BENIN CITY/Nigeria: The Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) has appealed to the Niger Delta Avengers, Indigenous People of Biafra, Arewa Youths, Oduduwa Youths as well as other agitating groups to adopt and apply non-violence to their agitations.
The admonition was given by the National Coordinator, CEPEJ, Comrade Sheriff Mulade during the 8th annual conference of CEPEJ held at University of Benin-City, Edo state, the conference which was tagged Edo 2017 with the theme : Sustainable Security and Environment in the Niger Delta: key for Nigerian Development.
Comrade Mulade stressed that the recent agitations coming from various ethnic groups in Nigeria are products of underdevelopment, neglect and insensitivities of the federal government of Nigeria towards the living standard of the people, especially the call for restructuring, Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, led by Nnamdi Kalu, the recent military show of force by the Nigeria military, the menace of insurgency by Boko Haram, resource based developmental issues in the Niger Delta as well as civil unrest in some African countries like south Sudan, Somalia, Libya and others, according to him should be given serious concern by all.
He pointed out that in order to sustain the existing peace in the Niger Delta, the Ogoni cleanup in Rivers state should be given immediate attention, while appealing to the people to be calm, encouraged federal government to do the needful in order to awaken their trust towards their promises to the Niger Deltans.
He enjoined the Nigerian military to respect the rights of citizens and always treat civilian population with dignity. He further advice the military to always shun use of force to settle conflicts in the Niger Delta, south east in order not to escalate or create more unrest among the citizens and the military in the region.
CEPEJ further posited that “learning how to solve conflicts without aggression is a great way to enjoy peace” assuring that they can collectively or individually promote environmental justice, clean environment, enhance security as well as the much needed culture of peace.
