ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
An advocacy group, the Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), has said it will collaborate with the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, codenamed, Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), to tackle crimes and criminality in the region.
The National President, MOSIEND, Comrade Kennedy Tonjo-West, made the promise when the group paid a visit to the JTF headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
He said the group came to the security outfit to appreciate the efforts of the command towards the increment in crude oil production, deflecting the activities of the sea piratesbas well as curbing all forms of illegal acts in the region.
He said: “We are here to collaborate with JTF because of our planned reorientation of the youths of the region. The essence is to reorient the youth on the need to uplift our lost values and vices that have demarketed our struggle and made investors reluctant to come to the region.
“We are vigorously fighting against it and we can’t fight against it without coming to the institution whose mandate it is to make sure that this place becomes investment friendly. We are happy that the command had given us the consent to tour the communities to preach against all forms of criminality that have continued to make the region inhabitable for investors.
“Whether we like it or not, our Niger Delta region has been demarketed and nobody wants to go to a place that has security issues and it should be a thing of concern to any Niger Delta person yearning for development. Because when investors come in, it raises the internally generated revenue and creates employement for the teaming youths.
“We felt that we owe the Niger Delta that responsibility of reorientating the people to make the place more investment friendly for the region. We will achieve this through community engagement.
“MOSIEND is in all the communites in Niger Delta states and we are going to use this structure to make sure that we propagate this message down to all the communities. Once this is done and the youths minds are re-oriented, the Federal Government and state governments will commend the active role of MOSIEND.”
Responding, the Commander, OPDS, Rear Admiral Aminu Hassan, said the command was going to collaborate with MOSIEND to achieve its aims, adding that they were eady to assist in any way possible to make sure that MOSIEND succeed.
He stated that the command was available to assist at any time there was need for that, stressing that security is everybody’s business.