Former President Goodluck Jonathan has recounted how he risked his life by entering a militant camp in the Niger Delta without armed security to negotiate peace, describing the move as a defining moment in efforts to stabilise Nigeria’s oil-producing region.
Jonathan said his relationship with the oil industry began in childhood when he witnessed the development of oil facilities near his community in present-day Bayelsa State.
He added that his career later took him from academia into environmental management, where he participated in scientific studies assessing the impact of oil exploration across the Niger Delta.
The former president made the remarks on Monday while delivering the chairman’s address at the De Mangrove Conversation, organised in collaboration with the Bayelsa State Government, the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Renaissance Africa Energy and the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation at the NCDMB Conference Hall in Yenagoa.
Jonathan said his experience as a scientist, governor, vice president and president gave him a unique perspective on the challenges facing the region.
He recalled that as vice president, he personally led negotiations with militants and insisted on visiting one of their camps without armed escorts despite objections from security officials.
According to him, the decision helped build trust and paved the way for dialogue that eventually contributed to the peace process and the implementation of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme.
Jonathan stressed that the development of the Niger Delta must remain a national priority, saying lasting peace in the region depends on addressing environmental degradation and decades of neglect.
“As the vice president, I was to go and negotiate to bring peace to the Niger Delta. And I was to visit all the camps, including Camp One that you all know very well and who headed it, all the boys disturbing all facilities respect those in Camp One,
“As a vice president, I flew to warri, to the water front with my security. When we got to the other front, the Niger Delta militants sent words across to me that they were ready to receive me, but nobody should carry gun and follow me and that if any of my team members carry a weapon, there will be exchange of fire.
“So, the Commissioner of Police in Delta State said ‘Mr Vice President, you will not go.’ The State Director of SSS said ‘Sir, you will not go.’ I told them I will go. There must be peace and development in the Niger Delta.
“As the vice president, I said anybody wearing uniform should not follow me to the militants camp, only my CSO and my ADC followed.
I ordered CSO and ADC to handover their guns to the Commissioner of Police and state director of State Security Service respectively to keep. I told them if we come back alive, you get your guns back and we will go back to Abuja
“When we arrived at the camp, there were two lines of young people, one facing this way, the other one facing this way, with assorted riffles.
“From there, they lined up to where I was holding meeting on both sides, we passed in-between the two lines, we moved through them, of course that’s a story for another day.
“When we had the negotiation that lasted about one and a half hour, then we returned to Abuja and things started to unfold, that meeting led to the birth of Amnesty granted to the Niger Delta militants, and other things, Amnesty is still there till today. That was the beginning of peace in the Niger Delta region.”