The Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force, NDLF, a group of notorious Niger delta militants involved in massive pipelines vandalisation has alleged that senior Army Officers have contacted Niger Delta militants on plans to overthrow the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement, the NDLF said the senior officers have been encouraging the militants to intensify bombing of oil facilities in the Niger Delta so as to have basis to overthrow the government.
However, the group, in a statement by the Commander, General Duties, Joint Revolutionary Council, JRC, of JNDLF, General Akotebe Darikoro said it turned down the plan as it was not in line with the motives for their agitation.
“We are constrained to let the cat out of the bag today that President Buhari should be wary about the security of this country as some military men are making moves to remove him from power by instigating civil unrest in the country.
“Some top military men through their civil agents approached us to cause and continue the vandalization of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta region to serve as an excuse to take over the government from democracy to military rule in the country.
“We said no, as such plan is not in conformity with our genuine desire of agitation. The military want to disgrace him now and let him quickly look into the issues and make pronouncement for his administration to be in peace.
“Let the President analyze certain memo from the military concerning Niger Delta region before taking actions, otherwise the military will use that as a platform to remove him.
“We know that the issue of Niger Delta is political and we prefer political solution to resolve it, but if the president refuses, that is not our problem.
“Since some military men want to use various agitations in the country and the President’s probing of the military, which they said exposes the respected uniformed personnel to disrepute and ridicule before the civilian populaces as an excuse to strike.
“We received several calls from unknown persons to persuade us to continue the bombing and that when they succeed in overthrowing the government, we will be in a better position.
“We said capital no, when asked of their names, they said they are above Major General level. They refused to disclose their names but their intonation seemed like Yoruba and Hausa.
“Our agitation is not for selfish interest but for the overall benefit of the Niger Delta region. We will not kidnap any person or kill expatriate in the country but will continue our agitation with clear determination to actualize our cause in Nigeria,” the statement said.
The militant group, Niger Delta Avengers has been bombing oil facilities in the Niger Delta but recently appears to be ready for dialogue with the federal government.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has described the claim of coup as another campaign of calumny and distraction by faceless criminal gang of economic saboteurs that hide under the aegis of JNDLF.
A statement by Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, said that the allegation that some officers of the Nigerian Army approached them for support to overthrow our duly elected present democratic government is baseless and most unfortunate allegation that existed in the warped minds of the originators of such weighty allegation.
“The Nigerian Army wish to state that this is not true and hereby distanced itself from this weighty allegation. We also see this speculation as a dangerous distraction to our effort in fighting insurgency and other criminal elements in the country.
“The Nigerian Army would like to send a strong and an unequivocal warning to those speculating a coup by the Nigerian Army (NA) against the Government to desist forthwith. We would like to state in clear terms that that we are a product of democracy and a focused professional institution and would have nothing to do with such abomination and heinous crime.
“We wish to state further that the NA is the greatest beneficiary of democracy and therefore cannot ever contemplate any anti-democratic misadventure, certainly not under the command of the present Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai.
“Rather, we see this type of dangerous speculation as a declaration of war to destabilise the present government by these unscrupulous elements.
“The Nigerian Army is investigating those behind the dangerous insinuation in order to unravel the real motive behind it.
“We would like to reiterate our unalloyed loyalty to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and defence of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We would also like to reaffirm our unconditional support and obedience to civil authority.
“We wish to further assure Nigerians and indeed all peace loving people that the Nigerian Army and indeed its personnel will never be involved in such terrible misadventure.
“We wish to further add that no matter how long it takes, we would track and find out those behind these insinuations and bring them to justice,” Col. Usman said in the statement.
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