By Festus Ahon
UGHELLI—FOREMOST National leader of Ijaw ethnic group, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, has called on the Federal Government to withdraw men of the Military Joint Taskforce from the Niger Delta and charged the police to brace up with the challenges of policing the country.
Clark, who spoke at the weekend in his Kiagbodo country home while playing host to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, zone 5, Mr. Julian Okpaleke, called for physical development of the oil rich region.
Calling for proper rehabilitation of the youths of the region, Clark said amnesty was not an end in itself but a means to an end.
He said there was the need for proper dialogue and recalled that the Nigeria civil war was a product of perceived ill-treatment against the Igbo.
He appealed to the people to give peace a chance and called for the massive development of the region.
Clark, who was a one-time federal commissioner for Information, said Niger Deltans should be given the opportunity to be part of the goodies of the region.
He stressed the need for the people of the region to be given a fair treatment, while suing for equal treatment of all parts of Nigeria
Earlier in his speech, Mr. Julian Okpaleke noted that Chief E.K. Clark meant a lot to the country and the Ijaw nation in particular, adding that his (Clark) effort towards ensuring peace in the region is being appreciated.
Okpaleke hailed Clark for tasking the aggrieved youths of the region to embrace the federal government’s amnesty, pointing out that if the peace effort in the region was sustained, it could galvanize industrialization of the region, thereby creating employment for the people.
He maintained that the police was equal to the task of policing the country and restated the resolve of the police to continue to protect lives and property of Nigerians.
The AIG charged officers and men of the police force to shun corrupt practices.
Source:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/08/09/clark-asks-fg-to-withdraw-jtf-from-n-delta/