A former Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) and elder statesman of Isoko Nation, Felix Ogbaudu, has urged the Federal Government to listen and give consideration to the request and position of Isoko youths as regards inclusiveness in the pipeline surveillance contract awarded to the Niger Delta Region.

Ogbaudu spoke Wednesday in Abuja after an interface with emissaries of the ‘eleven Isoko Youth Groups Coalition’. He stated that the yearning of the youths as regards the issue in discourse was germane and there was need for the government to reward Isoko’s peaceful disposition appropriately.

According to him, “Truly, Isoko Nation has contributed immensely to the economic development of Nigeria and I dare say that they have nothing to show for it unlike other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta Region.

“The Federal Government cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the peace and support the Isoko Nation has contributed. What the youths are crying for is miniscule compared to what they have offered. The Federal Government should listen to them at this point.”

The former police chief appealed to the Federal Government “to appreciate the enormous contributions of the Isoko Nation in the oil sector with so many oil pipelines traversing its land mass”.

“These need to be protected and secured by competent Isoko Youths who have the capacity. This is the only way to reciprocate the highly commendable traits and good conduct that have been displayed over time in Isoko Nation by the federal government.

“I therefore urge the federal government to kindly oblige Isoko Youths’ humble and well-deserved request for an oil pipeline security contract as a matter of urgency please,” he said.

Ogbaudu, however, urged youths to sheath their swords and maintain the peace as the leadership of Isoko Nation interfaces with government on the issues raised.

He urged them to never resort to violence as it takes so little to destroy and so much to build. “Isoko Nation has always been peaceful, follow due process in any pursuit, law-abiding, God fearing and have never been involved in oil pipelines vandalisation or oil theft,” he said.

News Express reports that aggrieved youths from Isoko ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta last week issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government over alleged marginalisation in the pipeline surveillance contract.

The ultimatum was contained in a communique issued last week Wednesday by a coalition of eleven Isoko youth groups drawn from the 19 clans of the Isoko ethnic nationality and Diaspora spanning Bayelsa State and other regions of Nigeria.

Urging the Federal Government to resolve the issues or face degeneration of social order, the youth coalition described the contract in its entirety as “an insult on Isoko Nation and its vibrant youths in their capacity to man the surveillance.”

They accused the contractor, Chief Government Ekpemukpolo alias Tompolo, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) management of “intent to destroy the peace in Isoko nation.”

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