The senate
minority leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio has denied being the sponsor
of the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers or any other militant
group for that matter.
A recent online publication
had alleged that a splinter group, the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers
had claimed Senator Akpabio and other eminent Nigerians were the
sponsors of the group.
A statement signed by Anietie Ekong, a media aide to Senator Akpabio on Sunday, August 7, 2016 described the publication as “baseless,
reckless and senseless.
It is a fabrication from the pit of hell from
those who are profiteering from the crisis in the Niger Delta and would
wish no end to it.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to
state categorically that Senator Akpabio has no link with the Niger
Delta Avengers or any other militant group for that matter,” the
statement said.
“Contrarily, the position of Senator
Akpabio as a foremost advocate of dialogue in resolving the Niger Delta
crisis is well known. He is of the strong belief that blowing up
pipelines and causing further environmental pollution of the Niger Delta
is not in the interest of the region as it would take over 100 years to
remediate the effects of such environmental degradation.
“Neither does he believe that economic
sabotage at a time of economic recession that the nation is presently
passing through can be an answer to the Niger Delta problem.
“His abhorrence of violence in conflict
resolution is legendary. Therefore it beats our imagination why anybody
in a right frame of mind would contemplate associating his name with
militancy and degradation of a region he had laboured so much to build
while serving as Governor of Akwa Ibom State between 2007 and 2015.
“Coming from Sahara Reporters, we take
it as one in a series of falsehood they have fabricated against Senator
Akpabio. We recall the national uproar which followed a similar
concoction on December 10, 2015 when SaharaReporters
‘authoritatively confirmed’ that Senator Akpabio had been sacked from
the Senate by an Appeal Court which had not even delivered its judgment
at the time of the publication. It turned out to be a hoax when the
election of Senator Akpabio was later upheld by the Appeal Court,” the
statement said.
Akpabio cautioned against politicising
the Niger Delta crisis through propaganda will amount to an ill wind
that will blow nobody any good.
“Rather what the nation needs is
concerted efforts by stakeholders to holistically through dialogue
address the grievances of the region which luckily President Muhammadu
Buhari has already started,” he concluded.
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