Niger Delta: Military approach not right option, says Dickson

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, on Wednesday said military option was not the right solution to the renewed violence in the Niger Delta being orchestrated by the Niger Delta Avengers.

He said he had always been saying that dialogue remained the only way out of the situation which had led to a sharp drop in the nation’s resources.

Dickson spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He was reacting to a recent statement credited to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, that the Nigerian Army would not hesitate to use force should the ongoing dialogue between the Federal Government and militants fail.

The governor said dialogue would bring out the issues concerned while all stakeholders would  unite around the common issues to move the country forward.

He said, “I have said that the issues in the Niger Delta, the terrain, the historic nature of the issues and challenges are such that military solution may not be the way forward. ‎

“For us who are products of political system, who are at this level, we have a duty to mobilise communal and local leadership; we have a duty to support the work security agencies are doing, we have a duty to ensure that issues are better appreciated and that we bridge the communication gap.

“Where there are issues, those issues need to be addressed and is also our duty to network like I am doing to ensure that problems that are identified as the route cause of some of these challenges are looked into.

“The military solution as I have always maintained is not the right option. We are hopeful that the ongoing discussions will yield the desired result.