Port Harcourt – A former aide to former Gov. Peter Odili of Rivers, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, on Friday sounded a note of caution for ex-militant leaders as they plan to meet in Yenagoa.
The warning followed the call for a meeting of the ex-warlords by Mr Government Ekpemupolo, the leader of the disbanded Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
Sara-Igbe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt that the former MEND leaders had the right to meet but that such meeting should be for peace.
He said the fate of the Niger Delta could only be discussed by the elders of the region with the President Muhammad Buhari on a round table.
Sara-Igbe admitted that the unpaid fees and allowances of the former fighters studying abroad and in the country was causing tension in the region.
“I expect the outcome of the meeting to be a resolution to meet with the president and discuss pressing challenges through the elders of the region.
“On the issue of amnesty, I think the president will do something if we approach him politely,’’ he said.
The former security adviser said he was hopeful that Buhari would listen to respected elders of the Niger Delta whenever they met with him.
“You know that we did not support him, so we need to thread with caution in making demands in a government that we did not support to be in power.
“Politics is power warfare and you must know the limits of your power. Can you demand from the president what you cannot give to yourself when you were in power?” he queried.
Sara-Igbe said leaders like Chief John Oyegun, the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Chief Albert Horsfall could come together and advance the region’s cause before the president. (NAN)
