Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, formerly known as Melford Good head Jr. a former Niger Delta freedom fighter, has warned organizers of a planned nationwide protest against hardship not to extend it to the Niger Delta region.Â
Asari-Dokubo made this statement on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the Niger Delta Sensitisation Conference for Ethnic Nationalities, Youths, and Women with the theme: ‘Come let us build together’.
According to him, the agenda of the protest organizers does not align with the problems faced by the people of the Niger Delta. He alleged that the organizers are only interested in the region’s resources and described them as “anarchists.”
Asari-Dokubo stated that he and those who share his views will not participate in the protest and will resist it if necessary. He claimed that the protest organizers’ demands do not include the needs of the Niger Delta people, but they want to share the region’s resources.
His words: “I and all those who believe in me and those of you who are committed to the interest of the Niger Delta, we are not going to be part of any protest. It is as clear as that.
“If anybody has the right to protest, I also have the right to resist protest. Where your right stops, that is where my right begins.
“I’m anti-protest. When our brother was here (making a thinly veiled reference to Jonathan) they protested. Today, another of our brothers is here. They want to protest. That is the truth.
“When you allow yourself to be used when you always bend your back for people to ride on you, they will continue to ride on you.
“Our needs are not included in their 10 points demand. So, we are not important to them. But it is our resources that they want to share.
“The lack of hospitals in Buguma, Abonema, and the entire Kalabari land didn’t start today. It has always been like that. And I will not expect my friend to come (in reference to President Bola Tinubu) one year later because there has been no hospital in Buguma since the 90s. I should then kick my friend out of power.
The militant-turned-activist warned that anyone who brings the protest to his area will face resistance, citing a previous incident in Oyigbo, Rivers State, where he claimed to have taken action against anti-protesters. Asari-Dokubo emphasized that everyone was in the know from the government to security agencies to residents.
Read More: Shun Planned Protest, Fubara urges Rivers Residents
He insisted that President Bola Tinubu won the election despite all odds and should be allowed to govern.
It bears mentioning that the President’s one year in office which started with his removal of fuel subsidies and floating of the currency has been plagued with astronomical inflation and a deepening currency crisis that experts say is self-inflicted, all this has led to the talk of hunger protests.
