SAN FRANCISCO, August 14, (THEWILL) – The leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has accused the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) of fueling the insurgency in the northern part of the country, saying members of the group ought to have been arrested by now.
IYC spoke against the backdrop of the ultimatum given to President Goodluck Jonathan by the Northern Elder Forum (NEF) to end insurgency in the North and produce the missing Chibok girls or perish his 2015 presidential election ambition.
In a statement issued by its spokesman, Eric Omare, IYC said the publication by the NEF has only confirmed that the insurgency in the North is the handiwork of some disgruntled elders and leaders in the North designed to discredit the President Jonathan Administration.
The statement obtained by THEWILL said; “The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) read with disappointment the press statement credited to the Northern Elders Forum and published in several national dailies on Tuesday, the 12th of August, 2014 wherein they gave President Jonathan October, 2014 deadline to end insurgency in the North and produce the Chibok girls and that if he fails to do so, he should not contest the 2015 Presidential elections.
“By this publication, the Northern Elders have confirmed the consistent position of the IYC and other well-meaning Nigerians that the insurgency in the North is being fuelled by politicians and some leaders of Northern extraction like members of the Northern Elders Forum to discredit the government of President Jonathan so as to make his candidature unpopular in 2015.
“The IYC regards this as unpatriotic and the height of desperation for power by some Northern leaders and call for their immediate arrest for fuelling insurgency in the North.”
The group maintained that no amount of blackmail by some northern leaders through insurgency or any other means would stop President Jonathan from seeking a second term in office in line with the 1999 Constitution.
“The Jonathan second term in office is the right of the Niger Delta people. The Northern Elders Forum lacks the moral justification to blame President Jonathan for the insurgency in the North. What have they (the Elders of the North) done to tame the insurgency rather than fuelling it!
“The IYC once again call on Northern leaders and elders to borrow a leaf from Niger-Delta leaders who took it upon themselves to mediate between government and Niger-Delta agitators when there was problem in the Niger Delta region.
“We further call on the security agencies to arrest members of the Northern Elders Forum for their role in promoting insurgency in the North as there is no doubt that they are active promoters of the Boko Haram insurgency,” IYC further stated.
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