Ijaw youths pledge to end violence

Ijaw activists from over 12 groups promised on Monday at a meeting convened by the Ijaw National Congress (INC) to stop all forms of criminal behaviour in the Niger Delta area, ‘The Guardian’ daily reported.

The decision would not only affect the big oil companies targeted by militants youths, the director of the IJAW Council for Human Rights in the Niger Delta, Patterson Ogon, told IRIN on Tuesday. It will also make a big difference to residents whose lives have been affected by inter-community conflicts, he said.

Over recent months, acts such as hostage taking, kidnappings and piracy, committed by militant youths demanding a share in the region’s oil wealth, have become a regular occurrence in the Niger Delta.

To ensure peace in the region, vigilante groups have been formed to patrol waterways in search of pirates and others who vandalise oil installations and a peace rally is planned next week at Burutu in Delta State, the daily reported the youths as saying.

INC leader Alaowei Bozimo said the youths had decided to stop criminal activity because the federal government had promised to develop the Niger Delta. However, he said his organisation had never espoused crime.

“I wish to state that the criminal activities of hostage taking, hijacking, abduction and piracy were never part of the struggle for justice, equity and fair play by the INC,” Bozimo said.

He added: “These criminal acts cannot by any stretch of the imagination be ascribed to any one tribe alone.”