The Convener of the Conference of Nigerian Civil Rights Activists, CNCRA, and a leader of Campaign for Democracy, Ifeanyi Odili, on Sunday said allegations linking former President, Goodluck Jonathan to the Niger Delta militants may not be baseless, adding that militancy runs in the blood of every Ijaw man.
He said that the allegations are grievous and that the ex-president should seek legal redress to clear his name if he is innocent.
Recall that the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, and the Reformed Niger Delta have accused former President, Goodluck Jonathan of being sympathetic to militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, NDA.
They also claimed that the former Bayelsa State governor was using the Avengers to sabotage the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking in an interview with the Punch on Sunday, Odili pointed out that in Nigeria, everything is possible, adding that issues such as this should not be swept under the carpet.
He said, “Yes. People should be curious because they seem not to realise that in Nigeria, everything is possible. The question of whether it is right or wrong (to accuse Goodluck Jonathan of sponsoring the Avengers) has not arisen.
“The question should be: can he possibly allow himself to be involved in such unpatriotic act? The answer to the question can go either way. I am from the Niger Delta; I know what some of us can do.
“Who was Jonathan before he became the vice president? As a nation, are we aware of his security antecedents?
“No Ijaw man is free from militancy.”
Odili, who opined that Jonathan did not willingly hand over government to Buhari but was forced out of office by the people, said that the allegations against him might be true.
He added, “Do you think that Jonathan willingly accepted defeat? That belief (that he graciously accepted defeat) is nothing but mere fallacy. The man was not to leave the stage (hand over power to Buhari).
“The voice of rejection was too loud and clear for him to risk clinging on to power through either a Machiavellian approach or any other guise.
“He had no option than to quit, otherwise his case would have been worse than that of Laurent Gbagbo and Muammar Gaddafi. He had been rejected.
“So, refusing to relinquish power would have been disastrous for him and the entire nation.
“The country would probably have been at war at that moment. In other words, he did not sacrifice his presidential ambition; rather, he was rejected and he knew it.
“If you study the body language of some of his followers, then you will infer that the accusation could be true.
Odili said it is now imperative that Jonathan takes legal action against his accusers if truly he has no link to the militant group to clear his name.
“What Jonathan should have done is to sue those who levelled the allegation against him for their intention to defame and damage his character; that is if his hands are clean.
“I cannot give an undertaking for anybody from that region on issues like this. But from a legal point of view, if someone is accused of a certain criminal act, it is the duty of the government to investigate this weighty allegation against an ex-president.”
He said the former president has been quiet over the destruction of oil facilities in the Niger Delta by the Avengers and violent attacks in the South-West by other militants and has refused to openly condemn such actions.
His words, “His body language speaks volume; it is conceived of so many meanings. At his level and being an elder statesman, such actions should not have come from his domain.
“He could have urged the militants to sheathe their sword. He cannot openly condemn the attack going by his body language.
“Some of us from the Niger Delta believed before now, that it was (President Muhammadu) Buhari who was sponsoring or instigating Boko Haram against the Jonathan’s government, being a southerner.
“Now that Buhari, a northerner is there, someone from the Niger Delta might think this is a time to revenge. I think that is what we are witnessing today.
“However, that notion ought to have been deleted from their memories since the soldiers allegedly killed over 700 members of Shiite Muslims and continued detention of (Ibraheem) El-Zakzaky by the Nigerian Army under the watch of Buhari.”
He added that the inaction or silence of the former president on the militants’ activities is deliberate.
According to him, “One would not be off the mark to say emphatically that his silence is deliberate because it is said that ‘silence means consent.’
“What would have prompted some prominent South-South leaders to approach Buhari and demand the suspension of the ongoing prosecution of Jonathan’s aides as part of conditions to stop the destruction of oil facilities by the NDA?
“Who do you think was the mastermind of such irresponsible move? Those leaders could not have taken such step without due consultation with Jonathan.
“What has dropping of corruption charges got to do with destruction of government properties which is regarded as our collective heritage, inasmuch as we remain as one indivisible nation?”
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