Bayelsa Lawmaker Denies Avengers, says “Militants don’t speak for Niger Delta”
Member representing Brass Constituency I in the Bayelsa State House of Assemby, Mr Sunny Goli, has called on the Federal Government to save the Niger Delta from the hold of militant groups.
Goli said this while fielding questions from newsmen at the closing of the Army’s field training exercise in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
He said the Niger Delta militant group, the avengers and those calling for the withdrawal of troops in the region were enemies of the people of the region.
The lawmaker said the military training exercise cum operation was long overdue as the people had lived in fear of intimidation and attack by criminals operating in the region.
The deployment of troops for the training exercise is a welcome development; it is long overdue because we could no longer live in a safe environment.
“We can no longer continue to allow miscreants or criminals to take over our environment so I think this is timely.
“Those that are clamoring for military pull out don’t mean well for our people, I can tell you that categorically.
“When was the meeting held and a decision reached that we should form avengers to defend us.
“Who are they speaking for, definitely not me, they are not speaking for anybody, they are fighting for themselves because they are criminals.
“We are calling on the Federal Government to intensify efforts and fight these guys now before they will overrun our communities like the Boko Haram did.
“So the military’s effort is timely, we will partner with the military to ensure that we get rid of these criminal elements from our land.’’
Goli expressed hope that the military would successfully clear all criminal hideout in the region in the shortest possible time.
Earlier in his remark, the Minister of Defence, Brig.-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali urged the cooperation and support of the people to enable the military build its capacity to secure their lives and resources.
He said organisers of the exercise had adopted an integrated approach to make it more effective and efficient.
The minister assured indigenes of the region that the military had taken the necessary steps to sensitise the people in a bid to reduce the incidences of fear and intimidation.
“We have all the services working together in exercise, to see how our troops will be able to respond to challenges in this terrain. That is the primary focus.
“We want to demonstrate to everybody that our troops have the expertise to protect the people of this environment and the resources of this environment.
“From the planning stage we have taken into cognizance the opinion of political and community leaders so as to address the issue of confidence and in the course of this programme.
“Troops have reached out to communities to let them understand that the military is their own.’’
The minister was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Amb. Danjuma Sheni.
The representative of the minister also made symbolic presentation of learning materials and books to schools in Twon Brass
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