An Ijaw Rights advocates group drawn from the nine States of the Niger Delta region under the Movement For The Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), on Sunday sent a warning letter to the Federal Government and Governors from the region to renegotiate the agreement reached on the peaceful exploration of oil and gas resources in the region.
According to MOSIEND, “There is a rising anger in the region over reported issues of the free and direct rights to sell and mine Gold to the Central Bank of Nigeria by Zamfara State, and the people of the region have also called on the Niger Delta Governors to start negotiating directly with the oil and gas producing companies to pay all royalties to their various states and communities of operations or leave the Niger Delta region.
In a statement issued at the weekend to DAILY POST through its National Secretary, Amb. Winston Cotterel Amain, said the State Governors, National Assembly members and the Federal Government should be aware that the oil producing communities have risen to the new challenges in the country and warned that the oil exploration companies should leave the region because their safety can no longer be guaranteed.
The statement reads in part, “The people in the South-South region and Niger Delta, as a whole, have been called fools for too long by the Nigeria Government. We urge all Niger Delta Governors to start negotiating with oil and gas producing companies to pay all royalties to their various states and communities of operations or leave the Niger Delta region, for safety cannot be guaranteed anymore”.
“We can recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is demanding to buy gold in Zamfara State of five billion Naira, as such MOSIEND wondered why the gold in Zamfara State belongs to Zamfara state and the oil and gas belongs to the federal government”.
The group also called on the Governors of the Niger Delta region, National Assembly and State Assembly members and opinion leaders, to meet and come up with a strong policy statement to address the present imbalance in the nation against the people of the Niger Delta.
