It is, however, curious that the threat was coming less than 48 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari met with the leadership of the Niger Delta and Ijaw National Congress (INC), at the Presidential Villa, and the germane issues had been responded to, especially call for restructuring of the Federation, and the inauguration of a Board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

For clarity and record purposes, below is full text of the speech by President Buhari on Friday, June 25, 2021, which renders any sabre-rattling rather unnecessary:

“I warmly welcome all the Elders of the Niger Delta and particularly the National Executive of the Ijaw National Congress, under the leadership of Professor Benjamin Okaba. I thank you for paying this courtesy visit not too long after your election in April, and swearing-in last May.

“I also want to congratulate you all for your election and to add that a lot of responsibility is placed on your shoulders, especially coming from the fact that the Ijaw National Congress was almost without leadership for some time.

“As the symbol of the collective voice of the Ijaw people, which is one of Nigeria’s main ethnic groups, the existence of a focused and people oriented leadership would go a long way in articulating the demands of the Ijaw people and making sure these demands are made part of the national discourse.

“I particularly note your ten point demand to the Federal Government in your inaugural speech and assure you that this administration is frontally addressing them.

“I am equally concerned about the rate of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta and as you are aware the HydroCarbon Pollution Remediation Project has started work with remediation efforts in Ogoni land and I have directed the Minister of Environment to ensure that the projects are implemented with a high percentage of local content and inclusion of the surrounding communities.

“Similarly, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, under the same ministry of Environment is working to make sure that oil spills are reduced and new ones prevented. As you are also aware, all the responsible agencies of government have been directed to ensure that they enforce compliance by the International Oil Companies to international best practices.

“In addressing your call for immediate restructuring, the National Assembly whose responsibility it is to ensure that our constitution responds to the call for a restructured Nigeria, has already concluded regional consultations and as soon as they finalise the process, necessary action would not be delayed on my part.

“In the same vein, your call for creation of two additional states and more local government areas for the Ijaw people is a legislative matter, which should naturally be handled by the National Assembly and seeking concurrence at the state levels.

“I completely agree with your call to allocate operational licenses for marginal fields to Ijaw people. However, like you know, the process of granting licenses is guided by laid down rules and regulations, most of which even favour local content and local contractors. I see no reason why they should not be granted such licenses if they qualify.

“On the issue of fair and balanced appointments to reflect federal character principles, I re-affirm that this has always been my focus and would continue to be because I have always seen Nigeria as a country where everyone should be given equal opportunities.

“A contentious issue that has been a subject of discourse amongst the Ijaw people of recent has been the need for the Niger Delta Development Commission to live up to its billing by delivering the required succour to the people of the region. Based on the mismanagement that had previously be-devilled the NDDC, a forensic audit was set up and the result is expected by the end of July, 2021.

“I want to assure you that as soon as the forensic audit report is submitted and accepted, the NDDC Board would be inaugurated. However, I would like to implore you that the Ijaw National Congress should play a more active role in making sure that the mismanagement that occurred in the past is not repeated.

“I am particularly happy to note your call for promoting ownership of modular refineries by the Ijaw people and I will urge you to interphase with your sons who are involved in the processes of establishing these refineries, especially the Honourable Minister of State Petroleum Resources to actualize this quest.

“Like you well know, completion of the East-West Road is top on my infrastructure agenda and I will look to its speedy conclusion. Again, the occasional disturbance by youths in some communities along the route to construction work would require your close attention and guidance.

“Furthermore, we have made considerable progress with the construction of the Bonny to Port Harcourt Bridge.

“I am very happy with the recent affirmation of your belief in a United Nigeria and while I thank you for standing with me, I will also implore you to use your leverage in making sure that we keep working together to keep this country a united, indivisible entity, so that we can tackle our problems together and overcome our challenges together.

“I would like now to commend Professor Okaba for your emphasis on supporting the fight against insecurity by developing internal control mechanisms as well as working with other institutions in the country to address our current security challenges.

“While I thank you once more for this visit and I will continue to count on your support as we work towards resolving our current challenges.

“God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

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He made the remark in a media chat on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

On the claim that the security situation in Nigeria is a deterrent for global investors, he said “Global investors are coming. As a matter of fact, we are doing much better than ever before. If you look at the difference between Q1 of 2017 and now, there is a lift from $908 million to $4.1 billion.

“There is no deterrent. I think that global investors understand that there are security challenges everywhere and that so long as you are able to provide enough grounds for people to believe that, by and large, there is safety. Look at what is going on elsewhere in the world, security is a challenge everywhere. The duty of government is to ensure that security is maintained as robustly as possible.

“Sometimes by the very nature of security concerns, if something is happening in the Delta or up North somewhere, it really does provide a challenge for security agencies, but it is an opportunity to beef up security.

“We are recruiting policemen, we are even trying to build up the army and recruit more people into the army. For instance, if you look at what happened during the clashes in Southern Kaduna, we had to locate a military formation there. We may have to do that in several other places, locating military formations where we find communal violence. Security is dynamic; you have to keep working at it.” he said

On the threat by the Niger Delta Avengers to resume attacks, he said “Let me say that we are in constant consultations with all of the groups in the Niger Delta, but more importantly, we are working on all of the issues that we agreed with PANDEF. We are engaged with the groups; we have opened the Maritime University, we are working hard on the Modular Refineries which we hope will be a replacement for some of the illegal refineries and also create opportunities in the Niger Delta.

“We are in constant consultations, there are many groups in the Niger Delta, including the Niger Delta Avengers, and we are in constant consultations.”

On the major takeaways from the several bilateral meetings he attended, he said “I think the major thing is collaboration, which is really where everybody is at. The world has become a much more interconnected place. There is really little that is being done in Nigeria that doesn’t have some kind of either regional or global impact in the world.

“A lot of what we are talking about is collaboration; economic collaboration, collaboration against terrorism and all manners of extremist behaviours. That is what I am taking away.”

Osinbajo added “You don’t sign agreements here; all you can do is what I have said. Talk about what can be done, in what areas we can cooperate, what are the best and easiest ways of working together. You can’t wait to sign conventions; the world is moving far too quickly, the issues are so dynamic.”

Speaking on the US’s welcome for a weaker dollar in Nigeria, Osinbajo said “We are naturally concerned about currency issues everywhere, but a weaker dollar does not necessarily hurt us (Nigeria). We are concerned most about ensuring our exports are cheaper. Our concern is how to make ourselves competitive with our foreign exchange. So we have to deal with our own currency issues, ensure our currency is stable and adequate to meet with the challenges posed to us at this time. We are more concerned about sorting ourselves out and remaining competitive.

“The issue for us is in ensuring that the currency is stable. What the NAFEX (Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange) window does is, more or less, to provide an opportunity for the Naira to have its real value against the dollar. In some senses, we are there.

“What works today is some sort of intervention; you can’t just open up and say, let things go the way they want. You just mentioned that the US would like to see a weaker dollar, so obviously there is intervention somewhere. We want the market to dictate as much as possible, but where we find that there may be complications, we are ready to intervene.”

On the claim that Nigeria is politically and economically stable, he said “I think so. The economy is certainly in much more better state than it was 2 years ago and even 4 years ago. Our reserves are at $40 billion, the highest it has been in 4 years. Our capital market is set to be the best performing in the world. We have moved up 24 places in the ease of doing business, agriculture is up by over 3%. We are becoming a net producer of rice, 7 million to 11 million tonnes of paddy which has never happened before. We will be self-sufficient in rice production. Investments are also coming in, so economically; I would say that we are doing very well.

“The critical thing is that the man on the streets must feel the impact, which sometimes takes a while, because when you are talking about growth, there must be jobs, but growth doesn’t immediately translate to jobs.

“What we are trying to do is to establish a system of governance that first of all, emphasises prudence in financial spending, which is what we had in mind to do with the TSA and with the general controls in spending. So we are earning 60% less than what was earned in 2014, but we are spending N1.3 trillion on capital expenditure, the highest in the history of the country, with 60% less revenue.

“What is important to bear in mind, is that we have changed the model of government in Nigeria substantially. We place emphasis on good governance especially financial prudence, which is very crucial. That is something in the past few years we haven’t seen. That is why we able to work with 60% less revenue, that has improved. We are doing better in terms of managing our finances, and in terms of doing much more with far less.” he said

Asked to highlight the timeline when Nigerians will start to feel the impact of the economy, he said “I think we are seeing the progress day by day. For example, look at investments; when an investment comes in, it doesn’t immediately translate to jobs until a few months.

“When you look at youth unemployment, for the first time in the history of this country, we have employed 200,000 graduates, there is no administration that has done that. We are also giving them devices for their training, so that each of them would have a device that they can use in training, in code writing and computing.

“They can be better prepared for private employment, entrepreneurship in whatever they want to do. 200,000 young people by a government through one specific programme, and we are doing 300,000 more this year, so we are hoping to employ 500,000 graduates. There is unemployment all over the world, especially over Sub-Saharan Africa, but we are addressing it aggressively.” Osinbajo added.

Asked to comment on Donald Trump’s alleged comments about some African countries and its likely effect on the relationship between the US and Nigeria, Osinbajo said “At the diplomatic level, there have been interactions, the ambassador was invited by our Foreign Affairs Minister and I’m sure you are familiar with the conversation. The most important thing is that the overall interests of our countries are greater than anything else. We need each other, Africa needs America and America needs Africa in several strategic ways.

“We must continue to maintain our relationship. I’m also told that Mr. Trump said that he did not make those statements and we should accept that.” he said.

Asked if he intends to run with President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, Osinbajo said “I’m absolutely focused at this time on doing the job that we have been elected to do. That is my concern for now.”

Asked to speak on the concrete steps being taken to boost non-oil revenue, he said “I’m sure you are familiar with some of the figures; non-oil revenues have gone up by 40%; mining and agriculture are critical areas for us. Agriculture, in particular, is a major area of focus and that is one of the greatest contributors to GDP growth at this point.

“We intend to do more especially in the area of agro-allied businesses and manufacturing, and that remains for us, a very critical aspect of the economy which we are working on. If you look at our Economy Recovery Growth Plan, and some of the very specific implementation objectives of that plan – our ease of doing business is focused on creating an environment where the non-oil sector can really expand and prosper in ways which will benefit jobs and growth.

“The major concern is how to improve agriculture and do much more in mining, which is also an area of growth and manufacturing.

“Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are one of the things we have come here to discuss; we had a special session on it. What we are also trying to do is in the garment manufacturing. We want to become the hub in garment manufacturing in Africa.

“One of our SEZs is devoted to garment manufacturing and we are going about this by talking directly to the anchor investors, asking them what it will take, and what they want to ensure that it works. We are providing in those SEZs, adequate power and the infrastructure required.

“We also have the whole incentive regime. So with the SEZs, we have garment manufacturing, which is one example, and we create real opportunities and exponential growth in jobs.” Osinbajo said

On what Nigeria is taking away from the meeting with Bill Gates, Osinbajo said “The meeting focused on two areas; one is with the work being done in collaboration with Dangote Foundation and the Federal Government on Polio immunisation and also on agricultural transformation. Those are two major areas, as well as financial inclusion. We found that financial inclusion is crucial in the work we are doing, especially with our conditional cash transfers, we were hoping to reach a million people.

“We are finding it difficult to reach people in certain areas because there are no money agents or banks functioning in those areas. The work we are doing with Bill Gates and the Central Bank of Nigeria is on issuing guidelines on the mobile telephony aspect of financial inclusion. We now want a situation where you are able to do much more with mobile phones with respect to financial inclusion.

“That will help a great deal because we would be able to reach the farthest reaches of our country and bring more people into the regulated financial space so that more people can benefit from credit, funds and payments made by government and individual payments. This has to be by 2018.” he said

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Suspected militants seized the workers on Wednesday near the Ajoki community, which borders Edo and Delta States, said Delta State police spokesperson, Andrew Aniamaka.

“The police in partnership with the military are working to ensure that the victims are rescued unhurt with the perpetrators arrested and brought to book,” Aniamaka said.

The workers are employees of Sahara Energy Oil Company, a Nigerian energy firm.

“The oil workers were in a boat en route to an offshore location when the gunmen arrived,” said local resident Ajugu Fidelis, who witnessed the abductions.

“(They) stormed the waterside and ordered the workers into their boat amidst gunshots and sped off to an unknown location.”

The incident happened a few hours after the Niger Delta Avengers, a rebel group known to attack oil pipelines, issued a statement warning the government it was ending a 2017 ceasefire agreement.

The NDA’s targeting of oil and gas infrastructure in 2016 led to a slump in output that helped tip Nigeria into recession.

Kidnapping has long been a problem in Nigeria’s southern states where high-profile individuals, including the families of prominent politicians, are regularly seized.

But as the economy stalled in recent years, the abductions have begun to happen further north as well.

On Tuesday, two Americans and two Canadians were kidnapped by unidentified armed men in an ambush in northern Kaduna state.

Two of the group’s Nigerian police escorts were shot dead during the abduction.

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The Guild urges the Federal Government not to resort to the use of force in resolving the matter, stressing that the use of force has never solved any problem.

In a communique jointly signed by Funke Egbemode and Victoria Ibanga, President and General Secretary respectively in Katsina, the NGE stated that “As stakeholders in the task of nation-building, the Guild is worried by the recent show of military force in the quest to neutralise the threat of the militants. This move has done little to calm the tension, instead it has aggravated it. We urge caution and restraint.”

The Guild urged the government to dialogue with all stakeholders, including the aggrieved militants to resolve the problems in the region, insisting that the only path to peace is dialogue.

It noted that renewed hostilities in the Niger Delta will reduce Nigeria’s daily oil output, which will in turn deny the country the benefits of the current marginal increase in the price of crude, stating that anything that’s capable of returning Nigeria to economic recession should be avoided.

“We seize this opportunity to appeal to traditional rulers in the region to use their offices and goodwill to call the Avengers and any other militant group in the region to order. As royal fathers and leaders of thought, we urge them to play a leading role in the resolution of any breakdown in communication between the Federal Government, oil majors and the militants. We cannot afford another bout of force majeure by oil majors on account of insecurity in the region.”

The Guild also noted the increasing crime rate in the country, especially kidnappings and communal clashes and calls on security agencies to rise to the occasion. It further urged the Federal Government to deploy the relevant security agencies to check the pervasiveness of these crimes.

“The widening spread and growing frequency of kidnappings and allied criminal acts do not only threaten the nation’s socio-political stability, they also rob Nigeria of income as potential investors are scared of coming into the country while in some instances, existing investors are being forced to leave the country. Either way, the nation loses.”

On the 2018 budget proposal currently before the National Assembly, the Guild expressed concern about the size of the recurrent as against the capital expenditures, stating that the trend, which is inimical to any country’s development, has continued for so long.

It urged prudence and innovative budgeting in order to achieve a reversal in the nearest future.

On the state of the media, the communique expresses worry that in spite of the country exiting economic recession, the media industry is mired in distress and thus recommend that stakeholders should come together to seek the way forward.

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In a statement on Friday, Murdoch Agbinibo, the group’s spokesman, said the group would renew hostilities, warning that the fresh attacks would be worse than those of 2016.

“We can assure you that every oil installation in our region will feel the warmth of the wrath of the Niger Delta Avengers,” the statement read.

Before the peace deal, activities of the group made Nigeria’s oil production to reach its lowest level in at least 30 years.

The government had expressed delight over the deal, which saw Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo touring the region.

But Agbinibo said Niger Delta elders under the umbrella of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) fell for the antics of the federal government, which is “only interested in our oil”.

“To the elders of the Niger Delta, PANDEF, we warned you against the antics of the Nigerian government yet you requested a chance to broker a new vision for our people; we told you and the rest of the world that the Nigerian government is only interested in our oil wells and not our well being yet you told us the signs are different this time around,” he said.

“We want to make it known to the PANDEF and the Nigeria government that our call for halt on ‘Operation Red Economy’ is officially over.

“We have just concluded headcount of our operatives across the Country; we are pleased to announce that all our operatives are intact and focused; ready to implement instructions from the high command of the NDA in the going few days.

“To the Nigerian government, we are aware of Egina FPSO built in South Korea by Samsung to be operated by Total Nigeria. One of the biggest FPSO built in South Korea has started its voyage to the oil fields of the Niger Delta to further exploit us while our concerns are left unattended.

“We are presently tracking and monitoring its movement and God willing, it shall not operate successfully in amidst the return of the fury of the Niger Delta Avengers.”

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In a statement through its shadowy spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, MEND on Sunday passed a vote of no confidence on Buhari, accusing his government of insincerity and “grand deception” with regards to pledged commitment to the politics and economy of the Niger Delta.

The volatile region has remained largely impoverished, despite decades of oil production that has provided much of the cash Nigeria uses. Trillions of naira in federal allocations to the region have not changed much.

“Without prejudice to the pre-2015 presidential election endorsement freely and voluntarily given to President Muhammadu Buhari on January 6, 2015, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) hereby categorically and unequivocally pass a vote of no confidence on the government of President Buhari,” said Gbomo.

Before the commencement of an amnesty programme by the federal government under late Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010, MEND had spent years in violent protest of the environmental degradation and socio-economic underdevelopment of the region. It demanded greater share of the proceeds of the oil wealth to improve the region and lives of its people.

Then, the group received global attention, having waged a devastating war on Nigeria’s oil industry, which cut oil production. MEND was also notorious for abducting expatriates for ransom.

Since it became estranged with former President Goodluck Jonathan, an indigene of the Niger Delta, following the arrest of the Okah brothers for alleged terrorism, the group supported Buhari and demanded dialogue between the government and its representatives as well as other agitators.

“Prior to and after his reluctant meeting with the traditional rulers, opinion leaders and stakeholders of the Niger Delta region, under the auspices of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) on November 1, 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari has been carrying on arrogantly and making controversial, prejudicial, conflicting and contradictory statements about the politics and economy of the oil-rich region.

“Prior to the inauguration of PANDEF, the several sessions of dialogue held between representatives of MEND, on the one hand; and those of the federal government, on the other hand; where concessions were secured for the release of the Okah Brothers and several other political detainees and prisoners of conscience was a grand deception on the part of the federal government,” the group said.

The group accused Buhari of “cunning, crafty and unstatesmanlike rhetoric” about the Niger Delta region, and asked him to stop; otherwise, the ‘fragile’ peace of the region would be in jeopardy.”

The statement came days after the president urged the military to end the “political madness” in the Niger Delta, South East and North East.

MEND added that the Buhari government wanted to “truncate the on-going peace process in Nigeria, sabotage the legal options open to Henry Okah and simultaneously influence the on-going trial of Charles Okah and others, at the federal high court in Abuja, in favour of the federal government.”

Furthermore, the group demanded, “all Niger Delta Militant commanders and/or individuals who were tracked and arrested while observing a ceasefire ahead of talks with the FG should be treated well.

“They should be allowed access to their lawyers, the International Red Cross and a delegation from PANDEF so as to ascertain their well-being and ensure they have not been tortured or killed, extra judicially.”

Buhari, in 2016, launched a programme to clean up Ogoniland devastated by years of oil spillage blamed on multinational Shell.

A MEND hostility with the government may worsen Nigeria’s economy which largely depends on oil if the group returns to violent methods as it did pre-amnesty programme.

The country’s production is already adversely affected by the activities of Niger Delta Avengers and other groups that commenced attacks on oil and gas installations a few months after Jonathan left power in 2015.

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In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN), a youth leader in the community, Godwin Robert, secretary of Ulok Ulok People’s Assembly lamented that the oil spill case was the sixth this year and is destroying the environment.

He attributed the cause of the oil spill to the recent repairs of pipeline destroyed by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), some months ago.

Robert expressed disappointment in the way the multinational oil company was treating the issue without regards to the hardship caused by the spillage.

He said that it was unfortunate that the spill has impacted negatively on the ecosystem in the affected communities.

“I am not surprised because the company is trying to fix Edoho pipelines destroyed by NDA. I expected this to happen because there is no how they will fix the pipeline without oil spill occurring,” Robert said.

He disclosed that the oil spill was traced to ExxonMobil installations located at Okposo, Atia, Western end and Eastern end of Ibeno communities.

Robert called on the company as a matter of urgency to commence a thorough clean up .

“We expect them to promptly respond by calling the necessary authorities to do thorough investigation to ascertain the level of impact and damage to the community,’’ he said.

He urged ExxonMobil to constitute Joint Investigation Team (JIT), to expedite action on the clean-up exercise.

Also speaking, Mr Harry Moses, President of the group said that the communities discovered the oil spill on Dec, 13, 2016.

He said the development had caused hardship to the fishermen, farmer and people of the state, adding that fishermen are seriously affected by the oil spill.

“The problem with oil spill is that , sometimes you quickly notice where oil flows from and sometimes you don’t know. Sometimes the oil can also come from other locations.

“But this particular oil spill is from ExxonMobil facility,” Moses said.

He advised the company to urgently meet with the stakeholder s in the host communities to clean up the oil spill,’’ Moses said, ’Oil spill have affected the economy of Ibeno and the economic situation is appalling”

NAN reports that there’s been six cases of oil spillage suspected to be from ExxonMobil facility in 2016.

Manager, Media and Communications of Exxon-Mobil, Ogechukwu Udeagha was not available for comments. Calls to his Mobil phone and text messages were not answered.

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Spokesperson of the militant group, self-styled Brig-Gen. Mudoch Agbinibo, in an electronic mail, said: “At about 11.45pm November 15, 2016, our elite Strike Team 03 struck Nembe 1, 2 and 3 truck line operated by Agip, Oando and Shell with supply capacity of 300,000 barrel per day to Bonny export terminal.

“This is in response to the so-called “Operation Sharkbite,” an act of terrorism commissioned by the tyranny of the Nigerian Navy establishment and orchestrated by some elements of the ruling political class to continuously undermine any effort by the Nigerian state to addressing the legitimate demands of the people of the Niger Delta and as well as a conspiracy to bloat the accounts of some security contractors and conflict merchants within the party structure of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

“We are only reiterating our strong resolve that time is running against the Nigerian government, that there is doom ahead. The Nigerian government needs our cooperation more than we need the government as it concerns the extraction of the crude oil and hydrocarbon resources in our God-given land.

“We are determined to continue this war by all means necessary, until the right environment evolves for a genuine dialogue and negotiations within the framework of the 16-point key demands presented to President Muhammadu Buhari by PANDEF on November 1, 2016.”

Meanwhile, another attack was said to have hit a crude oil delivery line in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Though the identity of the gunmen believed to have come from the Akassa axis of the creek could not be ascertained, they were said to have bombed a riser at Igbikiba in Diebu in Southern Ijaw local government area between 10 and 11pm.

The bombed facility, according to a community source, is owned by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC. “The badly damaged facility is at Igbikiba in Diebu axis of the Tebidaba-Brass pipeline in Southern Ijaw council. It is a river crossing riser,” the source said.

Confirming the attack, the State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) stated that facility attacked was located in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area. The Commandant, NSCDC, Desmond Agu, said he got a report that two explosions rocked the pipelines.

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The Avengers spoke out days after the oil minister, Dr Ike Kachikwu, urged militants to stop further attacks following strikes on the Trans Forcados Pipeline, main contributor to the Forcados crude stream, the most recent of which was claimed by the NDA.

Most groups have adhered to a ceasefire in the last few weeks while the government held talks with community leaders who, like the militants, want a greater share of Nigeria’s energy wealth to go to the region that produces most of its oil.

“The Niger Delta Avengers cannot be blamed for the continuous bombing of crude oil export pipelines and other oil installations, since the government has been relentlessly carrying out military build ups to continuously harass communities,” the NDA said on its website.

President Muhammadu Buhari sent army reinforcements in May to arrest militants, a move that stoked anger as residents complained of rape, looting and arrests of youths unrelated to the militants, charges denied by the military.

On November 1, Buhari met leaders from the region for the first time since the attacks began. They urged him to withdraw the army, order oil firms to move their headquarters there and spend more on development to end the militancy.

Buhari responded by saying he would “revisit the situation” in the Niger Delta once he had considered reports from armed forces chiefs. But militants, including NDA, have attacked oil facilities since the talks.

“The High Command of the NDA is only reacting to government’s deliberate attempts to undermine the process to dialogue and negotiations,” the NDA said in its statement.

It said “the path to sustain the cessation of hostilities in the region” could not be achieved “when there are clear cases of deliberate security surge by the Nigerian government”.

Attacks since the start of the year cut Nigeria’s production by more than a third. But, with attacks becoming less frequent in the last few months, the oil minister said output had recovered to 2.1 million barrels a day. That brought it roughly back to levels before the attacks began.

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Then group, which stressed that the Federal Government needs the region for its survival, however, warned those working against the interest of the region to desist in their own interest.

According to the Avengers, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), led by Chief Edwin Clark deserves kudos by all well meaning Nigerians for presenting such minimal demands before the government of Nigeria, to pacify the people of the region “that has been continuously raped and dehumanized since 1914, because the ‘Golden Egg’ she lays is the commonwealth of the nation.”

Meanwhile, another militant group, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM) 
has alleged that the leaders were humiliated during the meeting with President Buhari.

According to the spokesman of the NDGJM, Gen. Aldo Agbalaja “The humiliation meted out to PANDEF by the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, did not come to the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate as a surprise, we expected it because we know, even the government knows the character and intent of the man and most of those he led to the meeting.

“We warned and the government/the world gave heed. The only painful part is the fact that the humiliation is stamped on the collective image of our people.”

The NDGJM dared President Buhari and his administration to attempt or fully carry out his military action against their people and see the response that will follow.

The Avengers, in a statement by their spokesman, Brig. Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, said the demands would lead to the roadmap to bring about the desired peaceful atmosphere that the nation needed, if there is sincerity.

The Avengers warned that “the days of buying peace through unpatriotic Niger Deltans, to extract our resources are gone for good”.

Agbinibo stated: “Since the day crude oil and gas resources was discovered for the past 60 years, we are only asking for portable water, electricity, affordable healthcare, quality education etc; until 1994, when our people were visited by state sponsored military terror by the regime of General Sani Abacha, a regime President Muhammadu Buhari served as one of his henchmen and chaired the Petroleum Trust Fund.

“This is the 21st century Niger Delta; we gave the Nigerian State and her International Oil Corporations freedom, peaceful atmosphere over time, but was betrayed. We are not deterred by President Muhammadu Buhari mulling over continuous military operation.”

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