WARRI- Former freedom fighter of Niger Delta, General Godday Smith aka King of the forest (Bounanawei) has appealed to the authorities in the Nigerian military to employ dialogue to sustain peace in the Eastern region and other parts of the country.
The highly respected former Niger Delta agitator who is a special adviser to both Delta and Bayelsa state government on security and general duties, revealed while answering questions with Daily Watch in Warri today , According to him, the country needs peace and that fighting many battles across different regions would not bring the needed peace and development.
His words ‘‘we cannot continue to fight every part in the country. Sometimes dialogue pays and solves problems than using military force. The federal Government made similar mistake in Niger Delta by intimidating everybody with weapons of all types, both aerial bombings. Yet, there was no result until former President late Alhaji Yar’Adua granted amnesty to the fighters and there is minimum peace in Niger Delta.
‘‘The IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu has and his group can be engaged through dialogue and this problem will be resolved without shooting guns. If not it will escalate to a full blown crisis which we do not pray for it. The IPOB leader should be ready to make peace with the federal Government as nobody fights the Government. We have done it and we saw it.’’ he said.