Niger Delta Liberation Force challenges President Buhari
- NDLF has told President Muhammadu Buhari that they are not afraid of him in the creeks
- The militant group says that the bombing of pipelines are not yet over
- The group says they won't condemn the recent bombings in the Niger Delta
- They urged other militants to not hide their identities if indeed they are fighting a course for the Niger Delta people
The Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF) has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari “is not God”, whom the “boys in the creek” would be afraid of.
The group recalled that as at the time they surrendered their weapons during the reign of President Goodluck Jonathan, they made it clear to the world that bombing of pipelines was not over.
NDLF asked the president to sack Paul Boroh, coordinator of the presidential amnesty programme, if he wanted to be in control of the “current oil war”.
“We do not condemn the current bombing because when we surrendered, we told the world that bombing of pipelines was not over yet,” Mark Anthony, spokesman of the group, said in a statement on Sunday.
“Those bombing pipelines in Delta State should not behave like cowards if they are truly fighting the interest of Niger Delta.
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“They should be bold enough to come out. When we were bombing, our leader General John Togo did not hide his face. We dealt with the Nigerian army, and we were not hiding.
“They should not hide their identity. Buhari is not God and they should not be scared of him. JTF should not attack and arrest innocent people in Ijaw communities, they should go for the real sabotuers.
“We had told former President Goodluck Jonathan that Nigerian army cannot protect pipelines in the creek.
“The current amnesty chairman Paul Boroh does not know the boys in Niger Delta. He is not in touch with Niger Delta major ex-agitators. Buhari should sack him immediately and appoint another chairman like Kingsley Kuku, who knows the boys in the creek. This will help the current oil war.”
Vanguard reports that the Niger Delta militants have continued their attacks on oil systems blowing up the Chevron Valve Platform in Abiteye, Warri North council area of Delta state.
The recent attack happened at about 10:40pm on May 5. An official of the Department of Security Services (DSS), who asked not to be named, confirmed the development continuing that the platform was totally destroyed with the use of dynamites.
According to the source, the platform is a main connecting point where all other installations link up and serves as a pivot to chevron BOP and the Chevron Tank farm thereby halting all operations of the company in the region.
The Niger Delta Avengers claimed the responsibility for the incident in a statement noted that onslaught on the facility is in line with its pledge to the Nigerian government to cripple the economy.
Meanwhile, Chief Ayimi Emami, a Niger Delta activist, has called on the federal government not to bow to “cheap blackmail” antics of a former militant leader who is allegedly behind the recent attacks on oil facilities and pipelines in Warri area of Delta state.
“Those who have issues bothering on criminal activities and illegalities should go to the court to answer did their deeds and clear their names rather than resorting to cheap blackmail to arm-twist the federal government and the EFCC to drop the charges against them.
“One man cannot hold the FG to ransome; he cannot hold the nation by forming a parallel government within the Nigerian state,” he stressed.
The Nigerian army has issued serious warming to persons taking laws into their hands to desist or face the wrath of the army.
This warning hints that the message is directed at a militancy group, Niger Delta Avengers that has claimed responsibility for series of bombing of pipelines in the region.
Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar who is the acting director defence information in a statement issued on Sunday, May 8 said groups looking for relevance must do it through the proper channel and not through violence.
In the same vein, the IYC spokesperson, Mr Eric Omar has said: “The Ijaw Youth Council does not see the justification in the Niger Delta Avengers embarking on destruction of oil facilities because Tompolo denounced the group. I think Tompolo did the proper thing by coming out to inform the entire world that he was not part of the Niger Delta Avengers when there were insinuations to the effect that he was behind them.”
“As with other cases of attack on oil facilities, the Niger Delta environment and people are the ultimate victim and would suffer from these latest attacks. The IYC believe that irrespective of the grievances, there are better ways of expressing them rather than contributing to the further destruction of the already massively degraded Niger Delta environment. On the fresh directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to security agencies to crush the militants, he asserted” While the IYC do not support the attacks on oil facilities, we hasten to add that it should not be used as a justification to attack innocent Niger Delta communities”.
He added: “The security agencies should go after the real culprits and not innocent communities and people in the Niger Delta region. From our experience, the security personnel in a bid to impress their superiors and justify the huge amount of money budgeted for the purpose always attack innocent communities and people.”
“This must not be allowed to happen this time around. We would also advise the federal government to be prompt in directing security agencies to deal with insurgent groups all over the country, including the Fulani herdsmen, who have been killing innocent Nigerians just like they have just directed in respect of the Niger Delta Avengers,” Omare added.
Source: Legit.ng
