The northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, has warned Niger Delta ex-militants not to threaten a former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.).
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.”
