Posted by Soni Daniel and Horatius Egua on
Former ethnic warlord and leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Muhajid Asari Dokubo, has said he received N300 million from the Rivers State Government, in exchange for weapons surrendered by him and his supporters, to pave the way for peace in the Niger Delta.
Former ethnic warlord and leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Muhajid Asari Dokubo, has said he received N300 million from the Rivers State Government, in exchange for weapons surrendered by him and his supporters, to pave the way for peace in the Niger Delta.
Dokubo told our correspondents in an exclusive interview on Monday that the government still owed him about N196 million for additional arms surrendered.
The NDPVF leader made the claims in response to a demand by two of his former loyalists, Boma George and Fara Dagogo, that he should render an account of proceeds from the arms surrendered, and pay them their share or face their wrath.
But the Rivers State government denied direct involvement in the cash-for-arms deal, saying a special committee of the Federal Government handled it.
The two former members of the ethnic militia told journalists last week that Dokubo had pocketed at least N555 million, and that they were disowning him as a result of the action.
But Dokubo dismissed them as inconsequential in the structure of the NDPVF, as they were neither in the decision-making nor political wing of the organisation.
He said although he received N300 million from the state government for the arms returned, the money had since been paid to those who surrendered their arms.
According to him, Dagogo and George contributed nothing to the cult war fought last year, and they could not be given money for other persons' weapons.
He said, 'I cannot recall off hand the exact amount, but I know that the money is about N300 million. But the government is still owing me over N196 million for the weapons returned by us.
'The two men who are making noise have no stake in the money given in exchange for weapons returned by the respective communities that prosecuted the war. This is because during the war, they were busy doing business in town and they contributed no gun to the war.
'If you like, go to the army barracks and check so as to confirm that all the communities that surrendered guns under me had since collected the amount due to them and they are very happy.
'None of them gave me guns to surrender and I am not owing any of them anything. One of them even abandoned our guns and fled when he was attacked by our enemies last year."
But a top Rivers State Government official said on Monday that the government was not directly involved in the payment of money for the arms returned by the militant groups.
The official, who did not want to take up issues with Dokubo, said that a special committee raised by the Federal Government handled the assignment.
The source said that a report on the payment had since been rendered to The Presidency
Dokubo, speaking on why he was demanding the sack of a top Rivers State government official, said the official was one of the persons who were trying to derail the fragile peace process in the state, leading to last week's killing of 13 persons.
He alleged that certain persons were afraid of his large followership, and were working hard to incite his supporters against him.
On his relationship with the Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili, Dokubo said he had no problem with the governor, except some of the governor's aides.
He said, 'I cannot say that the governor is involved in the plot against me; but I know that certain individuals in the government are afraid of me. They believe that as a man with many supporters, I should be destroyed to pave the way for their success in 2007."
The peace deal in the Niger-Delta was brokered through a meeting of President Olusegun Obasanjo with Dokubo and his former arch rival and leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante, Tom Ateke.
Obasanjo had sent a jet from the presidential fleet on September 29, 2004 to fetch Dokubo to Abuja.
During the meeting with the president, the militants were said to have told the president that for peace to reign, government should guarantee and facilitate the attainment of the legitimate rights of the Niger-Delta people in their demand for self- determination and resource control, and the convocation of a national conference.
The duo were reconciled by Obasanjo after hours of talks, and they agreed to a ceasefire pending the outcome of a peace process set up by the Rivers State Government.
Building on the Abuja achievement, Governor Peter Odili of Rivers, in a statewide broadcast, assured the militants of amnesty provided they handed their weapons over to the government.
He said during the broadcast, 'Our earlier amnesty for those who have offered to renounce violence and voluntarily surrender their weapons still stands and will be vigorously pursued."
Odili went further to say that the government was willing to rehabilitate and reintegrate all leaders and members of the militant groups who renounced violence, cultism and anti-social activities.
Following the government's appeal and reconciliation of the militants, the warriors surrendered their arms to the government.
'We have disarmed. There is no more fighting. We are men of peace. In fact, we need the peace more than anybody," Dokubo told Agence France Presse, a few days after the reconciliation.