How Orubebe and Jonathan Came Close to Losing Their Lives for Amnesty

Former Niger Delta Minister Elder Godsday Orubebe has narrated how he stood up in opposition against continued killing of Niger Delta militants in 2009 to secured sudden amnesty from former President Musa Yar’Adua which was inherited by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Orubebe, in an interview, revealed that he and Jonathan undertook a perilous mission that nearly cost them their lives to establish Nigeria’s historic amnesty for militants.

He spoke when the Bulou Kosin-led Ijaw Journalists Association Worldwide, (IJAW), paid him a courtesy visit in his country home, Ogbubagbene, Delta State.

According to him, the journey to peace was fraught with danger, maintaining that their bravery, was driven by a deep sense of patriotism and a desire to bring lasting peace to the volatile Niger Delta region.

He said that the Amnesty’s story begins in 2009, during President Musa Yar’Adua’s administration, when Nigeria was spiraling into chaos amid a brutal military crackdown on Niger Delta militants.

The military’s offensive had led to the destruction of countless Ijaw communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South West local government area of Delta state and the declaration of militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, as a wanted man.

He recalls a pivotal moment during a Federal Executive Council meeting when he defied consensus to oppose the government’s aggressive stance. “Everyone was calling to kill the militants,” Orubebe revealed. “I was the only voice saying, ‘You can’t kill them. They’re only asking for development of our land.’”

He told President Yar’Adua that the crisis could only be resolved through dialogue, emphasizing that oil exploration had been ongoing in the Niger Delta since 1957, and that violence only bred more violence. Yar’Adua, seeking a solution, asked who could lead the negotiations. Orubebe volunteered himself, forming a five-member committee that included both Christians and Muslims.

“I emerged committee chair. When we left exco meeting, I then called our first committee meeting and told everybody to fast for 2 weeks. In the end, we prayed and left for the creeks. We slept in every militant camp. Militancy was hot, at its peak. It’s God that saved us. We got to some places, the boys would come on and shoot around the boat tossed by waves! My Hausa-born Committee Members were frightened to urinating inside the boat. From Delta to Akwa-Ibom, across the region, I assembled all militant leaders to Tompolo’s camp 5 where we held a meeting for 3 days”, Orubebe recalled.

“To the militants, I conveyed President Yar’Adua’s promise to develop the Niger Delta if they guarantee peace, a promise Mr President kept till he died”.

Orubebe’s historical revelation on the origins of the Niger Delta Amnesty came amidst narratives on social media of the role played by Ijaws and sacrifices of elder statesmen who dared to face death for Niger Delta’s unity and peace.

The former minister recounts how he and his team slept in militant camps, braving gunfire and waves in the creeks. “God saved us,” he says. “My Hausa committee members were terrified, but we persisted.”

In a historic three-day meeting at Tompolo’s camp, Orubebe conveyed President Yar’Adua’s promise to develop the Niger Delta if peace was maintained. The militants demanded a direct meeting with Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, with assurances that security personnel would not be armed or present.

“The militants only demanded Goodluck Jonathan should come see them and that security agents should not come with him or come without arms. We returned to Abuja and in a meeting with service chiefs and the 9 oil states governors, I told President Yar’Adua and Vice President Goodluck of the militants’ message. All the service chiefs shouted “No! The Vice President is not going there”, Orubebe recounts.

Despite resistance from security chiefs who refused to allow Jonathan to visit the militants, Orubebe insisted that it was a sacrifice worth making. “I told the Vice President, ‘You must go, even if it costs you your life.’” Against all odds, Jonathan traveled into the militants’ camp in Gbaramatu—an act of courage that marked the beginning of the Amnesty Programme.

The former Niger Delta Minister said he had to stand up to state: “Mr President and Vice President, Sir, in the history of a country, there comes a time when somebody has to sacrifice himself for the nation. I think this is the time Goodluck Jonathan has to sacrifice for Nigeria. I said Mr Vice President (Goodluck Jonathan), you must go there ooo! If you go there and your brothers kill you, that is the sacrifice you made but I can assure you they will not kill you. Goodluck Jonathan decided there and said ‘I’ll go’. Against all odds, we went to Camp 5 in Gbaramatu Kingdom! Held meetings with all the militant leaders. That was the beginning of the Amnesty Programme you see today”.

He maintained that the daring mission was the true genesis of the amnesty, a project that was initially designed to rehabilitate militants and foster peace, not to be exploited for monetary gain.

“The amnesty we wanted was defined. Somewhere along the line, the people derailed because people are looking for money. How can you pay people for doing nothing? Today, you go to Warri waterside, you see our boys (roaming). The original design was to train them for some years, set them up as groups or individuals, to be on their own. Can government sustain what is going on? They misfired!”, he laments.