Nembe Oil Spill: Niger Delta Youths Caution Mischief Makers

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Niger Delta Youth Council (NDYC) yesterday condemned what it described as a deliberate falsehood and mischief promoted by some leaders in the region, following the Nembe oil spill in Bayelsa State.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, the group’s National Coordinator, Henshaw Bassey called on the Bayelsa state Governor, Duoye Diri to withdraw his comment on the spill, where he had opined that the incident was worse than the Gulf of Mexico spill.

The group while noting that comparing the spill to Hiroshima, was a mischief taken to a dangerous level, argued that Diri’s utterances called for closer examination by security agencies.

It alleged that the baseless attacks was driven primarily by the undisguised desire to target and destroy individual reputations; to malign the integrity of cooperate concerns; to denigrate the federal government and its agencies including President Buhari and the Minister of State, Chief Timi Sylva.

According to the group, the presidency and relevant agencies had have responded admirably in providing for guidance and support towards the efforts being deployed in containing the spill as well as providing stability.

According to him, “What is playing out appears to be a poorly choreographed but quite viciously motivated intrigue at work aimed at ignoring the ongoing efforts to contain the leak and mitigate the impact on communities around the location of the well but, more significantly, to undermine and damage and damage the presidency.

“There are some shuddering examples of this wicked intrigue. First was unnecessary and malicious exaggeration of the spill by a mindless comparison with the effects of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb catastrophe.

“Comparing the Nembe oil spill to Hiroshima, is taking mischief to a dangerous level. Doing so only confirms the stark ignorance demonstrated by the comparison.

“It seems evident that those forces want to capitalize on this spill by exaggerating its impact beyond the scope of what is on the ground. Ultimately, they want to use it to undermine the federal administration and allege both lack of capacity and incompetence by the Buhari government in a major area of the country’s economy.

“As such, we make the unambiguous demand that he withdraws his wild and inciting comments and apologizes to Bayelsans whom he abandoned while Nembe burned. Competent leaders cut short private visits to respond to emergencies in their constituencies.

“It is also based on the foregoing that we demand that Governor Douye Diri resigns immediately from the office of Governor of Bayelsa State.

“Instead of acknowledging the fact that he lost an election before the Supreme Court unilaterally put him on the seat of Governor to work for the people, he is still busy playing bad politics with serious national issues.”