Malabu Oil: Militants Roar Again Over Jonathan
- Say We’re Being Pushed To The Wall
FRESH anger is currently building up in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s main oil and gas basin as unrepentant militant groups are expressing bitterness on issues targeted at former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Cynthia Whyte, the Spokesperson of the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) of the Niger Delta insurgent groups said on Monday that the armed rebels were busy watching the unfolding politically-inspired developments in the country.
According to her, “freedom fighters in the Niger Delta will continue to watch unfolding processes in the Nigerian state. We believe the right thing will be done when key agitating units within the oil region come to an agreement on what needs to be done.
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“There is a limit to which a people can be pushed to the wall. A word has always been enough for the wise”.
The spokesperson of the insurgents was speaking against the backdrop of the Malabu OPL 245 politics. This oil block is considered the largest in Africa with over nine billion barrels of crude oil.
The OPL 245 is a subject of investigations in at least five different countries across the world after two oil giants Shell and Eni paid about $1.1 billion into a Nigerian government account in London to take control of the oil block in 2011.
Around 70 per cent of the funds paid were then controversially transferred into Malabu accounts which were controlled by a former petroleum minister Dan Etete.
A Premium Times report had it that Etete allegedly transferred over half of what he got into accounts of shady companies allegedly controlled by Aliyu Abubakar, who is believed to be a front for several top officials of the Jonathan administration.
With the raging controversy over the oil block, militants are saying that it was okay for General Ibrahim Babangida to award ”prolific oil blocks to the Indimis and Mai Deribes. It was also okay for Abacha to reward the likes of General TY Danjuma and Fashion designer Alakija but it was not okay for President Jonathan’s government to settle the Malabu/OPL 245 matter that had been lingering in the courts for over 20 years and for which tons of dollars have been spent on litigation and related bric brats!”
According to them, “it is unfortunate that Jonathan who has so much committed himself to the pursuit of peace across the Nigerian state and in the much-plundered and raped Niger Delta would be subjected to such underhand methods aimed at denigrating and disparaging his many legacies for Nigeria”.
Continuing, the obviously angry militants said, ”in spite of our disagreements with the former President, it behoves us to always do what is eternally right for our region and our people.
“The recent attempt by one Mr. Razak Atunwa, a serving member of the House of Representatives, a former member of the Kwara State House of Assembly and a confirmed Saraki lackey to summon Dr. Jonathan GCFR, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria smacks of great disrespect and an affront to the tenets of democratic leadership.
“An opportunity to serve as a member of the House of Representatives should not be mistaken for an opportunity to exude overzealous cantankerousness, deliberate mischief and blunt ignorance.”
By Akanimo Sampson