Planned protest against NDDC management will fail – Group

The Niger Delta Peace Advocates (NDPA), a civil society organisation committed to peace and development across the nine Niger Delta states, weekend sent a warning signal to those planning to engage in a protest against the leadership of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to shelve the action.

Management of the federal government’s interventionist agency led by the managing director, Chief Samuel Ogbuku, has been facing ethno – centric attacks by a pseudo group of Ijaw extraction, accusing President Bola Tinubu of appointing someone who is not a core Ijaw, to lead the commission.

But rising from emergency meeting on the matter at the NDPA headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, leaders of the group led by the president, Ebianga Emomotomi,  stated that any attempt to compromise the prevailing peace in the region would be met with stiff resistance.

The communiqué issued at the end of the meeting read  by Comrade Emomotomi, condemned what they described as a sponsored agitation aimed at blackmailing Chief Ogbuku and his team.

The communique reads: “At an emergency meeting held at our headquarters in Port Harcourt, the leadership of the NDPA issued a strong warning to the faceless individuals attempting to disrupt the hard-earned peace in the Niger Delta region. 

“These disgruntled elements, primarily based in Warri, have no legitimacy, no capacity to mobilise, and no genuine interest in the welfare of our people. Their agenda is nothing more than an ill-conceived attempt to cause unrest and extort money from unsuspecting individuals and institutions.

“Over the years, we have worked alongside well-meaning organisations and stakeholders to secure the peace we currently enjoy. Through our investigations, we have identified these fraudulent actors and their baseless claims. Let it be clear that these individuals are not recognised by any credible Niger Delta organisation, and their so-called ‘protest’ lacks the support of true stakeholders.

The group stated that any attempt to take to the streets to foment trouble will be met with decisive action.