They are faceless and invisible forces who seem to have adopted a guerrilla war pattern in their operation. They invaded oil industry installations located in the creeks of Niger Delta, blew them upand disappeared into the thin air.Their activities have given the law enforcement agents a nightmare as several attempts to fish them out met a brick wall. In one of their efforts to fish out the faceless and heavily armed marauders who go by the name, Niger Delta Avengers, the Nigerian Army invaded Oporoza community in Gbaramatu Local Government Areaof Delta State in search of the group, believed to be operating from the area. Again they ended up hitting a brick wall. The soldiers came at 12.30amand laid siege when residents of the oil rich community were asleep. Six hours later, they left the community without catching a fly. During a four-day official visit to his home state, Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari had reinstated his determination to deal squarely withinsurgents in the country, wherever they are. He particularly gave a marching order to the military to crush the new militant group in the Niger Delta.They call themselves Niger Delta Avengers, claiming they are out to avenge the injustice meted out on the people of that region. Recently, the group presented a 10-point demand to the federal government as a condition to stop further hostility on oil installations. Some of their demands include an immediate implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference, oil bloc ownership to reflect 60 per cent for oil producing communities and 40 per cent for the non-oil producing states, re-establishment of the Nigeria Maritime University sited at Okerenkoko. They also demanded apologies from the minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi to the people of Niger Delta for “his reckless statement” about the sighting of the Maritime University. Other demands include the cleaning up of all the polluted environments of the Niger Delta, with particular emphasis on Ogoniland, as well as the release of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. They requested that all the members of the All Progressives Congress(APC) indicted of corruption should be arrested and prosecuted while the amnesty programme for the Niger Delta ex-militants should be well funded.It is believed in many quarters that most of their demands look absurd and uncalled for. For instance, they are demanding an apology from President Buhari and the Department of State Security (DSS) for allegedly killing the former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepriye Alamieyesegha. They claim he died as a result of intimidation and harassment. While claiming responsibility for the bombing of the Chevron oil facilities at Escravos in Warri, the group threatened to blow up all oil facilities in the oil rich Niger Delta region, including offshore platforms.Interested Nigerians want to know who is behind this new militant group. According to them, this has become necessary because prominent leaders and major stakeholders in the Niger Deltastruggle, as well as some ex-militants, have feigned ignorance of their existence and disassociated themselves from them.An ex-militant, High Chief Ateke Tom, denied knowledge of such group. Ateke Tom, who spoke to our reporter in Okrika through his media aide, Ifeanyi Ogbonna, was quick to condemn the activities of the group, and called on them to lay down their arms and embrace peace. He said the Niger Delta region needed peace, not crisis. He challenged those behind the group to unmask and table their grievances to the appropriate authorities. He promised to make case for the group if they could unmask and lay down their arms.“I don’t know the group you are talking about. I don’t also believe in their approach to get attention for whatever demand they are making. I am not in support of any form of violence. We don’t need violence now. What we want at present is peace and support for the present administration. I am not in support of what they are doing. You cannot achieve what you want through violence.“I don’t know what their grievances are, but whatever they are; they should eschew violence in their agitation. I am ready to intervene on their behalf and take their matter to the appropriate authorities if they can unmask. Those who are aggrieved should not use violence to get attention. We want peace in Niger Delta,” he said.Another former militant leader, Government Ekpelokolo, also known as Tompolo, equally distanced himself from the group. While disassociating himself from the group, Tompolo, who was granted amnesty by the federal government in 2009, said: “I am not part of the group. It is very unfortunate that I am still being accused of pipeline vandalism despite several press releases I have made, denying any involvement in the renewed hostilities in the Niger Delta.”He urged the Federal Government to carry out repair works on the Forcados 48-inch pipeline damaged by an attack, which the Niger Delta Avengers claimed responsibility.Another ex-militant leader from Bayelsa State, Genberal Ogunbus, also disassociated himself from the faceless group. Ogunbus, who spoke from his Yanagoa base, warned the militants to steer clear of Bayelsa State or face the wrath of the entire Ijaw kingdom. He said the activities of the group had portrayed the Ijaw nation in a bad light and urged the security agents to go after them.A Niger Delta rights activist, Ms Annkio Briggs, also said she didn’t know the group, but appearedto be sympathetic to their cause. Briggs said the issues the group talked about had been of concern to the region for a long time.“The issues have to do with injustice, equity and environmental matters. People like the late Ken Saro Wiwa, Oronto Douglas and Asari Dokubo hadspoken about such issues. So it does not come as a surprise to me that we have a new group talking about what has been on ground for a very long time. This group came up because the issues we have been talking about have not been addressed. The issue of Niger Delta has been there for a very long time, even before the Nigerian civil war. So we want the federal government to look into what they are talking about and address it,’’ she said.Briggs, however, called on the militants to lay down their arms and explore a peaceful approachto their agitation.
Daily Trust
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