Niger Delta Lawyers For Equity (NDLF), on Wednesday gave the federal government one-week ultimatum to immediately tender an unreserved apology to popular Ijaw leader Edwin Clark while condemning the raid on his country home by soldiers.
The group also vowed to seek legal redress if an apology is not rendered.
In a statement jointly signed by its coordinator, Akpokona Omafuaire and made available to NewsNGR contained demand for an apology within one week or else it will seek legal redress.
The statement reads: “We, at Niger Delta Lawyers for Equity, read with dismay and utter disbelief the raiding of the home of our South-South Leader in commando style. We want to believe it is not real;
“We want the President and Chief of Defence Staff to tender an unreserved apology within one week, failure of which we shall institute legal action for this great disrespect and international humiliation.
“While everyone condemned the ill-fated incident near Okuama community and commensurate with families of the slain officers. We want to say that the military operations have gone too far and out of control.
“Pa Clark is the face of the South-South and Niger Delta region, he has paid his due in the conflagration called Nigeria. And as a result, the raiding of his country home is not only an affront to him but to the whole Niger Delta region and its people.
“We understand that when issues concern the region, the security forces want to show their best destructive skills. If they had deplored the same aggression in the insecurity in the North, the issue of Book Haram and bandits would be long gone.
“Pa Clark was one of the first to condemn the killing of soldiers, so why humiliate him for calling for the apprehension of the perpetrators of the heinous crime?
“Can similar action be carried out in the homes of top Fulani and Hausa leaders when such act happened far from their homes in the North?
“We believed it is a calculated move to humiliate and pushed the voice of the Niger Delta region to an early grave. As a result, we are demanding a national apology from the President and the Chief of Army Staff and not that caricature call.
“Failure of which within one week, we shall be left with no option but to file an action against them and make a petition to Amnesty International and United Nations.” the statement added.