Elders from Bayelsa State, Monday, called on security agencies to investigate and arrest persons behind the linkage of former President Goodluck Jonathan to the notorious militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).
The elders from Ogbia, Jonathan’s Local Government Area, asked security agencies to rise up to the occasion and apprehend economic saboteurs, vandals and militants in the Niger Delta region.
The elders under the aegis of Ogbia Brotherhood said it was unfair for anybody to sponsor a campaign of calumny against the former President.
Speaking in a press conference in Yenagoa, the state capital, the National Chairman of the group, Chief Benson Agadaga, described the allegations against Jonathan as dangerous, spurious and wild.
Also referring to persons behind the accusation as mischief makers and faceless group, Agadaga said the allegation was false, baseless, mischievous and wicked.
He urged the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) which made the allegation to look elsewhere for its uncanny campaign of calumny.
He said there was a criminal and devilish intention and cheap propaganda to rubbish the political status of the former president.
“It is unthinkable that the former President by an iota of imagination could be linked with sponsoring or even establishing an armed outfit like the Niger Delta Avengers to antagonize the Federal Government where he has just served as President by the goodwill of all Nigerians.
“May I add with unequivocal terms that the allegation lacks substance and does not bear true reflection or semblance to the nature, original beliefs and intent of the prominent son of Ogbia who holds the revered title as Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, he said.
He described the former President as an embodiment of peace and stability, adding that from his antecedents, pedigree and actions, Jonathan was a firm believer in the sanctity of life and the unity and prosperity of Nigeria as an indivisible entity.
He said: “The Niger Delta cannot benefit anything by eliminating or frustrating Dr. Jonathan, our only national and international voice.
“Dr. Jonathan’s commitment to the sanctity of life is further demonstrated by the fact that throughout his tenure as Governor of Bayelsa state and as President of the country; there were no reported cases of extra-judicial killings and high profile assassinations.
“If MEND is in existence and wants to ‘emancipate’ the Niger Delta, as the name implies, then surely the right way to go is not through sinister moves to pull down and eliminate the divinely given and anointed personalities of their own region.”
He called on the attackers call to stop persecuting, blackmailing, mudslinging and campaigning against Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
THE NATION
