The Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, believed to have launched various attacks on oil and gas facilities in the creeks of the South-South region, on Thursday, vowed to declare the Niger Delta an independent entity come October 1, 2016, a day set aside for the commemoration of Nigeria’s independence from Britain.
Loading ...In a statement published on its website by self-styled Brig-Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, the NDA asserted that the Niger Delta no longer wants to be part of Nigeria, adding that their prayer is for oil to be discovered in commercial quantity in the North so that President Muhammadu Buhari can allow Niger Delta secede from Nigeria.
It reads, “Our prayer for Buhari and the Northern hypocrite (Northern Governors) is that oil should be found in commercial quantity in the North, so they can let the Niger Delta go.
“The Buhari-led government has fail Nigerians with their misdirected policies that has divide the country, as such nobody wants to be part of that failed state not even the Niger Delta.
“The October 1st, declaration of independence is still sacrosanct. If the Nigeria government fails to retrace its step by restructuring this country, we want to warn the general public that the day of reckoning is close for those using NDA to defraud people.”
It would be recalled that the militant group had released a similar statement in May 2016 where it threatened that “by October 2016 we will display our Currency, Flag, Passport, our ruling Council and our Territory to the world.
“To the United Nations, we are not asking for much but to free the people of the Niger Delta from environmental pollution, slavery, and oppression. We want a country that will turn the creeks of the Niger delta to a tourism heaven, a country that will achieve its full potentials, a country that will make health care system accessible by everyone.
“With Niger delta still under the country Nigeria we can’t make it possible. So we are calling on the Ban Ki-Moon Secretary General United Nations and all Heads of the government of the five Permanent Security Council members to come to the aid of Niger delta people. We are calling on world leaders to come to the Niger delta to see the atrocities committed by the Nigeria government.”
The latest release is coming barely a day after, Ballantyne Agiri, “spokesman” for the dialogue group of the Avengers, had indicated the readiness of the NDA to engage the federal government in dialogue in order to resolve the lingering crisis.
Agbinibo, who is the spokesman of the Niger Delta Avengers, however denied the report, stressing that “Ballantyne Agiri” was not authorised to speak for the militant group.
