Some Niger Delta agitators on Wednesday faulted the position taken by President Buhari on the calls for restructuring.
They said without restructuring, as being suggested by prominent Nigerians, the nation would not remain united.
The agitators’ position was contained in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.
Signatories to the statement included John Duku (Niger Delta Watchdogs), Ekpo Ekpo (Niger Delta Volunteers), Osarolor Nedam (Niger Delta Warriors), Henry Okon Etete (Niger Delta Peoples Fighters), Asukwo Henshaw (Bakassi Freedom Fighters), Ibinabo Horsfall (Niger Delta Movement for Justice), Duke Emmanson (Niger Delta Fighters Network) and Inibeghe Adams (Niger Delta Freedom Mandate).
They said: “We wish to thank all well-meaning Nigerians who threw their weight behind restructuring and disassociated themselves from the President’s position on restructuring.
“We want to remind him (the President) that without restructuring, there would be no united Nigeria.”
The agitators said they were surprised that the President said the unity of Nigeria was not negotiable when “indeed he did not believe in other Nigerians apart from those from the North”.
They insisted that Northerners and the Yoruba must leave their region before October 1.
The statement said: “The Coalition of Arewa Youths’ quit notice to Igbo was in collaboration with the Northern elders, the President’s cabal and top security chiefs from the North. They were properly consulted by the youths.
“Therefore, we maintain our previous position that Northerners and Yorubas should vacate the Niger Delta region before October 1, 2017, until justice is done.”
The agitators called on Buhari to reshuffle the Federal Executive Council, as well as appointments into boards of agencies and parastatals in a manner that would reflect federal character.
They also called for the return of oil blocks to natives of the region and the immediate relocation of the oil companies’ headquarters to their operational base, as well as relocation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s headquarters to the Niger Delta region.
They claimed that over 75 per cent of the oil blocks in the Niger Delta region were owned by Northerners, 20 per cent by Yoruba, three per cent by Igbo and the remaining two per cent by people of the region.
“We can no longer tolerate this injustice, marginalisation and being treated as slaves in our own land. We therefore demand that the Northerners should return 70 per cent and Yorubas 15 per cent of their oil blocks to the Niger Delta people for justice to prevail,” they said.
They claimed that they had put all machinery in place to protect Niger Delta from external forces, adding that they would not hesitate to bring the Nigerian economy to a standstill.
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