Wing Commander Peter Yerindideke Biakpara is a retired Air Force officer, former SA on Niger Delta Affairs to President Olusegun Obasanjo and an elder statesman in the Niger Delta. He hails from Tamigbe community in Burutu local government area of Delta State. In this interview, Biakpara tells the Niger Delta militancy story, saying region elders visited militant leaders in their camps where they brokered peace, a development, he says, led to disarmament. He also reacts to the statement credited to former President Goodluck Jonathan in which he stated that his visit to Camp 1 brought about peace and stability in the region. Excerpts:

Who is Wing Commander P.Y. Biakpara?

I am an elder statesman, a former Nigerian Air Force officer, a member of the House of Representatives during the Third Republic, a former Special Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, a former Commissioner of Agriculture under Governor Onanefe Ibori’s administration, and an advocate for a better Niger Delta for all.

Recently, you reacted to the statement credited to former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in which he claimed that his visit to Camp 1 facilitated peace and led to the success of the Presidential Amnesty offer to Niger Delta militants. Could you elaborate on the events that led to the acceptance of the offer by the militant leaders in the region?

Yes, I was a little bit perplexed when I read a report in which our dear former President Goodluck Jonathan stated that his visit to Camp 1 resulted in the success of the amnesty offer granted by the Federal Government to militants in the Niger Delta. Yes, he played a crucial role towards the deadline of the amnesty offer to the militants, but that role was not instrumental to the success of the amnesty offer. To recount the episodes that resulted in the boys accepting the amnesty offer, I must first take you back to how the elders of the Niger Delta initiated the peace deal with them before the deadline. At that time, our then Vice President was tasked by his principal, the late President Umar Yar’Adua, to persuade Tompolo at Camp 5, not Camp 1, to lay down his arms before the opportunity expired. When the late President Yar’Adua government announced the amnesty offer to the armed militants fighting for fair treatment of the Niger Delta, I tell you nobody from the region was excited. We were not excited at all because the federal government had seemingly abandoned the oil-rich region. The militant leaders outrightly rejected the offer with continued bombing of oil installations in the region. The boys felt that the government was coming to deceive them and they stood their grounds.

Then, the elders of the Niger Delta from various states, under the auspices of the late E.K. Clark-led South-South Peoples Conference (SSOPEC), convened a meeting to ascertain the details of the Amnesty offer extended to the militants. We sought to understand its contents should they eventually accept it. Present at the gathering were former Governor Victor Attah, Brigadier-General Ikpomnwen Idada (retired), who had served as a former Marshal of the Nigerian Army, along with a host of other prominent leaders. At that time, the Federal Government had already set a deadline for the amnesty offer, yet we discovered that the militants were still not prepared to accept it. We, the elders, though still somewhat skeptical of the offer, ultimately agreed that a team should be established to engage with the boys in their various camps throughout the Niger Delta creeks. We recognized that military confrontations alone could not resolve the crisis in the region, including the nation’s economic crisis stemming from the destruction of oil pipelines across the area.

The late Chief Clark, therefore, constituted an Elders Negotiation Committee (ENC) comprising respected sons and daughters of the region, and I had the privilege of leading the committee. Among the distinguished members of the ENC were former Provost Marshall of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Ikpomnwen Idada (rtd), Mr Ledum Mitee, Elder Douglas Douyi-Naigba, Lady Doris McDonald. Our assignment was simple in description but extremely difficult in execution; to persuade heavily armed militant groups to lay down their weapons and accept the Federal Government amnesty offer. We travelled extensively throughout the creeks and waterways of the Niger Delta, often at a considerable personal risk. We met commanders in their operational camps, listened to their grievances and as well we conveyed the Federal Government offer of amnesty to them. We pleaded with them to see the reason to embrace peace, once again, and give the government the opportunity to bring the needed development to the area.

Our engagements covered several prominent militant leaders across the region, including Tom Ateke, General Africa, General BoyLoaf, General Ogunboss, General Shoot-at-Sight and others. Every dialogue required patience, courage, credibility and the confidence of men who had little reason to trust government promises after years of neglect and conflicts. We began our journey from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with the intention of visiting Tom Ateke at his camp. While waiting at a designated location for Ateke to arrive and transport us to his camp with his boats, we decided to take stock of who would be joining us. During this process, we discovered a stranger among us. It turned out that this stranger was a DSS officer who had infiltrated our group. We promptly removed him from our midst. Just imagine, if Ateke had discovered this man at his camp, we all would have been in grave danger! After our conversation with Ateke, he inquired about the benefits of accepting the amnesty, to which we replied that we were not yet aware. It is important to note that Asari Dokubo had publicly declared that he would not accept amnesty, as he considered himself not a militant but a freedom fighter. So, we did not visit him.

Then, we journeyed from Rivers State to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. In Bayelsa, we had the privilege of meeting with three camp leaders. We ventured into the Bayelsa creeks and met with General Africa, where we conveyed the same message of peace and the need for accepting the offer. Later that day, we returned from his camp to Yenagoa to prepare for our next visit. The following day, we visited General Ogunboss and returned to Yenagoa in the evening. General BoyLoaf’s Camp was located in the interior Ocean Coast and we could not easily access it through the Bayelsa axis. So, we came back to Delta State and traversed the creeks of Delta, navigating to the open Atlantic Ocean before accessing the camp. Upon arrival, we discovered he was a charming boy and he entertained us lavishly with fish and other delicacies. We conveyed our message and urged him to consider the government’s offer. We returned to Delta State and made efforts to visit Tompolo. He, like Asari Dokubo, declined and said he was not accepting amnesty. We then proceeded to the Benin River where we met General Shoot-at-Sight. We also met other camp leaders before returning to Delta State.

Can you also tell us what transpired after completing the task of negotiating with these militant leaders?

We went back to report to the members of SSOPEC, and we told them all the efforts we made. Meanwhile, we were in our SSOPEC meeting when we saw on television that the camp leaders we had just visited have accepted the amnesty. We saw Gov. Timipre Sylva presented General BoyLoaf and others before the late President Yar’Adua, while Timi Alaebe introduced Tom Ateke to the President. That was when the politicking started.

At this juncture, what truly happened on Tompolo and his previous refusal to accept the amnesty?

Yes, at this point, the amnesty window was coming to a close. President Yar’Adua had to send his Vice, Jonathan, to go and speak with his boys. So, Jonathan decided to take with him Tony Aneni, General Abbe, Koripamo Agari among others to go and speak with Tompolo at Camp 5. You see that there was no one member of SSOPEC invited or selected among the delegation. The Vice President we thought we were all working for did not know that some people had already cleared the way for politicians to get easy access to these boys. It was only Camp 5 Jonathan visited, as he rightly stated in the report and I quote: “I was to visit Camp 1 and you all know very well who headed it, all the boys disturbing all facilities respect those in Camp 1”. I respectfully differ with aspects of that account. No, that was not the true situation in the Niger Delta at that time. Yes, they all respect one another, even up to this moment but Jonathan’s account is misleading. It was a deliberate account to obliterate or shield from public view the other equally prominent militant leaders that he could not visit, and as well diminish the roles played by the members of the SSOPEC Elders Negotiation Committee.

So, what is your stance on the issue of the amnesty offer to the Niger Delta militants?

My position is very clear; not every militant commander accepted the offer at the same time. Different camps responded differently and at different stages of the process. My recollection is that the Federal Government’s deadline for accepting the amnesty had effectively constrained events, and not all camps received such presidential visits. Therefore, any historical narrative that appears to suggest that the success of the amnesty offer to the militants revolved around a single camp or a single commander does not adequately reflect the complexity of what transpired. Furthermore, this is the reason some people do not want to remember that there was an original premier SSOPEC Elders Negotiation Committee that did over 80% of getting our boys to accept amnesty, which was hijacked by politicians. History should acknowledge every individual and institution that contributed to ending one of Nigeria’s most difficult security challenges. The peace in the Niger Delta was achieved through the contributions and sacrifices of community leaders, traditional rulers, the clergy, Civil Society Organizations, security agencies, government representatives and the militant leaders themselves, who eventually agreed with us to dialogue and embraced the amnesty. In a nutshell, Jonathan is economical with the truth by refusing to give credit to whom credit is due.

At present, there is an outcry and dispute among certain former militant leaders, advocating for the decentralization of the pipeline surveillance contract in the region. As an elder statesman, what counsel would you offer them?

I am aware of the dispute surrounding this issue and wish to sincerely advise against any fighting or quarreling over the pipeline surveillance job in the region. It is known that Tompolo secured his contract through his own hard work and persistence, adhering to due process until the Federal Government awarded the contract to his firm. My advice to other former agitators is to also follow due process to secure similar contracts, rather than vilifying their brother who worked diligently to obtain his. It is a contract, and there are procedures to follow to have it awarded to you in any area of the Niger Delta.

Your final words

I strongly encourage the former agitators and all Niger Deltans to unite in support of the Niger Delta cause, as the region has not received the needed developmental infrastructure. (Sunday Vanguard)

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