Police aborts N-Delta ex-militant leaders meeting

Armed anti-riot policemen, yesterday, sealed off
Ijaw House, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital,
venue of the meeting of the leaders of former
militants in the Niger Delta.
The meeting, summoned by the leader of the
defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger-Delta, MEND, High Chief Government
Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, was later put off due
to the tension generated.
The armed policemen, it was learnt, were
deployed in the early hours of yesterday, to
prevent access to the facility, which also houses
the secretariats of the Ijaw National Congress
(INC), the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide
and the Ministry Culture and Ijaw National Affairs.
Five police patrol vehicles and a truck were
stationed in front of the complex with combat
ready operatives guarding the place.
Residents, who visited the Ijaw House to make
use of the ATM to cash money, were denied
access.
Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson had, on
Friday, called for the postponement of the parley,
saying he would meet with the ex-militants to
discuss the burning issues affecting them.
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, in a
statement by its spokesman, Eric Omare,
yesterday, condemned the police invasion of the
Ijaw House, describing it as illegal,
unconstitutional and a draw back to the dark
days of military dictatorship where Nigerians were
deprived of their fundamental rights.
The statement read in part. “The IYC condemns,
in the strongest terms, the invasion of Ijaw
House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the administrative
headquarters of the Ijaw National Congress (INC),
the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and housing the
Bayelsa State Ministry of Ijaw National Affairs
and Culture.
“IYC wishes to remind the President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari
that we are in a constitutional democracy where
things are done according to law.”
“The 1999 Constitution, which is the foundation
upon which our democracy is built, recognizes the
right to freedom of assembly and movement. The
Niger-Delta people, whether as ex-agitators or
youth groups, have the right to assembly in a
meeting and free movement.
“This is a threat to our nascent democracy.
Democracy is not only about having rice and
beans to eat but the enjoyment of basic and
fundamental rights which are enshrined and
guaranteed in the constitution. The fears of many
Nigerians that General Buhari would take Nigeria
back to the dark days of dictatorship where there
is no regard for human rights are coming to
reality”.