TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE DELIVERED BY THE ITSEKIRI NATIONAL YOUTHS COUNCIL (INYC) ON THE RECENT MURDER OF 7 OIL WORKERS AT OLERO FLOW STATION BY THE IJAW MILITIAS.

Even though ours has been a lonely voice in the proverbial wilderness, we have been once again vindicated. John Ruskin once said: "He who has truth at his heart need never fear the want of persuasion"

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press,

We have no doubt in our minds that you can all conjecture why we invite you all here today. Last Friday the 23rd of April 2004 five persons; including two Americans were gruesomely murdered by militant youths along Olero Creek in Benin River. Ordinarily, we would have decided to remain silent on this issue, but for the need to Condemn this act and put some posers to the public and also put the records straight. As karl Marx said, "to leave an error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality"

According to the said report, Chevron Texaco workboat at a point on the Benin River between Olero and Dibi oil installations in Warri North LGA close to the border between Delta and Edo States was attacked on that fateful day with the aim of dispossessing its naval escorts of their arms and ammunition; a trait inseparable from our Ijaw militant youths.

In the ensuing exchange of gunfire, the two Americans were killed while another survived with injuries. Also three naval officers and one crew member were confirmed dead while rescue work was on at the location at press time in search of two other missing persons.

Certainly, our inviting you here today is not unconnection with the said atrocious murder.

On few occasions, we have had cause to also talk to you; customarily warning that the Nigerian Nation State by its unjustified quietism over the brazen manner with which the Ijaws under the auspices of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw communities FNDIC aided by top military and government officers of Ijaw extraction; have been kidnapping and killing members of the Nigerian Armed forces; abducting and killing workers in the oil industry, destroying oil facilities and carrying on their program of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Itsekiris will always encourage them (the Ijaws) into further adventurism and irresponsibility. Today we can say with all sense of responsibility that our prediction has come true with the killings of last week, which is said to include 2 foreigners working for Chevron Nigeria Ltd; a development that has introduced a new dimension into Ijaws’ propensity for barbarism and bloodletting.

Our brothers and sisters from the press, we say a big thanks for honoring our invitation despite the shortness of the notice. You will agree with us that such information that borders on killings and beheading, kidnapping and demanding for ransom, seizing of oil facilities and gun totting in all areas where the Ijaws live has almost assumed a natural dimension because of the frequency and brazenness with which the Ijaws indulge in such acts of criminality. It is in the light of the above you can understand why the Ijaw militias carried out the cold-blooded murder of last week.

We want to make it abundantly clear that what made last week’s killings to generate such magnitude of public and government interests of no mean proportion was because the Ijaw militias possibly ran amok like a rabbis infested dog to the point of murdering the two foreigners along with other Nigerians. For the Nigerian people and government to know how we came to this conviction and inevitable conclusion that no other group or people in the Niger Delta; except the Ijaws could possess the required demonic capacity and heartlessness for such killings, we present to you a synopsis of The Ijaws And Niger Delta: 1997-2004.

The above synopsis does not include the unending intra Ijaw fratricidal wars in Bayelsa and Rivers State where blood letting has assumed the status of permanency.

1. On the 21st of April 2004, Ijaw youths from Olugbobiri commmunity ambushed Naval personnel attached to Tebidaba flow station belonging to the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in the Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State.

2. On the same day, a boat loaded with arms and ammunition was recovered by the military men from the Ijaw youths who were forced to retreat by their (the military men) superior firepower. When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Oliver Osuchukwu, confirmed the incident. According to him, some of the youths clad in military uniform were killed in a shoot-out with the Naval men while attempting to hijack the oil installation, adding that the matter had been transferred to the state police command for further investigation.

3. On 24th of March 2003 Army authorities arrested 17 Ijaw youths suspected to be involved in the attack on soldiers and oil installations. The youths suspected to be Ijaws were said to have seized 11 crude pipelines.

4. On the same day, however, not less than 15 Ijaw youths were arrested by soldiers on peacekeeping operations in Warri, as troops commenced a crack down on armed youths who had killed no fewer than six soldiers and wounded several others in the last one week of communal unrest.

Director of Army Public Relations, Nigerian Army, Colonel Emeka Onwuamaegbu disclosed this at the NNS Umakun, Navy base, Warri, where the militants were paraded. Pointing at the men, Col. Onwuamaegbu said: "These are Ijaw militants that we arrested this morning. I speak only for the Nigerian Army; they (the militants) have killed six soldiers, the latest two being only. They also wounded two additional soldiers. We have arrested them and after interrogating them we shall hand them over to the appropriate law enforcement agencies," he said.
The arrested men were taken away in a military truck painted in navy blue color amidst sporadic gunshots. They were being taken into custody in another military base. Onwuamaegbu who decried the spate of youth militancy in the Niger-Delta and the proliferation of arms then warned that democracy was not a license for civilians to engage in armed struggles.
"Democracy does not entitle militants to start killing law enforcement agents and that we have not adopted more aggressive posture does not mean we don't know how to get them," the army spokesman stated.

5. On Friday, 9th May 2003 the Nigerian Navy warned Ijaw youths to retrace their steps in their own interest, vowing to return fire for fire, after all the atrocities to that point. The Navy confirmed that nine security personnel from the Army and Navy involved in peace keeping in the state had been killed as at that time.

The flag then officer commanding Western Naval Command (FOC) Rear Admiral Antoni Bob-Manuel at a press conference at the NNS Umalokun, Warri Naval base warned the Ijaw warriors that his command could no longer watch while security agents were being slaughtered for whatever reason. Bob-Manuel, an Ijaw himself, lamented the trend in which Ijaw youths were engaging military personnel in exchange of fire. His words:" These boys attacked with AK 47 assault rifles and other light weapons. Appropriate machinery has since been set in motion to investigate and identify persons behind these attacks. But let me sound a note of warning here that in future such attacks against our bases, units or personnel will be met with appropriate counter operation or force."

On the persistent clashes between Navy personnel of NNS Umalokun and Ijaw youths, Bob-Manuel recalled the attack on the joint task force of the Nigerian Army and Navy on patrol of Escravos river at Oprosa on the 21st of March 2003.

He said the youths who launched the attack in 17 speed boats killed three soldiers and one naval rating. "On 22 March, 2003 there was an attack on the NA/NN security team at Total Fina Elf Tank farm at Upomani village. In the attack, five people lost their lives and property worth billions of naira was completely destroyed.

6. On the 24th of March 2004 Ijaw youths threatened to blow up oil facilities and the military men guarding same, therein if the sum of Sixty million(#60,000.000.00)naira is not paid to them. A twenty (20) day ultimatum was issued which expired some few days to gruesome murder of these Americans

8. The Ijaws and the army clashed several times since an incident on the 13th of March 2003 in which the army said that Ijaws killed three soldiers at Okerenkoko village. The army has demanded that the Ijaws hand over those responsible.

9. Early last week on two separate occasions, Ijaw youths attacked and disarmed a group of military men on escort duty to Oil locations along Okerenghigho in Warri South West Local Government Area of the State.

10. Only yesterday (27th April 2004) again, Ijaw militia within the same area as the one in which the said Americans and naval personnel were gruesomely murdered again attacked men of the operation restore hope who were on a routine patrol. The Latin man would say; Resp Isa loquitor (the fact speaks for itself)

POSERS

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, these are the few names and events we can remember for now. What usually happens is that oil companies are usually afraid of publicity when their members of staff are victims of Ijaws’ propensity for murder, with the fear that such publicity could further provoke the Ijaws to further killings. Thus, the names above may just be the tip of the ice berg.

All those victims mentioned above were abducted from their duty posts and murdered in cold blood.

We are not in the position to fully highlight what our uniformed men have passed through in the hands of the Ijaws; specifically in terms of abduction and unprovoked/ senseless killings. Within the period under reference, there is no where nor group that has wrecked havoc on our uniformed men through ambushing.

Lets remind you of the Odi killings where 12 unarmed policemen including a Superintendent were murdered in cold blood and their throats sliced and buried in shallow grave

Last month, a member of Operation Restore Hope was murdered at Awor, (in the Warri main Market) here in Warri, and in the last two weeks preceding the unholy weekend, the military authority in Warri can attest with all sincerity except if against the military ethics how many times they have been ambushed and killed by the Ijaw militia.

Just last week in Bayelsa, state 5 Ijaws were killed by men of the Navy when they attempted to invade an oil installation. The Ijaw youth Council swore that they would avenge- This they have done.

You will recall that in March 2003, the Ijaws invaded the Dibi and Olero Flow Station and completely destroyed both stations including other oil producing facilities particularly in both the Warri North and Warri South-West Local government Areas. At different fora, they (the Ijaw) have never blurred their distastefulness for any attempt to get these facilities rebuilt because in their views, rebuilding them will immensely benefit the Itsekiris. It is very certain that it is pursuance of their dream to forestall the rebuilding the 2 flow stations that has informed this cold blooded murder.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, from all that we have said of the Ijaws, we challenge you to mention any ethnic group in the Niger Delta with such records of criminality, such that are sin qua non for any group to be able to engage in senseless murder like the recent Olero Killings. Even though Olero Flow station is in Itsekiri Land, it was in the same place that Chris Ikomi, an Itsekiri man was murdered in the presence of men in uniform. This time around, the naval officers bravely challenged them, and they thus ran amok.

As civilized and law abiding people that the world knows us to be, may we use this opportunity to state unequivocally that the ITSEKIRI people do not have any record of KIDNAPPING OF EXPATRIATE, DESTRUCTION OF OIL FACILITIES, ABUSING AND KILLING OF SECURITY PERSONNEL. All of these are trade marks of the IJAW terrorist. we wholeheartedly condemn this barbarism and hope that these senseless killings would be brought to a permanent end. It is also our hope that this recent killings will not be allowed to go uninvestigated like the preceding ones. The Federal Government must know that the Ijaws are a peculiar race that does not appreciate decency. All that they know is the language of force. We have always warned against treating them with kid’s gloves, and the refusal of government to heed to our call and advice has brought this disaster and national shame.

Our hearths bleed for all those killed and their families. We send our condolences to all those affected; especially the innocent Americans. We pray that God grant the departed souls eternal mercies; and their families the fortitude to bear the loss. May their soul rest in perfect peace.

I thank you all for listening.

MATTHEW ITSEKURE

(Chairman)

Press and Media Committee

Dated this 28th Day of April 2004

May 2004