A socio-political group, Assembly of Concerned Niger Delta People, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, as special envoy to Niger Delta. In early May 2016, NDA sabotaged Chevron’s offshore Okan gas valve platform.
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NDA mounted an attack on Shell’s Forcados underwater flow line in February using divers, showing that it has the skills and knowledge needed to cripple energy infrastructure.
The Avengers have accused Buhari of ignoring local problems. “Since innocent and helpless citizens, especially from South-South and South East, have been marked for extinction, we will defend our people”, he said.
Separately, the Niger Delta Avengers group said it had attacked two crude pipelines operated by Italy’s ENI.
The group did not say which oil company is operating the pipelines.
MEND, as the previous militancy was called, faded away after the government instituted an amnesty program in 2009 that gave ex-militants monthly stipends and enrolled some in training programs.
Nor are they necessarily members of the previous insurgency, as they’ve feuded publicly with Government Ekpemupolo, known as Tompolo, a prominent former militant who is wanted by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency.
Because of the upsurge in attacks, Nigeria’s oil production decreased by 800,000 bpd to around 1.4 million bpd, dropping the country behind Angola as the continent’s largest oil producer.
The Governor also reiterated that “the Niger Delta region as at today is still the golden goose laying the golden egg on which all other regions are surviving”, saying; “Diversification as good as it sounds, takes time”. Another rise in militant violence “would not help its prospects”, she added.
However, the as at the time of this report, the Presidency was yet to explain the decision for the president aborting the much talked about visit to Ogoniland.
This cancellation comes on the heels of the threat issued by the Niger Delta Avengers to the president and his associates.
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But the minister also stated that the $1bn set aside for the clean-up exercise would not be enough for the programme, which experts had said would last several years before it can be completed.
