Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday, said he was disappointed at the call by former Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma (ret), that former Niger Delta militants should be arrested and prosecuted for warning that there would be war if President Goodluck Jonathan loses the presidential election on February 14. He said that Danjuma should have condemned the attacks on Jonathan in several states in the North instead of calling for the arrest of the ex-militants.
Meanwhile, a former militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, was defiant as he accused Danjuma of sponsoring terrorism in the Northern part of the country and also called for his arrest and prosecution.
Similarly, leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo in his reaction, said he felt sorry for Danjuma for calling for his arrest and other Niger Delta activists.
Danjuma had Wednesday in Kano State, called for the immediate arrest of Asari, Tompolo and Boyloaf over alleged comments credited to them that there would be war should President Jonathan fail to win the February 14 poll.
Reacting also, former Provost-Marshal of the Nigerian Army, Brig. General Idada Ikponmwen(ret); Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku; Captain Beck Hitler, a prominent Chief of Gbaramatu and Ogulagha Kingdoms, Delta State; Urhobo Ovo and Ijaw Kene Patriots for Okowa; former National Chairman of the Association of Traditional Rulers of Oil Minerals Producing Communities of Nigeria, ATROMPCON, and paramount ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom in Delta State, HRM Charles Ayemi-Botu and Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, faulted Danjuma’s call, describing same as unfounded and based on misleading reports.
Chief Clark, while noting his respect for the former army chief, said it was unhelpful for Danjuma to condemn some and not others. “I read with amazement and indignation, the statement made by Gen. Danjuma, a man I have so much respect for. I always believed that he is very straightforward and courageous and that he can speak to anybody on any issue. I was, therefore, surprised that young men like Asari Dokubo, Tompolo, Boyloaf who they call ex-militants should make statements and instead of him appealing to everybody who has been making such types of statements, he now said that some should be arrested?
“President Jonathan has always believed in one man, one vote and that nobody should die because of him. I went further to say that if it is true that Asari Dokubo and Kingsley Kuku said what was attributed to them, then confront them and not all of Ijaw people. I then went further to ask the speaker that he should be courageous enough to condemn similar statements made.”
Clark noted that a number of northern leaders including Alhaji Isa Kaita, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Dr. Junaid Mohammed and Ango Abdullahi in the past made threats against the peace and security of the country before the 2011 elections. “And in the same vein, they said that they would make Nigeria ungovernable if Jonathan wins the 2011 elections. And they really caused mayhem. My nephew that I trained in the University of Calabar was among those Youth Corps members killed in Bauchi. Where was Gen. Danjuma then? So, why do you now condemn these people? So I think this type of condemnation is one-sided and does not speak well of somebody who believes in the unity of Nigeria.
