has said former militant leaders in the Niger Delta region are ready to
work with the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari.
Ateke, who disclosed this while speaking in pidgin english to newsmen at
Okochiri in Rivers State, urged Gen. Buhari to invite leaders of genuine
militant camps to discuss on how to move the region forward.
In his words, "I am here to congratulate Buhari for his victory. We will
want good leadership; we thank God that Buhari is now our President and
we pray God Almighty to give him wisdom to rule our country. Since
Buhari is now our President, we want him to meet with the core leaders of
the Niger Delta struggle; I mean the real leaders in the struggle.
"He should call the real leaders and talk to them. Let us discuss on our
needs. He should also not forget the Amnesty Programme, because we
know what we fought for and that was why they gave us Amnesty. We did
not get the Amnesty Programme from the backyard. So, let him keep to
the programme. Let the Amnesty Programme function well and we will
like it. We are ready to work with Buhari."
The former militant leader said none of the former agitators in the region
will go back to the creeks.
Ateke said, "Some people are saying they want to go back to the creek, or
they want to blow up pipelines; no, I, Ateke Tom will not be part of that,
we don't need all those things and nobody will go back to the creeks. I
have a say in the Niger Delta and I am one of the top fighters; so nobody
will go back to the creeks. I advice the youths not to follow anybody back
to the creeks.
"We should not say because there is change of government and Buhari is
now the President, and somebody wants to go back to the creeks; what are
you going there to do? So, let nobody follow anybody to the creeks. What
we want is that let Buhari meet us and treat us well."
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