The leading militant group operating in the oil-rich region of southern Nigeria, the Niger Delta Avengers, on Friday, September 23, 2016, blew up a major pipeline, the Bonny 48 inches crude oil export line in Rivers State ending its ceasefire.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the spokesperson of the militant group, Mudoch Agbinibo, claimed responsibility for the attack saying that this attack “action is a signature to the over dramatization of the so-called dialogue and negotiation process on the side of President Muhammadu Buhari and his government”.
“On the 23rd September 2016, our strike team at 20:40PM hours time has brought down oil productions activities at the Bonny 48 inches crude oil Export Line,” the statement said.
“Since, the cessation of hostilities and the commitment of the PAN Niger Delta Elders and stakeholders team, the Nigerian government and her agents are turning the expectations of the Niger Delta to shameful scenes obtainable in Nollywood acts and as well intimidations, blackmails and continuous profiling of Niger Delta sons and daughters.
“This is only a wake up call; we may not have other way to say it better,” the Niger Delta Avengers said. You may read the full statement below this report.
Who Are The Niger Delta Avengers?
Niger Delta Avengers is a new militancy group that is operating in the oil-rich region of Southern Nigeria. In the second quarter of 2016, the group emerged as the leading militant group mounting attacks on crude oil and gas installations in the troubled region.
The militant group say it is waging a war for a free Niger Delta Republic in what it tags, Operation Red Economy, with a view of halting crude oil production in Nigeria to force the government to grant the group’s demands.
The Avengers claims it has reduced oil production in the country to less than one million barrels a day. An analyst at VOA News corroborates the militants’ claims saying that oil production has dropped below one million barrels a day due to the waves of attacks on pipelines and oil installations.
The militant group has released its rules of engagement and says that it doesn’t kill anybody or attack oil workers or soldiers. The Delta Avengers called on all other groups operating in the region to abide by these rules of engagement. “We need God now, more than ever,” the group said in a statement.
The Niger Delta Avengers has presented an 11-point demand to President Muhammadu Buhari and the first is the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference. [Download Conference report HERE.]
President Muhammadu Buhari recently rejected the Avengers’ demands saying that the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable. The president’s first reaction to the Avengers was to declare war against them. He later promised to “crush them” as he did Boko Haram. That position has shifted to begging them in the ‘name of Almighty God’ to stop the attacks.
Pro-Biafra secessionist group, Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, has pledged “total allegiance” to the Niger Delta Avengers extolling the militant group for supporting the cause of a free Biafra. MASSOB embraces the tenets of nonviolence. It is led by Ralph Uwazuruike, a lawyer.
In June, 2016 the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, another secessionist group pledged its support for the Niger Delta Avengers, saying the groups’ ideal of freedom align.
The full text of the statement is reproduced below:
On the 23rd September 2016, our strike team at 20:40PM hours time has brought down oil productions activities at the Bonny 48 inches crude oil Export Line. This action is a signature to the over dramatization of the so-called dialogue and negotiation process on the side of President Muhammadu Buhari and his government.
Since, the cessation of hostilities and the commitment of the PAN Niger Delta Elders and stakeholders team, the Nigerian government and her agents are turning the expectations of the Niger Delta to shameful scenes obtainable in Nollywood acts and as well intimidations, blackmails and continuous profiling of Niger Delta sons and daughters. This is only a wake up call; we may not have other way to say it better.
We are still in favour of the dialogue and negotiations but we are warning against ” the peace of our time! We want the peace with honour”. We will resist all actions undermining the ceasefire from side of the government and it security agents/ agencies. The world is watching, time is running against the Nigerian state; while we were promised that the concerns of Niger Delta will be addresses once a truce is declared, the activities of the government and her agents are not assuring enough, there has been no progress and no breakthrough. We cannot be continuously fooled, the government cannot justify the indiscriminate targeting of Niger Delta youths while glorifying on these victimization of law abiding citizens of the region
Brig.Gen Mudoch Agbinibo
Spokesperson.
