Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt
The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has called on the Federal Government to declare a 30-day moratorium in the Niger Delta and allow the congress to restore peace in the region.
The apex body of the Ijaw ethnic nationality expressed sadness that many people had died in the region in the struggle for self-determination and resource control and called on the Federal Government to be cautious in its efforts at resolving the issues.
Addressing journalists at the INC secretariat in Port Harcourt on Friday, the President of the INC, Mr. Charles Harry, said while the congress appreciates the underlying reasons for militancy in the region, it did not support the approach adopted by militants in the region for the resolution of the issues.
His words: “We have martyred enough of our youths. We don’t want one more single blood to be shed in the Niger Delta. Therefore, I appeal to the Federal Government to give the INC the opportunity to wade into this matter. We will come out with settlements that are implementable.
“Let the Federal Government give a 30-day moratorium on their action and we will certainly get a ceasefire from the creeks. No government should use attrition, especially violent attrition, as the first way of resolving a problem within its own borders. We would be being shot by our own military that is paid for, dressed, clothed and armed by money coming from the same Niger Delta. Who would they be shooting and bombing.”
More details later
