The northern group said neither Danjuma nor any citizen of
the country for that matter should be threatened with attacks by the
ex-militants, who have been threatening fire and brimstone should President
Goodluck Jonathan loses the February 14 presidential poll.The ex-militants had threatened to attack Danjuma’s business
interest in the Niger Delta for daring to ask that security agencies should
arrest leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Mujahid
Dokubo-Asari;and other ex-militants. Dokubo-Asari, Victor Ben Ebikabowei a.k.a
Boy Loaf; Government Ekpudomenowei, a.k.a Tompolo and other
militants had, during a meeting at the Bayelse State Government House, vowed to
unleash violence on Nigerians if Jonathan failed in his re-election bid.
They said any attempt to unseat the President would be seen
as a direct affront to the Ijaw nation.The ACF said it viewed the threat by the ex-militants as not
only a direct affront on Danjuma but on the President Goodluck Jonathan-led
Federal Government.National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Muhammadu Ibrahim,
in a statement in Kaduna on Monday, said, “ACF and indeed all Nigerians hold
Gen T.Y. Danjuma, former Chief of Army Staff and Defence Minister in high
esteem, as a revered patriot, elder statesman and a philanthropist of repute
who fought for the unity of Nigeria and has continued to play this fatherly
role even in his old age.“ACF will therefore not accept any threat to his person or
business assets or to any law-abiding citizen by any group or individuals in
the name of militancy.”
The northern body therefore asked security operatives to take
urgent steps to avert what it described as “ugly consequences” of war threats
by the ex-militants.Danjuma had penultimate Wednesday asked the Federal
Government to as a matter of urgency arrest the Niger Delta ex-militants who
threatened war in the country if Nigerians failed to re-elect Jonathan.Danjuma spoke at the inauguration of Kwakwasiya City in
Kano.He had said, “You should arrest Dokubo-Asari, Tompolo,
Boyloaf and other Niger Delta militants for making reckless statements, which
in any way does not mean keeping Nigeria as one entity and creating war
situation.
“Those were reckless statements coming from irresponsible
individuals; they should be condemned and be arrested immediately.”Neither President Jonathan nor the Federal Government has reacted
to the threat by the former militants.The ACF warned that nothing must tamper with the business
empire of Danjuma because there was nothing wrong with his call for the arrest
of ex-militants that had been threatening the peace of the entire country.
The ACF reminded the ex-militants that the President was not
elected by Nigerians in 2011 based on threat or intimidation from any section
of the country.It stressed, “ACF wishes to remind the Niger Delta militants
that President Jonathan did not ascend to his present position through threats
and intimidation, but rather through democratic means of canvassing for votes
without any form of molestation throughout the length and breadth of Nigeria in
2011.
“The same process the President and other candidates vying
for the office shall go through to emerge as Nigeria’s President in 2015 and
not through intimidation, threats and ultimatum.“ACF therefore views such threats and intimidation by the
ex-militants as an affront not only to Gen. Danjuma but an attack on a
democratically elected Federal Government of Nigeria, over which President
Jonathan presides.“It is also an open challenge to the nation’s security
agencies, especially the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Security
and even the Nigerian military that are responsible for maintaining law and
order and any form of internal and external aggression against Nigeria.“ACF hereby calls upon the Federal Government to urgently
take necessary steps and contain this emerging threat to national security by
Niger Delta ex- militants to avert any ugly consequences.”
Via.Punch
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