The northern socio-political organisation, Arewa
Consultative Forum, has warned Niger Delta ex-militants
not to threaten a former Chief of Army Staff, Gen.
Theophilus Danjuma (retd.).
The northern group said neither Danjuma nor any citizen of
the country for that matter should be threatened with
attacks by the ex-militants, who have been threatening fire
and brimstone should President Goodluck Jonathan loses
the February 14 presidential poll.
The ex-militants had threatened to attack Danjuma’s
business interest in the Niger Delta for daring to ask that
security agencies should arrest leader of the Niger Delta
Peoples Volunteer Force, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari;and other
ex-militants.
Dokubo-Asari, Victor Ben Ebikabowei a.k.a Boy Loaf;
Government Ekpudomenowei, a.k.a Tompolo and other
militants had, during a meeting at the Bayelse State
Government House, vowed to unleash violence on Nigerians
if Jonathan failed in his re-election bid.
They said any attempt to unseat the President would be
seen as a direct affront to the Ijaw nation.
The ACF said it viewed the threat by the ex-militants as
not only a direct affront on Danjuma but on the President
Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government.
National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Muhammadu
Ibrahim, in a statement in Kaduna on Monday, said, “ACF
and indeed all Nigerians hold Gen T.Y. Danjuma, former
Chief of Army Staff and Defence Minister in high esteem,
as a revered patriot, elder statesman and a philanthropist
of repute who fought for the unity of Nigeria and has
continued to play this fatherly role even in his old age.
“ACF will therefore not accept any threat to his person or
business assets or to any law-abiding citizen by any group
or individuals in the name of militancy.”
The northern body therefore asked security operatives to
take urgent steps to avert what it described as “ugly
consequences” of war threats by the ex-militants.
Danjuma had penultimate Wednesday asked the Federal
Government to as a matter of urgency arrest the Niger
Delta ex-militants who threatened war in the country if
Nigerians failed to re-elect Jonathan.
Danjuma spoke at the inauguration of Kwakwasiya City in
Kano.
He had said, “You should arrest Dokubo-Asari, Tompolo,
Boyloaf and other Niger Delta militants for making reckless
statements, which in any way does not mean keeping
Nigeria as one entity and creating war situation.
“Those were reckless statements coming from
irresponsible individuals; they should be condemned and be
arrested immediately.”
Neither President Jonathan nor the Federal Government
has reacted to the threat by the former militants.
The ACF warned that nothing must tamper with the
business empire of Danjuma because there was nothing
wrong with his call for the arrest of ex-militants that had
been threatening the peace of the entire country.
The ACF reminded the ex-militants that the President was
not elected by Nigerians in 2011 based on threat or
intimidation from any section of the country.
It stressed, “ACF wishes to remind the Niger Delta
militants that President Jonathan did not ascend to his
present position through threats and intimidation, but
rather through democratic means of canvassing for votes
without any form of molestation throughout the length and
breadth of Nigeria in 2011.
“The same process the President and other candidates
vying for the office shall go through to emerge as Nigeria’s
President in 2015 and not through intimidation, threats and
ultimatum.
“ACF therefore views such threats and intimidation by the
ex-militants as an affront not only to Gen. Danjuma but an
attack on a democratically elected Federal Government of
Nigeria, over which President Jonathan presides.
“It is also an open challenge to the nation’s security
agencies, especially the Nigeria Police Force, the
Department of State Security and even the Nigerian military
that are responsible for maintaining law and order and any
form of internal and external aggression against Nigeria.
“ACF hereby calls upon the Federal Government to urgently
take necessary steps and contain this emerging threat to
national security by Niger Delta ex- militants to avert any
ugly consequences.”
