Niger Delta Avengers, NDA,
yesterday, served a fresh warning to the Federal Government that it would
resume bombing of oil facilities if government made any further mistake to
enter into negotiation with selfish leaders in the region that represented
themselves instead of the interest of the people.
This came as Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, endorsed the October 31 meeting between
President Muhammadu Buhari and the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, aimed at
finding solutions to the current Niger Delta crisis. But a group, Urhobo Common
Cause, UCC, in Delta State, led by Henry Obukohwo Tafri, rejected the representation
of PANDEF, led by the former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin
Clark, saying it was concerned about alleged “internal colonialism perpetrated
by the leadership of Chief Clark.”
The Avengers in a statement accused
some unnamed selfish but vociferous Niger Delta leaders and groups of
appropriating the overall interest of the region to themselves and cronies
while the majority wallow in penury.
A spokesman for the NDA, who gave
his name as Col. Rightman Hudson Opukurowari, warned that any attempt by the
government to engage in any form of dialogue with Niger Delta leaders who had
allegedly hijacked the commonwealth of the people for their selfish interest,
would be resisted.
Opukurowari said: “Since we had
agreed to suspend bombing oil facilities and enter into genuine dialogue with
the government, the administration has not shown any seriousness in talking to
the right set of people to move the peace process forward.
Two months after the ceasefire, it
has become clear to the world that this government has not been sincere and
serious in meeting the simple demands of the people to put in place a concrete
plan of transforming the landscape and giving us any sense of hope despite our
critical contribution to the commonwealth of the nation.
“From the way the government is
going after we had suspended bombings, it is clear to the world that the
Federal Government is not ready to make peace with us as earlier promised and
we are under pressure to resume our attacks. It is obvious that the Muhammadu
Buhari administration has rather chosen to be nonchalant to the dialogue and
has deliberately decided to invite only their political friends for a dinner in
the name of dialogue, by their own selective measures, thereby ignoring the
chance for real peace and dialogue with the appropriate persons and groups.
“The Government is trying to avoid a
holistic approach to addressing the real issues affecting us and finding
solutions to them but merely taking time off to engage those we see as “Niger
Delta Vultures” sitting in Abuja with their sponsors, taking credit for our
genuine agitations.
We have watched and observed that
with the body language of the President and the composition of the so-called
dialogue group, no meaningful solution will be proffered unless the government
invites all concerned and genuine individuals and groups for the purpose of
finding a lasting solution to the crisis in the region.
“We hereby warn that any action
taken by the government to provoke us to resume hostilities would be more
brutal than before until we enter the promised land. “We are concerned because
these same persons invited for the scheduled dialogue have become Federal
Government dialogue contractors and they do not represent the interest of the
generality of the people.”
Source:Vanguard Newspaper
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