Abacha's Loot: Capt. Owonaro Berates FG On How Abacha Recovered Loots Was Spent, As Nengi James Foundation Presents Palliatives For The Ijaw Nationalist
Francis Tayor
Yenagoa____ A foremost frontier of the Ijaw struggle in the Niger Delta has berated the federal government on the manner at which the funds recovered from the Abacha loot were being spent without recourse to the unsatisfying existing derivation formula.
Retired Captain Samuel Owonaro JP made the statement when the Nengi James Foundation paid him a visit to mark the Boro Day in Kaiama, his home town, while recounting on some of the issues that prompted the struggle.
He says in the interest of fairness, the recovered funds should be first paid to the federal government coffers, where the benefiting states will get their 13 percent derivation before spending what is left on whatever project initiated by the legislature.
On looted monies recovered within the country, Owonaro, who was the second in command to Isaac Adaka Boro during the declaration of the Niger Delta Republic in February 23, 1966 noted that such funds, should be returned to the states where it was siphoned, and not to the federal government.
Retired Captain Owonaro who will be 76 by July, further expressed concerns over the attention the struggle they started is now receiving at the centre, noting with dismay the fall in the derivation indices from 15 to 13 percent and urged that the struggle for resource control and self realization should not be left fallow.
Earlier, Alabo Nengi James, who was at his residence with members of the Nengi James Foundation, in the spirit of the day to identify with him with palliative of Rice, Beans, Indomie, Garri among others to him, called for a public holiday to annually mark the Day and also a legislation mandating government to take care of all foremost heroes of the struggle, whether dead or alive and their families.
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