FG Advised On Solution To Niger Delta Crisis

A retired justice of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, Justice Alfred Awala has advised the Federal Government, state and local government areas in the Niger Delta to work out true solutions to the crisis in the area.
In his speech, at a valedictory court session, held in his honour at Enugu by the court, Awala who retired as the presiding justice of the division also described as a welcome development the decision taken by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and members of the council of states in granting amnesty to militants that had held the Niger Delta and indeed the entire country hostage.
Awala stressed the need for governments at all levels to show some commitment to security of all weapons surrendered by the militants to ensure peace in the region.
“It should not be a case of robbing Paul to pay Peter or put in the popular Warri language to jump from frying pan to fire.”
The judge who hails from Jakpa in Warri North local government area of Delta State, said that the militant activities of the youths in the Niger Delta had been a serious concern not only to the government but to all Nigerians and foreigners who had commercial stake in the nation’s economy, adding that he had personally fallen victim to the crisis.
“I have myself, fallen victim of the crisis in my last few days as a justice of the Court of Appeal. It was on August, soon after I arrived Warri from Enugu “my wife was kidnapped from my house in my presence after I was asked to lie down in my living room.
“She was taken to a forest kilometers away from Warri and kept in a dark room for seven days.