with the federal government. They also fight against oil bunkering in the region. He is always protected by about fifty of both Nigerian security personnel and his personal security.
*Armen Fulanis And The Niger Delta Militants*
From what I know of the Niger Delta militants, most of them are educated in both the western education and the religions they practice.
They have a mission and plan for the future which is, they provide the basic national resource and deserve to benefit from it.
They have no business against ordinary people around unless if such people medle in their affairs. They only go after Nigerian military personnel and government investments around.
The armed Fulanis have turned their operations into kidnapping of innocent individuals and collecting ransome. It is the poor people that suffer most from their banditry and they have completely tribalized their activities.
They look down on any Hausa individual around them. They have no defined objective as they only base what they do on claims of taking revenge. This was done to us and we will take revenge.
In Katsina under the administration of Masari almost 95 percent of their demands were fulfilled. The government stopped vigilante activities, released their people that were imprisoned. Masari ensured that all attacks on them in both air and land raids were stopped. There was peace then in Katsina for almost two years. Just as it was election season everything went back to square one.
*Negoting with Armed Bandits*
Some of these negotiations being done in some local governments, might take long period of time and in some cases is like buying time. But if the people will take a step towards protecting themselves and the military will also do it's work professionally, there is likelihood that a successful negotiation will be achieved.
Danjuma Katsina is the piblisher of Katsina Times, Katsina City News and the Hausa Taskar Labarai.
07043777779
Culled from Katsina City News magazine
