Ex-militant and leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV), Chief Ateke Tom, has said former militant leaders in the oil-rich Niger Delta region are ready to cooperate and work with the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari.
Ateke, who disclosed this while speaking to newsmen at Okochiri community in Okrika local government area of Rivers State, urged Buhari to invite leaders of genuine militant camps in the Niger Delta region to discuss on how to move the region forward.
He said, “I am here to congratulate Buhari for his victory. We will want good leadership; we thank God that Buhari is now our President and we pray God Almighty to give him wisdom to rule our country. Since Buhari is now our President, we want him to meet with the core leaders of the Niger Delta struggle; I mean the real leaders in the struggle.
“He should call the real leaders and talk to them. Let us discuss on our needs. He should also not forget the Amnesty Programme, because we know what we fought for and that was why they gave us Amnesty. We did not get the Amnesty Programme from the backyard. So, let him keep to the programme. Let the Amnesty Programme function well and we will like it. We are ready to work with Buhari.”
The former militant leader said none of the former agitators in the region will go back to the creeks or blow up pipelines as threatened by some activists in the region recently, due to the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan in the just concluded Presidential election in the country.
Ateke said, “Some people are saying they want to go back to the creek, or they want to blow up pipelines; no, I, Ateke Tom will not be part of that, we don’t need all those things and nobody will go back to the creeks. I have a say in the Niger Delta and I am one of the top fighters; so nobody will go back to the creeks. I advice the youths not to follow anybody back to the creeks.
“We should not say because there is change of government and Buhari is now the President, and somebody wants to go back to the creeks; what are you going there to do? So, let nobody follow anybody to the creeks. What we want is that let Buhari meet us and treat us well.
“We cannot say because Jonathan, our brother is the President and therefore under his administration, every programme and policies that were mapped out for the Niger Delta by Yar’adua before his death, have all been implemented by the Jonathan government; no. There are some of the programmes and policies that have not been implemented, and we expect Buhari to implement them when he finally takes over as President.”
