YENAGOA- A militant
group, Niger Delta Revolutionary Crusaders, NDRC, based in Bayelsa State,
Wednesday, declared a two-week armistice within which it urged President
Muhammadu Buhari to review his hard-line stance to consequential dialogue
with
militants and first-rate leaders of Niger Delta to prevent total devastation of
crude oil export facilities.
This came as the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA,
accused ExxonMobil of telling lies about the bombing of its Qua Iboe 48-inch
crude export pipeline on Monday evening.
Spokesperson of the militant group,
self-appointed Brig Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, stated: “ExxonMobil can deny and fool
the general public about their Export Pipeline blown, yesterday (Monday).
How
long can they lie to their investors? Just in matter of days, the whole world
will see the truth. Qua Iboe 48” crude oil export pipeline is down, so said the
Avengers.” NDRC, which recently blew up the Brass Creek Manifold, the largest
in West Africa, situated in Peretorugbene, Ekeremor local government area,
Bayelsa state, said: “With clear evaluation of the happenings and advice of
well- meaning Nigerians and Niger Delta stakeholders, we hereby declare a two-
week ceasefire for a sincere and proper dialogue.”
Spokesperson of the group,
WOI Izon-Ebi, said in a statement: “We want the Federal Government to consult
distinguished personalities, royal fathers and chiefs of the Niger Delta
communities.
Government should disassociate itself from negotiating with
political jobbers in Abuja, but come down to the Niger Delta communities.”
“If
after the two weeks of ceasefire, nothing meaningful happens, we have no option
but to redirect our next phase of action to the exporting terminals to stop
total export of our resources.
“We hereby call on Mr. President to do the
needful by being sincere to himself and Nigerians to engage in meaningful
dialogue to ensure a lasting peace in the Niger Delta and Nigeria in
particular,” it added.
NDRC asserted: “We have lived all our lives as victims
and like fishes constantly immersed in pools of pollution, so it is no longer
new to us,” adding, “Come to talk about explosion and degradation it does not
start today, it has been for the past fifty (50) years.
That is why the
colonial masters pointed it out categorically clear to Nigerians before
independence that the Ijaws and the Ogoni communities are priority areas of
concentration and development by the Nigerian government.” “All what we need is
a clean environment devoid of pollution, development, good drinking water, motor-able
roads cutting across our communities, electricity, universities, resource
control,” it said.
The militant group, however, expressed reservation about the
Minister of Transport, Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi, saying, “He is taking his hatred
against former President,
Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and Ijaw nation too far, which
is too bad for the peace and unity of Niger Delta and Nigeria in general.”
“Maybe Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, the current minister of Transport is not a good
historian; otherwise, he should have known that the three higher institutions
in his Ikwerre land except Rivers State Polytechnic were established by an Ijaw
man, Chief Diette Spiff, the then military administrator of Rivers State.
They
are Rivers State University of Science and Technology and University of
Port-Harcourt,” NDRC said.
“Why should a man that has three universities in his
land, Ikwerre, recommend the scrapping of the one and only Maritime University
in Ijaw land, which if fully operational will create qualified manpower to man
the petroleum and maritime sectors. Is Rotimi Amaechi an instrument in the
hands of Niger Delta oppressors manipulating him in order to achieve their
Northern agenda? The militant group asked
Source: Vanguardngr
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