...want Sovereign National Conference
SNG worried over style of return. Militant groups in the Niger Delta under the aegis of Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) appear to welcome the return of President Umaru Yar'Adua, albeit furtively. "Yar'Adua has the right to return to his country any time he wishes," said Cynthia Whyte, spokesperson for the JRC, which comprises of militant groups including The Martyrs Brigade (TMB), Reformed Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (RNDPVF) and Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). But the militants are surprised over the stealthy nature in which the ailing president made his return to the country. Whyte, the JRC's spokesperson, said very crucial questions remain as to who gave the orders for troop deployment during the time of Yar'Adua's arrival. "Was the Acting President (Goodluck Jonathan) aware of this?" queried the militant groups."Soldiers were deployed to the airport and key centres without knowledge of the acting president. We need to ask ourselves...who gave the orders for the postings and deployments?"
Meanwhile, the militant groups made renewed call for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) for the country. "It has become necessary for all ethnic groups within the contraption called Nigeria to come together and decide on our continued existence," stated the JRC, a militants' amalgam. "We need to begin to talk about renegotiation of the continued existence of this country. "The events of the past few weeks have pointed without doubt, that there needs to be a renegotiation of the continued existence of the contraption called Nigeria".
On amnesty, the militants described the post-amnesty progress as a sham, alleging that the Presidential Amnesty Committee "has been operating from a dubious template ridden with corruption and absolute lack of transparency." The Godwin Abbe committee is clearly a sham and an exercise in ridiculous deceit," stated the Joint Revolutionary Council spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) has welcomed President Umaru Yar'Adua back to the country, but deplored in the strongest terms the way "President Yar'Adua was smuggled into the country like a piece of contraband in the dead of the night". According to SNG, Nigeria was portrayed like a medieval society where Stone Age men preside, worrying why "a president who was away for 93 days could be brought back in secrecy and journalists and airport workers hounded by armed soldiers.""
Source: Yar'Adua: Militants worried over deployment of troops (http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8771:yaradua-militants-worried-over-deployment-of-troops&catid=85:national&Itemid=340)