, threaten to shut down oil production across the region over the ongoing political impasse in Rivers.){kind=link}
Tension has enveloped Rivers State as youth groups, under the auspices of the Niger Delta Youth Council (NDYC), threaten to shut down oil production across the region over the ongoing political impasse in Rivers.
The youth groups issued a seven-day ultimatum to President Bola Tinubu, demanding, among other things, the immediate restoration of Rivers State’s statutory revenue allocation, the cessation of all impeachment plots against Governor Similaye Fubara, and the public retraction of anti-Ijaw remarks purportedly attributed to former Governor Nyesom Wike.
In an open letter to the president, signed by NDYC President Bene Youkore Mamamu, the group warned that failure to meet their demands “could lead to a total shutdown of oil production across the region, a move that would have dire consequences for Nigeria’s already fragile economy.”
Copies of the letter, which were made available to journalists in Warri, Delta State on Saturday, highlighted concerns over Wike’s alleged comments describing the Ijaws as a “minority group of the minorities.” The NDYC described the remarks as “provocative and inflammatory, and a declaration of economic and political war.”
The letter further stated: “We are ready to shock the world in seven days. We are prepared to take decisive action if our demands are not met within the given timeframe. The oil that fuels this nation flows from our land, the fourth largest and most populated ethnic group in Nigeria, and we will not allow Wike, who is suspected of being used by the Presidency, to sabotage our region and undermine Ijaw history.”
Expressing their frustration, the NDYC accused Tinubu’s government of empowering Wike and the Judiciary to marginalize the Ijaws and the Niger Delta region, citing frequent impeachment threats against Governor Fubara, the seizure of the state’s allocation, and alleged insults directed at the late Pa Edwin Clark.
The group concluded by urging its members to “mobilize to disrupt oil production across the Niger Delta region at the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum.”