The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) on Wednesday dared the Federal
Government to deploy its drones and other military hardware to the Niger
Delta to fight the various militant groups in the region.
While speaking at the inauguration of the newly built ultra-modern 2
brigade headquarters complex and Olympic-sized swimming pool in
Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, Chief of
Army Staff had urged Niger Delta militants to embrace the dialogue
offered by the Federal Government or risk contending with the force of
the army.
“Government is still committed to dialogue and where this cannot go
on – then there could be resort to other means,” Ibrahim Attahiru,
general officer commanding, 82 division, who represented him, had said.
“The non-kinetic (force) means has always been the source first
before government can recourse to the kinetic means. So, there is need
for the Niger Delta Avengers to see reason and dialogue with
government.”
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has also
described as “provocative”, Monday’s statement by Tukur Buratai that the
army would resort to force should peace talks with militants fail.
NDA said that they are not intimidated by the Federal Government’s threat of force.
In a statement made available to Independent, Brigadier
General Agbinibo Mudock, NDA spokesman, said that intelligence reports
at their disposal suggested that the dialogue propagated by the Federal
Government was a delay tactics adopted by the government while it
prepared its offensive.
“Intelligence gathered by the Niger Delta Avengers suggests that the
said peace talk or dialogue by the Federal Government is a delay tactics
employed by the Federal Government to enable them to purchase drones
that are said to arrive latest end of August from the United States.
“This whole thing makes us to wonder what kind of country is this. We
can all see that the President Buhari-led government is a fraud. They
are not serious about any dialogue but make it seem that the Niger Delta
Avengers are the ones not ready for dialogue.
“Mr. President, you can purchase all the drones in Europe and Untied
States. It will not stop the Niger Delta Avengers from bringing the
country’s economy to zero. The worst you can do is to kill poor innocent
people, which the military is good at, but know that the Nigeria
economy will suffer.
“Also note that you will not be able to export one litre of crude in
the Niger Delta. Just intensify the oil exploration in the North East.
As for the ones in the Niger Delta forget about it because the Nigerian
government won’t export a drop from our land,” NDA threatened.
Independent recalls that NDA has severally vowed to continue
with its attacks on crude oil pipelines and other installations until a
genuine dialogue mediated by a foreign organisation is convened.
The group had also warned that the proposed dialogue should not be
turned to a political jamboree, where it said, “All manner of social
media agitators and criminals are being sponsored by the job seeking
corrupt political class to safe faces before the government of the day.”
The activities of the NDA and other militant groups in the Niger
Delta have negatively affected Nigeria’s crude oil production and sales.
Crude oil production and the revenue accruing from it have been on
the downward drive since February when the NDA claimed an attack on an
underwater pipeline running that forced Royal Dutch Shell to shut down
its Forcados export terminal.
That singular action knocked off at least 250,000bpd.
Shell had also declared force majeure on exports of Bonny Light crude
after a leak on one of its trunk lines, even as Chevron also shut a
platform after an attack also claimed by the Niger Delta Avengers.
As at May 2016, Nigeria’s oil production had dropped to 1.65m barrels
a day, the lowest output in 22 years, because of resurgence of militant
activities in the Niger Delta region.
Meanwhile, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has cautioned
President Muhammadu Buhari against applying force in tackling militant
crisis rocking the Niger Delta region.
Dickson’s suggestion came amidst damages already inflicted on major
oil installations in the Niger Delta region by the various militant
groups.
The governor, who visited President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, to
fine-tune ways of addressing insecurity in the region, said ongoing
discussions with the militant groups and other stakeholders could be
truncated if military might comes into the picture.
Dickson, who spoke on a wide range of issues, told State House
correspondents that it behooves the Federal Government to first come to
terms with the real challenges bedeviling the region and seek assistance
from community leaders where necessary.
“The military solutions as I have always maintained is not the right
option, we are hopeful that the ongoing discussions will yield the
desired result.
“I have always been in support of negotiations, of dialogue as the
sustainable way forward. Dialogue will bring out the issues and then we
will all unite around these common issues to move our country forward.
“I have said that the issues in the Niger Delta, the terrain, the
historic nature of the issues and challenges are such that military
solution may not be the way forward.
“For us who are products of political system that is at this level,
we have a duty to mobilise communal and local leadership, we have a duty
to support the work of intelligence and our security agencies are doing
that.
“We have a duty to ensure that issues are better appreciated and that
we fill the communication gap and where there are issues, those issues
need to be addressed and is also our duty to network, like I am doing to
ensure that problems that are identified as the root cause of some of
these challenges are looked into,” he said.
Dickson also said part of his visit to the Villa was to laud the
president for his neutrality in the conduct of the Bayelsa governorship
election.
He noted that the president had exhibited maturity by taking a
neutral stance on all electoral matters, hence has indirectly
contributed in sustaining democratic principles.
“I also want to use this opportunity to appreciate Mr. President for
his non-interference in the political processes that played out in
Bayelsa in the last general elections.
“As you are also aware, yesterday the Elections Petition Tribunal
sitting in Abuja delivered judgment upholding my election and affirming
my emergence as a true product of the democratic exercise of rights of
our people in the December 5 and January 9.
“I appreciate Mr. President for his non-interference because contrary
to the propaganda that some politicians back home and even in Abuja
embarked upon.
“There was no name they didn’t call the president, there was no claim
that they didn’t make about the president, but I am telling Nigerians,
Bayelsans inclusive to disregard all that propaganda.
“The president never had anything to do by way of negatively
influencing the last general elections in Bayelsa and also the outcome
of the tribunal proceedings”.
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