Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Militant group, Niger Delta Avengers has threatened to resume bombings of oil installations after some months ceasefire to give room for negotiation with the federal government to cripple the economy.
The group made the declarations on Saturday in a statement in which its spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Mudock Agbinibo, promised that the group would resume “operation red economy”.
It will be recalled that the Avengers, through attacks on installations were able to reduce Nigeria’s oil output to barely over a million barrels for most parts of 2016. However, following peace talks initiated with some elders in the region led by Chief Edwin Clark, the militants agreed to stop attacks on the oil installations to allow government addressed concerns of the people of the oil producing region.
This allowed Nigeria’s oil production to go up again.
The militants are demanding for grater control of resources, mainly oil mined from the region. While the President Buhari met with the elders led by Clark under the auspices of PANDEF some months ago, there have been little progress in the peace talks.
The militants believe that the Federal Government is not serious in meeting their demands.
Hence, Agbinibo noted that the decision to continue hostilities on critical national assets was informed by the alleged luck warm attitude exhibited by the Federal Government in addressing the challenges of the Niger Delta Region despite its ceasefire.
Mudock particularly thanked Niger Deltans for their dispositions in the liberation movement of the region, adding that the remaining months of 2017 will be filled with surprises with the alleged reconfiguration of the said Niger Delta struggle.
Speaking on the Modus Operandi, in their words “The world should be assured that, our next line of actions to redeem “Operations Red Economy” will be unannounced with surely overwhelming signatures to this government and humanity. The world is aware that, the government of Nigeria has ear problems but we never knew that it has taken a deteriorating deaf level dimensions. It is only through hard knocks we can speak to the Nigerian government henceforth.”
The statement read in part “The High Command of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), felicitate with all fighters and commands for job well done in 2016 and welcome us all to the year 2017! We earnestly praise the people of the Niger Delta for your prayers and support to the liberation movement. We thank the local and international press community for telling our story.
“As we get prepared for the challenges ahead 2017, We make bold to tell the people of our Niger Delta, sane minds in Nigeria and the comity of nations that the remaining 11 months and couples of weeks in 2017 will be filled with surprises and a reconfiguration of the struggle for the liberation of our motherland.
“Since, the declaration of cessation of hostilities in the region by all fighters and affiliates, it has been evidently clear that the Nigerian state is not ready for any form of dialogue and negotiation with our people to addressing the issues sustaining the unending sufferings and deprivation of the people of the Niger Delta.
“The world is aware that, after listening to calls from our Royal Fathers, Community Leaders, Stakeholders and members of the comity of nations especially the governments of the United States of America, Great Britain and the European Union, we halted all actions.” It noted.
Stressing that “This prospect for hope for a genuine dialogue and negotiations have been dashed and rejected.
“The world knows that PANDEF as team of critical stakeholders was mandated to engender a genuine dialogue and negotiations process that will be made of apolitical committed Niger Deltans to engage with the government and people of Nigeria, representatives of the International Oil Corporations and neutral observers.
“But this government decides to go around to politicising and blackmailing the process to forestall any genuine dialogue and negotiations.
“It is our believes that, the 2017 national budget of the federal republic of Nigeria is not based on the crude oil production output from the Niger Delta but it is based on the newly found oil deposits in the North and the new pipelines construction from the Niger Republic. It is also worthy to inform the IOCS and their partners that have been awarded the 2017/2018 crude oil term contracts by the Nigerian state.
.The group warned “That their contract at a time when the Nigerian State has turn deaf ears to the Niger Delta Agitation is seen as a conspiracy against our people that will fail. These contracts will make or mare the destinies of your companies in our Niger Delta.
“To our Niger Delta people, we feel your pains from these dashed hopes of a genuine talk once again. All fighters and commands are hereby placed on high readiness in your webs of operations to hit and knock the enemy very hard.
“That is the way to discuss with a deaf, when he cannot understand your soft massage. We are determined to hit him very hard and deadly that even his eyes will shed blood, his ear will be more deafened and his heart shall quake; when he sees, hear and feel the outcome of our next activities.
“On this note, we are declaring “Operations Walls of Jericho and Hurricane Joshua” simultaneously to reclaim our motherland and dislodge all cleavages the Nigerian Ruling oligarchy has foisted on the region that is sustaining the ongoing primitive accumulation by dispossession,” Agbinibo declares.