The Ijaws Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide said it’s insulting for northern youths, whose region has no oil, to stage a protest against a pipeline surveillance contract in the Niger Delta region.
In a press conference in Warri on Wednesday, the IYC Spokesman, Binebai Yerin Princewill, warned that the Northern Youth Advocacy for Good Governance Initiative and Arewa Youth Forum must know their boundaries in this country.
The IYC image maker said, “They should keep clear from activities of the Niger Delta, particularly those of the Ijaw people. We will not tolerate this all the time. The Ijaw Youth Council has never protested against any Northerner not being given contract in his place or region. We have had too many of these kinds of misguided protests against our people from the Northern youths. We can still recall vividly how Northern Youths in 2022 protested against this contract not to be given to Niger Deltans.
“Any attempt at such will be resisted by any means necessary. Guiding pipelines in our communities for the Federal Government of Nigeria is not even something that we are supposed to fight and struggle to get, it should be our right and Northern youths do not have the right to even talk about it. The agitation now is that soon we will be fighting to have control over the resources in our lands.
“The Ijaw Youth Council is well aware that for years now, there has been gold mining in Zamfara, Abuja, Bauchi, Osun, Niger, Sokoto, Kebbi, Oyo, Kogi and Kaduna states, etc, till date, nothing has been remitted to the coffers of the federation in any way, and nobody is saying anything about it.”
Pipleline surveillance contract: Steer clear of Niger Delta region – IYC warns Arewa youths