Niger Delta is not breaking away from Nigeria

Annkio Briggs a Niger Delta rights activist has said the region is not agitating to break away from Nigeria but is only interested in being allowed to control its resources.

 Some Igbo people have been agitating for an independent Biafra state and different protests have been going on in some parts of the country especially in the eastern part. The agitation heightened after the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu who is the director of Radio Biafra.

 Daily Trust reports that Briggs said the federal government should not see the agitation of the people of Niger Delta as a move to break away from Nigeria as agitated by Biafrans but rather as a quest for self-determination and the opportunity to control the wealth from the region.

She said: “It is not illegal for a group of people to demand self determination. The indigenous persons are recognised by the United Nations. An indigenous person is someone that has its own distinct culture, language and religion. In the case of the Niger Delta region, who are mainly from the creeks, we are recognised by the United Nations as an indigenous people”.

 “In September, the president attended the  United Nations  conference and during that meeting, he  categorically  supported the  request that the United Nations should give indigenous right to the Palestinians. If  the president can do that, I am yet to be convinced how that can be wrong in Nigeria, if other ethnic groups are making such request. We in the Niger Delta are asking for self determination for us to be able to determine our development, economy, political lining, who will govern us and who will not govern us.

 “The control of our destiny as far as Niger Delta self-determination movement is concerned is not to say that we want to break away from the country. What we are saying is that we want to control the creeks; that is in our territory. We want to control our wealth in those creeks.”

 She urged ethic groups in the country agitating for self-determination to do so in peace and not resort to violence.

Meanwhile, Fred Agbeyegbe said there is no difference between the quest for Biafra propagated by the Igbo people and the quest for resources control which is championed by the people of the Niger Delta as both have suffered in the country.

 By Naij.com