The joint body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, has rebuked the desperate act by some politicians to link former President Goodluck Jonathan with the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers.
The IYC Worldwide made a statement on Monday, August 22, 2016 through its spokesperson, Eric Omare, saying the desperation came to an unbearable height when media reports had gathered that intelligence report suggested that Jonathan was one of the people that formed the Niger Delta Avengers.
“The characters behind this desperate plan are politicians of Niger Delta extraction who are in the present government and do not want a peaceful resolution of the renewed militancy in the region.
“They prefer a military option that would result in the killing of innocent Niger Deltans. The genesis of these frivolous accusations against former President Jonathan started after he visited President Buhari few weeks ago.
“And after the meeting and while speaking with the media, Jonathan said that everybody desired peace and that the leaders of the Ijaw nation were working hard to achieve peace in the Niger Delta region including himself.
“This did not go down well with these party chieftains and political office holders in the Federal Government from the Niger Delta region because they did not want a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
“Secondly, they don’t also want Jonathan’s intervention to resolve the crisis for obvious political reasons. So, this is the reason why they have orchestrated all sorts of lies to drag Jonathan into the formation of the Avengers. It is deliberate and we are sure the top hierarchy of government knows this fact,” the IYC said.
The group strongly kicked against the slandering of Jonathan, urging him to employ legal options to bring such reckless publication to a halt.
