Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said in Nairobi, Kenya over the weekend that his administration is ready to dialogue with militants whose spate of attacks on oil facilities in Niger Delta have resulted in over 30 percent reduction in the country’s oil production.
The President said this while speaking to journalists at the sidelines of the ongoing International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi, Kenya said while the Federal Government is also open to dialogue to resolve all contending issues in the Niger Delta region, the government did not believe that the militants have declared ceasefire as they claimed.
‘‘We do not believe that they (the militants) have announced ceasefire. We are trying to understand them more. Who are their leaders and which areas do they operate and other relevant issues,’’ he said.
At a later meeting with Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister, the President said that with the defeat of the Boko Haram terrorists by the military, the attention of the administration is now focused on stopping the destruction of the country’s economic assets by militants in the Niger Delta region.
He said the militants must dialogue with the Federal government or be dealt with in the same way like Boko Haram.
“We are talking to some of their leaders. We will deal with them as we dealt with Boko Haram if they refuse to talk to us.
“As a government, we know our responsibility, which is to secure the environment. It is clear to us that lenders won’t fund projects in insecure environments.
“We realize that we have to secure the country before we can efficiently manage it,” the President said.
President Buhari told the Japanese Prime Minister that security in the Gulf of Guinea, which is greatly affected by piracy and armed robbery at sea, was a priority for the Nigerian government.
‘‘We have provided funds to our Navy to buy new platforms, train and effectively organize the personnel to protect the area. We are looking forward to support from developed nations for satellite surveillance covering the Gulf,’’ the President said.