Leader of the defunct Niger Delta People Volunteer Force, Asari Dokubo, has faulted those who address him as an ex-militant.
In an interview with Arise News, Dokubo said the people who can be referred to as ex-militants from the Niger Delta region are those who accepted the amnesty deal offered by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua
Recall that in June 2009 Yar’Adua signed an offer of unconditional presidential amnesty for Niger Delta militants as part of efforts to end insurgency and resolve the insecurity and crisis in the region.
About 18:20 minutes into a video shared on YouTube by Arise News, Dokubo stated that he is an Ijaw nationalist who takes pride in protecting the rights of the Ijaw people. He said he has never been a militant and he never accepted Yar’Adua’s amnesty deal therefore it would be wrong to call him an ex-militant.
In his exact words “I don’t know the meaning of, I don’t know the connotation when they talk about militant. Ex-militants are those who accepted the amnesty from Musa Yar’Adua and were pardoned. I am not a militant, I don’t know the meaning of militant… I never moved from militant to ex-militant so calling me an ex-militant is a misnomer.
“I am an Ijaw nationalist. That is what I am and I stand in protecting the rights of the Ijaw people and mine, that is what I do. If that makes me a militant, then I will embrace it wholeheartedly, but if not, then I am not a militant and I am not an ex-militant.”
