President of the Ijaw Youth Council IYC, Udengs Eradiri has asked the antigraft agencies to leave embattled former petroleum minister, Dieziani Alison Madueke alone and focus on other governors who have been accused of stealing from their state treasuries.
Dieziani is facing money laundering charges in the UK. In a media parley over the weekend, Udeng said that the recent arrest of Dieziani by the British police has shown that president Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign is targeted at the Ijaws.
“The UK government should stay away from Diezani. This was how they muscled up and now (Diepreiye) Alamieyeseigha is dead. Now they have started with Diezani. They should leave Ijaw People alone. Are there no other governors that have stolen? Go to UK, almost all the streets are owned by northerners who stole Nigeria money. As far as we are concerned, the anti-corruption fight is a fight against the Ijaw people. So why are they just on Goodluck Jonathan’s men, just to demonise Goodluck. As far as we are concerned, the anti-corruption fight is a fight against the Ijaw people. Goodluck should have won Nobel Prize for peace. Goodluck deserves a Nobel peace prize, Goodluck deserves respect from Nigerians,” he said
He also accused the relevant security agencies of turning a blind eye on illegal mining in the north which according to him, is mostly operated by retired generals
“They say oil theft is economic sabotage, what of the illegal mining that are going on in the north? Is that not worst economic sabotage?. At a point there was lead poisoning as a result of illegal mining. The monies that they realize from illegal mining is huge, why do we not have the JTF policing illegal miners, knowing full well that the money realised from gold illegally mined is far much more than money realized from stolen oil. Retired generals have mines of their own in the north, the statistics are there. Why are we not talking about those minerals in the north that are illegally mined to the pockets of individuals? Why is it that only Niger Delta oil that is in the pages of newspapers,” he asked.
