The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) on Friday disowns any peace talks with the Federal Government. They insisted that they were not aware of any peace talks, adding that if actually any such existed, the government was dealing with mercenaries. The statement is coming even as the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC described claims of any peace talks by the Federal Government as a hoax.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday said his administration was talking with Niger Delta militants through oil companies and law enforcement agencies to find a lasting solution to insecurity in the troubled region.
But a statement released on the website of the NDA by the group’s spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo maintained that the government was not in touch with any group of militants to ensure peace in the area. He said the President is not sincere to the people of the country and foreign partners about the true situation in the Niger Delta region.
He however gave a condition for the group’s engagement for negotiation, which is that the international community must be part of the processes.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports that the President is in touch with Niger Delta agitators including the Niger Delta Avengers but the truth is that we are not aware of any peace talk.
“If there is any such peace talk, it means the President is talking to their mercenaries set to disturb the genuine struggle of the agitators. President Buhari led government is not sincere to the Nigerian people and their foreign allies.
“If we are to engage in any peace talk, we made it clear that the international community must be part of it. The President knows our demands. So they should stop deceiving the international oil companies, the general public and the international community.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Ijaw Youth Council has warned the Federal Government to stop deceiving Nigerians and the international community on the true situation of security in the region.
The Council in a statement made available to newsmen Friday and signed by its spokesman, Eric Omare said that President Buhari and the Federal Government should stop playing pranks with Nigerians and the international community about peace talks with the Niger Delta militants on how to stop attacks on oil facilities in the region.
According to the Ijaw youths, “It is highly ridiculous and laughable for President Buhari to say that his government is negotiating with Niger Delta militants through oil companies and law enforcement agencies during the farewell audience he held with Mr. Michael Zinner, the outgoing Ambassador to Germany on Thursday, the 21st of July, 2016.
“It is even embarrassing for the President of an independent nation such as Nigeria to say that it is oil companies that are negotiating for peace with Niger Delta agitators which in effect amounts to surrendering the sovereignty of Nigeria to international oil companies. The IYC wonders if Nigeria is back to the pre-colonial and independent Royal Niger Company days where international companies govern Nigeria. The point must be made that the issues at stake are completely beyond the capacity of oil companies to resolve.”
The IYC called on President Buhari’s handlers to properly advise him on how to solve the current hostilities in the Niger Delta region and equally display a determination to resolve the problem as his predecessors did. “Only a sincere and holistic dialogue with the people of the Niger Delta region which is aimed at addressing the remote causes of recurrent militancy can bring permanent peace to the Niger Delta region. This can only happen when President Buhari as the political leader of Nigeria come down to the negotiation table”, the group added. Meanwhile, the Federal Commissioner in charge of Public Complaints Commission in Delta State, Mathias Commander Eto has urged militants to embrace peace and cease further hostilities in the Niger Delta.
Eto who spoke in Oleh, Isoko South Local Government Area of the state, admitted that activities of the NDA can cripple the country’s economy. “A look at the economic position of the country since their activities began has shown that they have achieved their goals. Times are becoming harder on the common man.
“And they are creating more unemployment as we are hearing of retrenchment of workers and state governments’ inability to pay salaries. They are creating problems for their own people,” Eto said.
According to him, one effect of the insurgency that has not been properly noted is the environmental destruction and degradation caused, and admonished leaders to be mindful of their actions and statements as they leave lasting marks in their wake.
Meanwhile, ex-militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, better known as Tompolo, has in another letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, accused the present administration of unfair treatment.
Tompolo, who said this might be the last letter that he will write to the president, claimed that one of the limbs of his 84-year-old father has been amputated as a result of assault from security agents.
The former Commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said many of his aides and family members are being regarded as members of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), and that the military have been going after them.
He alleged that security forces have been conniving with some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to attack him.
“I wish to write your Excellency once again on the continuous harassment and intimidation of my family members and close associates by your security agencies (Nigerian Army, Navy, Department of State Service (DSS), and the Police) in connivance with one Ayiri Emami and Michael Johnny, both members of your party, All Progressives Congress (APC),” the letter read.
-Emmanuel Ikechukwu
