The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA has faulted the military approach being used by government in tackling the renewed agitations for resource control in the Niger Delta region, advising President Muhammadu Buhari to initiate dialogue with the emerging militant groups in the oil rich region.
It also advised the President to immediately order an end to the unnecessary military crackdown against the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, since the group is totally non-violent, noting that “state sponsored violence against citizens cannot resolve the contending issues.”
Disclosing this in a statement issued on Thursday by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group stated that the present administration will achieve better national reconciliation, stability and peace through constructive negotiated settlements with all dissenting voices.
HURIWA said that Nigeria has had enough bloodshed and should now implement comprehensive measures for national reconstruction and rebuilding of national cohesion through constructive mass participatory dialogues.
The group asked the President to set up a desk under his Presidential purview to initiate nationwide dialogues and reconciliation with all groups that have protested against institutional marginalisation.
According to the statement, “the Rights group has specifically charged the newly emerged Niger Delta Avengers and the Egbesu boys to avoid arms struggle, stop blowing up crude oil pipelines and opt for dialogue with government on all the identified areas of institutional grievances. HURIWA said the continuous violent breaches of the crude oil pipeless apart from having monumental economic consequences will inevitably affect the aquatic lives and impact negatively on the environmental resources of their immediate communities. “HURIWA also applauded members of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) for choosing intellectual methods of agitation for separate statehood in line with international laws rather than embracing violence which has little chance of success even in the face of weighty and brutal crackdown at the behest of the Nigerian State.
“The group has therefore called on the Federal government to end the persecution of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu who obviously is a political prisoner and release him unconditionally.
“On the opposition of the Buhari-led government to agitation for actualization of Biafra, the Rights group challenged the Nigerian government to roll out broad -based intellectual submissions through the mass media and town hall meetings in the South East to win the hearts and minds of the people even as President Buhari is hereby asked to correct the imbalance and the scheming out of the South East from membership of the National Defence Council.
“HURIWA accused President Buhari of willfully excluding the South East from strategic defence and police positions in breach of Section 14(3) which provides that; “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.”
“We urge President Muhammadu Buhari- led government to choose dialogue in dealing with issues raised by all the emerging militia groups in the Niger Delta so as not to unduly precipitate a civil war in the oil producing communities.”
“Nigerians have suffered enough of psychological and physical violence unleashed over the last four years by the armed Boko Haram terrorists. Let the Federal government and all stakeholders dialogue for a lasting and sustainable peace and rapid infrastructural development of the crude oil producing communities in the Niger Delta. President Muhammadu Buhari must demonstrate to Nigerians that he is a Father to all and not a Northern sectional political leader or warlord,” the statement noted.
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