Repentant Niger Delta militants are asking the National Assembly to hasten and approve the request of President Goodluck Jonathan for the extension of the emergency rule in some parts of the North.
Their leader, Reuben Wilson, who is also the President of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative, the body of all leaders of the various militant camps, said in a statement on Wednesday that further delay in granting the request would not be in the interest of the country.
In the statement, Wilson said: “I am so disappointed that up till now, the miscreants who posed as legislators and scaled the fence of the National Assembly last week are still walking freely. They acted as criminals, as mere thieves and ought to have been arrested by now.
“Even when were carrying guns in the creeks before accepting amnesty, we never scaled people’s fences because it is only thieves that behave that way. We were engaged in a genuine struggle. But these are people who call themselves honourable members. We want them to be arrested immediately and prosecuted for their actions.”
Wilson also warned the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, against making statements that could lead to anarchy.
He said that it was wrong and unbecoming of a governor to make inciting statements such as the one he made last week in Abuja during a rally of the APC.
According to him: “Amaechi should watch himself and be mindful of his utterances. He should know that he is not a student union leader or a labour leader. Even street boys know that there are certain comments you make and the nation will go into flames. Amaechi should stop talking and behaving like a ghetto boy. He should respect the office he is occupying.
“How can a governor declare in the full glare of the world that there should be a parallel government if his party did not win an election? It is even more worrisome because that is the same man that got into office though the court processes and here he is telling us that if his party did not win, nobody should go to court but that there should be public disobedience. Is he normal?”
Wilson said the ex-militants were watching the political climate, especially developing events at the National Assembly, and noted that the legislators who are currently threatening to impeach the President should not force them to return to the creeks as that would not do the nation any good.
He pilloried senators who were bent on joining their counterparts in the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against Jonathan.
Wilson said: “These senators are only being selfish. They want to impeach the president because he did not usurp the powers of his party leadership to give automatic ticket to them?
“Let them try it and let us see where it will end. We need to put them on notice that we are ready to protect the sanctity of the federation of this country and the office of the president. Those who think they can toy with that office should have a rethink because we will act if they push us to the wall.”