— General Boyloaf, Henry Okah, MEND leader’s deputy
HE is a militant leader with a difference; he does not believe in hostage taking, rather, he specializes in bombing oil pipelines to grind the economy to a halt, and he had no apologies for the countless oil installations he and his possessed men have blown up in the Niger-Delta over the years. Welcome to the trigger-pulling planet of Victor Ben, who is known in the militant world as General Boyloaf.
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The Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta with headquarters at David Ejoor Barracks, Effurun, Delta State, in a classified report, last year, to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), said he (Victor Ben) comes into sight as the “most organized militant boss in Bayelsa State and also the only militant boss in the state with solid credentials of being accredited to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND).”
In the security report, signed by its former commander, Brigadier General Lawrence Ngubane, the Task Force further stated, “Victor Ben, one of the former trusted foot soldiers of the leader of the Niger-Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NPDVF), has three camps: One in Ezetu, another in Azuzuama, both in Southern Ijaw, while the third is in Agge, a border community between Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw Local Government Area. Although Victor only established his camps in the state from February to March 2007, he appears to have the most organized group. The strength of his fighters is estimated at 200 - 300. Before now, he was operating from the Port-Harcourt axis with the Dagogo Farah”.
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According to the JTF, he has in his camp 15 general purpose machine guns (GPMGs), 120 AK 47 rifles, 15 long range BMGs, three rocket propelled grenade launchers (RPGs), 17 new boats with new engines and 20 double 150 horsepower speed boats. It added, “Victor Ben intent in the Niger-Delta region is purely criminal and is known to have a violent disposition. While he started out as a foot soldier in the NDPVF, Victor Ben is bent on becoming an illegal oil bunker, and it is suspected that that he wants to overrun Africa Owei and Joshua Mackiver (two other militant leaders in the state) to become the principal militant leader in Bayelsa State. He is truly a militant with solid credentials of being affiliated to the MEND.”
However, on Sunday, May 25, twenty four hours after the gubernatorial re-run poll in Bayelsa State when Sunday Vanguard visited the den of General Boyloaf in the creek, it was apparent that the JTF underestimated the armed capacity of this militant leader. The number of arms and ammunition credited to Victor Ben by the JTF is a contradiction in terms of what we saw physically in his campground.
There is a build up stocks of newly acquired sophisticated weaponry and the instant impression on the faces of the fighters, mostly young men, who showed no outline of fear, was that they were ready for war. The heavily-built Boyloaf, surrounded by aides, was having a banquet of rice and stew, which he cooked by himself, when SundayVanguard arrived his base camp. One thing you cannot take away from him is his conviction and bravado. He believes in what he is fighting for and he pontificates his points in support of the struggle in the manner of a catechist delivering the Catholic doctrine to a catechism class.
He is not just an activist with solid credentials of being affiliated to the MEND as the JTF offhandedly assumed, Boyloaf said he, it was, who designed the struggle that is, today, known as MEND and that he is the second-in-command to the seized Henry Okah, a man he repeatedly described as his boss and bonafide leader of the MEND. In the campground, his word is law and he swaggers around with an air of authority, as he is greeted by his men. He was outstandingly affable, in spite of the fear-provoking image that had been painted of him. He offered the reporter food and water to relax his nerves after the three-hour trip in a double-engine speedboat from Yenagoa, the state capital, to his den.
Down to business some 10 minutes later, General Boyloaf, who spoke with an astonishing bluntness, declared pointedly that all the plans and meetings by the Federal Government on the Niger-Delta peace process and the forthcoming Niger-Delta Peace Summit would come to nought if Okah was not released. He said Vice President Goodluck Jonathan is a glorified federal houseboy and the minister for special duties in the Presidency, Elder Godsay Orubebe, who is packaging the Niger-Delta peace summit, should not be taken serious because politicians are wont to deceive the people.
He did not spare some of his colleagues for betraying the struggle. He castigated those who woke up overnight in the region because of nothing to do, and opened militant camps to make money, saying that it is those people that gave the struggle a bad name. He contended that the plan by the Federal Government to hire militants to protect oil pipelines in the region would end in disaster, as the life of any militant that acquiesced to such an arrangement is not safe. In all, Boyloaf came across to Sunday Vanguard, during our three-hour stay in his base, as an activist with a sense of reason and bearing in his self- chosen deadly assignment. But, wait a minute, is it not the same man that the JTF dubbed as a criminal, bent on becoming an illegal bunker that is branding others as criminals too?
Is Boyloaf simply grandstanding or is his a case of the kettle calling the pot black? Why is he so livid and unbending in his desire to cripple the economy if Okah is not released? What is the significance and why did he, purportedly, give a bullet and a bottle of water to a delegation of the Federal Government that visited him in his camp, sometime ago, as a keepsake? Find out in this must-read-interview and encounter with the executives of the Niger-Delta Riverine Peace Campaign Movement (NDPRCM), a non-governmental organization, who, were, co-incidentally, in his camp to preach the message of peace to him.
For the purpose of interview, who are you? Identity yourself.
Well, I am Boyloaf.
I learnt that you are a university graduate. Why did you choose to open a camp and hole up yourself here in the creek instead of working with your certificate in the city?
I was before now in the city but when I saw the marginalization of the people of the Niger-Delta by government, you know, when people are pushed to the wall, you will have no option than to fight back? Our people are suffering, that is why I joined the struggle, we shall fight the government.
There are other Niger-Deltans who have seen the suffering of their people but they are not carrying arms as a form of resistance the way you are doing. So what inspired you to come into the struggle?
Well, I am not a criminal but people tag us one of all these things. I was doing my oil business peacefully. You see, when Hausa people lift oil, they call it legal business, but when the Niger-Delta person lift their own, they call it illegal. They call it illegal, they tag it a name, they call it bunkering, they will seize your vessel, frustrate you, push you to the wall. The best thing to do is to stop the government not to lift the oil.
General Boyloaf, Henry Okah, MEND leader’s deputy
That is the reason I decided to join this struggle. And if you see the marginalization of the people, that is if you go offshore in particular, you will see Hausa people, Yoruba people in your own terrain, no development. If you cross to their stations, it is like paradise but opposite them are host communities who are living in abject poverty, no good drinking water, no electricity and all the rest.
This situation makes our girls to go to the oil companies to do prostitution in order to make money to cater for themselves and their families; you can imagine that kind of thing! That is slavery, I mean, it pains, when somebody sees it happen, there is no way you can condone it, you have to fight back. I believe that freedom is not free, you must fight for it and there must be sacrifice for freedom. There must be bloodshed one way or the other. Even in the Bible, it was made clear that the kingdom of God will suffer violence upon violence until it is taken by force. So, I believe what we are doing is not bad. Even the first president of the United States said it that rebellion against tyranny is obedience to God.
Somebody spoke to me on phone, sometime ago, saying that Boyloaf had decided to stop arms struggle in the Niger-Delta. How come you are sounding tough when we were made to believe that you have embraced peace?
What is amiss?
Well, as a matter of fact, I did not speak to anybody; there are so many boys parading themselves in the street, claiming to be one person or the other in order to make money for themselves. That is what they do, they are everywhere. I don’t believe in dropping arms; they cannot buy me with money. How can they bribe you with your own property because I believe that the money is ours?
So, they bribe you with your property to betray your people, I mean the gods of the land must surely fight back and you will receive the repercussion. I did not make any comments; all these boys are just fraudulent people who are deceiving the government, using peoples names, companies, Government House, all to make money. But somebody like me, Boyloaf, I don’t believe in calling people because (one) I don’t beg government and (two) I am not a politician. I don’t like them and I hate government because I believe they are not straightforward and so I don’t believe in calling them. All these people are criminals, fraudulent people; they impersonate in order to make money.
The Federal Government has, since last year, been working on a peace process with Niger-Delta activists. Are you not part of this peace process?
Well, as a matter of fact, my boss, Henry Okah, asked us to lay down arms for some time to see what the government will do since it was a new government. But we never knew that it is a kind of fraudulent government, a kangaroo kind of thing. After laying down arms and everywhere was calm, at the end of the day, they collaborated with a foreign government to trap down our man. Let me tell you, there will no peace, I don’t think there will be peace.
In fact, peace, the way the Nigerian government sees it, is a kind of delay tactics by government to buy time. At the end of the day, they will attack you, but, as an individual, I understand their logic, so, as they are buying time, I am preparing fully. Like now, as I am talking to you now, I am fully prepared, anytime, any moment, if they try, I fuck them up, and that is the truth. There is no peace; I don’t think there will be peace when Henry Okah is in detention.
Then, what are they talking about/ They cannot fool the people, they can fool the people some of the time but you cannot fool the people all the time. Before they talk about peace, Henry Okah should come out; he should be a major player in that peace process, which is how they will get genuine peace. But any person that is telling you about peace, whether a militant or any leader, all these people are collaborators with government, all to betray the struggle. So, there is no peace and no matter how it is, even if all the militants betray the cause, the gods must surely guide one man to fight this cause and we must surely get to our
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan is from Bayelsa State like you and he is in-charge of the Federal Government peace dialogue with Niger-Delta freedom fighters. Are you saying that he has not contacted you or his emissaries have not reached you on the need to embrace peace?
Well, right from time, I don’t like the vice president because I see him as a glorified federal house-boy. He is not somebody that is a part of this struggle. He is just opportuned to be there. They know that the man will betray us, that is why they kept him there. We have so many people that are supposed to be there, but they kept him there in Aso Villa just as an observer, a flower to decorate the place, a yes member, he doesn’t have any say. So that guy is one of the biggest betrayers we have, in fact, he is the biggest problem we have in Niger-Delta now, that is the truth. So, being there, he is following instructions, he does not have a say. If he makes any noise, they will just throw him out. That is why we call him glorified federal houseboy. He is even the major person that created this set up against Henry Okah, this is the truth, and he is there for his own selfish interest and that of his family.
But, contrary to what you have just said, Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, believes Jonathan is doing well as vice president.
I respect Chief Clark very well. I know that Chief Clark in his own way knows who the man (Jonathan) is. But he doesn’t want to say it out. I respect Chief Clark because he follows true justice and all the rest. He knows the truth, if everybody comes out now and opens his mouth and say the truth, I think E.K. Clark will also the truth but I think Clark is lying low because I think he is taking it that Jonathan is there to represent the people and all the rest of that. I don’t think that E.K Clark in his own mind is supporting that guy.
You just called Henry Okah your boss. Within MEND, there is the confusion about the real MEND and the fake MEND. Can you shed light on this matter by telling us how MEND came about, the forces behind it and the position of Okah in the scheme of things in the group?
The truth of the matter is simple. I told you earlier that we, Ijaw people, are poor and our betrayal is as a result of the poverty and because this poverty has been with us for a long time, when little cash is thrown into the system, they can always betray their brother. When you talk about Henry Okah, he is the overall boss, the pioneer of MEND, that is the struggle for the emancipation of our people, the Niger-Delta people.
The MEND itself, the name was given by me, not anybody. I designed the struggle, if any person comes out to say he is the one that designed this struggle, bring that person out, I will challenge him. I designed this struggle, pushed it all the way from Port Harcourt to Delta State, and from Delta State, I piloted the whole movement all the way to Bayelsa State to destroy every area. At the end of the day, when some people saw that so much
relevance is coming out of it, you know there are many politicians, they went into these people and created confusion within their ranks by either giving them money or connecting them to higher authorities.Like I told you, our people are very poor and the kind of money that has gone into the system is the thing that is spoiling our system. The major person that I will say that spoilt this MEND, that corrupted our people is a top official in one of the states in the Niger-Delta and two others (names withheld). These are the major people and their reason for doing it is just to get political relevance. I was with all these people and I saw everything, nobody is telling me anything, it is what I saw by myself, I just decided to go away from them because of the kind of poison they are injecting into the people.
These people prefer to be given political posts than the struggle for them to achieve their own selfish aim. But they should know that this struggle is for the whole of Niger-Delta people, not for only the Ijaw people. But if you see all these people, they want to grab everything for themselves. It is unfair. This struggle is a full-size battle, it is not Ijaw people that are alone in it, Niger-Delta is comprised of many tribes, we have many states too and you cannot corrupt everybody. So, when these people pushed money into the hands of all these boys, they got corrupt, they do everything at their own time, write petitions against different people, all to frustrate the struggle and for them to keep their source of money. They forget that the money is just like a visitor that will come and go. But one thing I believe is that nobody can betray the true struggle, the proper struggle has come to stay.
I am enthused by your statement that you designed the MEND philosophy, which is to say that you must have been involved in a lot brain-cracking sessions. What motivated you to design the MEND struggle and how did the attention-grabbing name come about?
Well, I saw that it is not only the Ijaw people that are suffering in the Niger-Delta, other tribes in the Niger-Delta are suffering too. If you call it Ijaw struggle, it will not comprise of all the tribes. I am sure you must have seen in the camp because I saw you interacting with the fighters in the camp. I told them to feel free to talk to you; you can see that we have Ogoni people, Andoni, there are people from Akwa-Ibom, Urhobo, Itsekiri and all the rest here. Why we called it the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta is for it to cover the whole of Niger-Delta.
As for the reason I designed this struggle and why I decided to go about it this way, one thing you have to know about Nigeria, if the Nigerian government sees that you are fighting yourselves, they will take it that you are fighting your fellow human beings, they will not have time for that, they will only send the army and that one will not stop anything, but, I believe the economy is the power. Like you may have known, I don’t believe in fighting human beings, I believe in crumbling the economy. On my way crumbling the economy, if any military man comes across me and tries to stop me, I mean those people will kiss their grave. My bullet, my nozzle is always targeted at the flow stations, pipelines, etc, I don’t believe in fighting human beings. Before we formed the MEND, our people were fighting, but it was a war between the Ijaw and Itsekiri, that wasnot the Niger-Delta struggle.
And if you look deeply at the struggle, you will see that it’s just like a set up by government. What they were doing then was not the struggle, those were clashes between two communities but most of our people erroneously thought that it was the struggle. This is why I am telling you that some of our so-called leaders are fooling the people because the people don’t know what they are doing, they are using them to trade and get positions in government.
The Federal Government is putting finishing touches to a summit on the Niger-Delta, where it believes that issues will be sorted out. Won’t you be part of this summit which will afford you the opportunity to bare your mind instead of continuing with this your decision to be blowing up oil pipelines?
How can they hold a summit when Henry Okah is out there in detention? Why must they try to fool the people all the time? I mean, one thing you have to know is that Nigeria is not a government, Nigeria is a company, and the way they operate, they look at everybody as fools. How can you keep a leader, somewhere, and, at the end of the day, you are talking about a peace summit, to fool the world that you want to hold a peace summit, to tell the world that there is peace and all those things?
I mean, they are endangering the people of the international community and they want foreign investors to come in and waste their money. If my advice is solicited, I will never advise any foreign investor to come in because Nigeria is not sincere, and this entire peace summit they are holding is balderdash. Nigeria, itself, is a fraud. There is no peace in Nigeria, anybody telling you about peace when Henry Okah is not coming out is not saying the truth.
Written by Emma Amaize
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