OKAH IS AFTER MY LIFE - GOOD LUCK JONATHAN CRIES OUT

– Goodluck Jonathan has cried out over plots to assassinate him. 

– The ex-president’s claim comes on the heels of accusations that he is a sponsor of the NDA     

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– Jonathan has denied the allegations, claiming that it was part of an attempt to assassinate him 


– GEJ said MEND has been seeking to kill him even while he was vice-president of Nigeria

 Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, ex-president of Nigeria has raised an alarm that his life is under 

threat by militants.  In a statement made by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze on Sunday 

August 7, Jonathan said the list of sponsors by the splinter group Reformed Niger Delta 

Avengers (RNDA) was political, adding that it was part of an attempt to assassinate him. 

 The statement read in part: “Since it is not in our place to speak for all those named in the 

obvious fabrication, we are only intervening to the extent that its hidden intent poses a 

violent threat to the life of former President Goodluck Jonathan, a committed patriot. 

 “We are seized by the feeling of déjà vu occasioned by the resurrection of one dim 

character masquerading as Cynthia Whyte, who had in the past served as the 

spokesperson for a notorious group that had all along shown its hand to be going after the 

life of former President Jonathan.” The former President recalled that in 2007, after he 

emerged as the running mate of the late President Umar Yar’Adua, the group invaded 

Yenogoa in an effort to assassinate him. He added that the members of the group later 

bombed his compound in Otuoke, Bayelsa state, on a night he was scheduled to attend to 

an important matter in his country home. “Do we need to remind anybody that the so-called 

Cynthia Whyte is the self-declared spokesperson for the Movement for the Emancipation of 

Niger Delta, a violent and murderous underground group led by one Henry Okah, which has 

not hidden its intention to destroy the former President?” Jonathan stressed. Jonathan said 

that the list, which named him and other South-South leaders as Niger Delta Avengers 

sponsors, was another attempt by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta 

(MEND), to eliminate him. According to him, the bombing that took place on October 1, 

2010 at the Eagle Square, Abuja,  showed that the group was violent. GEJ noted that: “We 

have no doubt in our mind that MEND, as a group contracted to go after Jonathan with the 

mind of assassinating him, has yet to abandon this criminal and ignominious craving. It is in 

this light that we view the purported statement issued by Cynthia Whyte as not only a 

sadistic continuation of this sick desire, but also a futile attempt to instigate the Federal 

 

Government to needlessly go after the former President. “Those who have been following 

the unsavoury developments in some parts of the country since the last general election 

would have noticed that MEND, its paymasters and other unscrupulous elements in the 

South-South region have been striving fruitlessly to exploit the ensuing confusion by 

surreptitiously working for the fulfilment of its yet-to-be declared political agenda. “We are 

not under any illusion that more accusations and allegations of this nature would not be 

hurled Jonathan’s way in the future. But we are very positive that he can never be fazed by 

such negative energy.” A group, which split from the NDA – Reformed Niger Delta Avengers 

had named Jonathan as the grand patron of the NDA. An online medium, Sahara 

Reporters, reported that in a statement by its spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte, the RNDA also 

 

listed the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake 

Dickson, as sponsors of the NDA. Others mentioned in the list were Chief Edwin Clark, a 

former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio; ex-militant leader, 

Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo); the founder, African

Independent Television, Raymond Dokpesi; Kingsley Kuku; Kimi Angozi, and Patrick 

Akpobolokemi. According to Sahara Reporters, the group said the NDA sympathisers are 

Daniel Alabrah; Tony Uranta, Daniel; Ms. Annkio Briggs, and a former spokesman for the 

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh. The Reformed Niger Delta Avengers also 

 named Oyege Nimi Brown, VIP Timothy, Joshua Macaiver, Paul Bebenimibo, among 

others, 

as the main operatives of the NDA. It added that the President of the Ijaw Youth Council, 

Udengs Eradiri, aka Brig. Gen. Murdoch Agbinibo, served as the NDA’s chief spokesman. 

Also, Clark, who spoke through his lawyer, Mr. Dotun Sowemimo, wondered why he would 

be mentioned as one of the sponsors of such a heinous crime against the nation. He said: 
 
“The allegation is an attempt to undermine the efforts of the Niger Delta leaders to bring 

true, lasting peace to the region. “Clark and other leaders in the region believe in the unity 

of  Nigeria.

The list is a cheap lie, which is meant to distract the peace moves by the elders and 

leaders in the Niger Delta.” On his part, Wike, who spoke through his Special Assistant on 

Electronic Media, Mr Simeon Nwakaudu, said the list should be ignored by the members of 

the public. Dokpesi, also distanced himself from the Niger Delta Avengers. Dokpesi in an 

interview with The Punch on Sunday in Abuja, said he remained committed to strengthening 

the unity and stability of Nigeria. He said, “I don’t know who is giving that report; I have 

never met any member of the NDA in my life, I have no association with them and I don’t 

know who they are. I have been committed to strengthening the unity and stability of the 

country.” Also denying the allegation, Metuh said he had nothing to do with the NDA. He 

said:  “Ordinarily, I would not have responded to this, but on this occasion, I have chosen to 

respond, as this particularly borders on matters affecting national security. “This is a , 

wicked cruel and devilish plot to link me with such activities, especially as the claim is 

outright 

false.’’ A former spokesman for the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, 

also denied being a sympathiser of the NDA. Alabrah said in a statement on Sunday that 

the report was a product of mischief designed to distract the Federal Government from 

decisively addressing the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta. The Senate Minority 

Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, denied being a sponsor of the Niger Delta Avengers or 

any other militant group. In a statement on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr 

Anietie Ekong, the former Governor of Akwa Ibom state described the allegation as 

“baseless, reckless and senseless.” The statement read in part, “Senator Akpabio has no 

link with the Niger Delta Avengers or any other militant group for that matter.’’ Also, a former

 Adviser to President Jonathan, on Niger Delta, Mr Kingsley Kuku, denied reports linking 

him with the Avengers. Meanwhile, there are indications that Goodluck Jonathan is meeting 

with militants in the Niger Delta region in a bid to put an end to bombing of oil and gas 

pipelines. 
 
The Guardian reports that a group, Niger Delta Peace Agenda, which is based in Bayelsa 

state, confirmed that Jonathan was secretly meeting with militants, especially the Avengers, 

and cautioned all Niger Delta militants to listen to the former president and Ijaw leaders to 

give peace a chance in the region.