Youths from the 19 northern states and Abuja, under the aegis of Arewa Consultative Youth Movement, on Friday, denied condemning the position of the Governor of Bayelsa State, Duoye Diri, over the recent oil spill at Nembe.
Rather, the youths said they were in support of sanction for the oil firm responsible for the spillage, while government should ensure to take necessary steps to remedy the environment.
Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna, ACYM’s Director of Media and Communications, Mallam Sani Ali, dissociated the group from a statement attacking Bayelsa governor over the matter.
Ali said, “At no time did we contemplate challenging or condemning the position of the Governor of Bayelsa State or any other person on that unfortunate incident.
“The ACYM is a responsible movement led by matured young Nigerians of northern extraction, who believe in one Nigeria and the concept of ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’. Therefore, what affects the people of Nembe affects us too.
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“We cannot be hasty and irresponsible in disparaging the statement of a governor on an issue we know nothing about. How could we have commented against the Chief Security Officer of a state on a hazardous matter of this nature, when we have not visited the site of the disaster to see things for ourselves?”
