IJAW Monitoring Group coordinator Comrade Joseph Evah has revealed that the Igbo nation has forgiven Niger Deltans for supporting federal forces during the Nigerian Civil War and both zones are now prepared to work together for a better future.

During the Nigerian Civil War that lasted from 1967 to 1970, Niger Deltans and Ijaws in particular, were passionately anti-Biafran and worked tirelessly for the federal cause. It was riverine communities like the Ijaw, Ogoni, Ikwerre, Efik, Ibibio and Annang who helped maintain a federal blockade on Biafra, preventing food or arms entering the enclave through the Niger Delta.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, this created some bad blood between the south-south and southeast, culminating in the Rivers State government promulgating the Abandoned Property Act empowering it to confiscate houses owned by Igbos who fled during the war. This led to hundreds of Igbo homes in Port Harcourt being seized by their Ijaw neighbours who refused to hand them back after the war.

However, stating that all such bad times are now in the past, Comrade Evah added that  the two geo-political zones have neglect issues to address and will work together to get the government to respond the them. He pointed out that the way the federal government is handling the current Biafra agitation is very dangerous as it is taking the wrong steps by ignoring the core issues. 

Comrade Evah said: "For the first time since the end of the civil war, we are seeing an organised agitation. The Igbo man cannot ordinarily abandon his business for something else but now we are seeing Igbo men leaving their businesses in order to agitate, which tells you that they are serious.

"Seeing them sacrificing their time, energy and money, should be enough to make the federal government interested in the matter.  Threats by the army are not acceptable and we expect the government to tell us why they are detaining Kanu. Intimidation did not work when we had our Kaima Declaration during the military era as when they threatened us, we became resilient."

He pointed out that he went to court to stop the dredging of the River Niger during the military era because there was no environmental assessment. According to Comrade Evah, if the government had not obeyed the judiciary on the matter, they would have resorted to other alternatives which would not have been in its interest.