It is now certain that the ongoing dialogue between the Pan-Niger Delta Elders Forum and President Muhammadu Buhari is heading for the rocks as Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), yesterday claimed it brought down three trunklines in Nembe, Bayelsa State, with supply capacity of 300,000 barrels per day to the Bonny export terminal in Rivers State.
The NDA said in a statement issued yesterday that its elite strike team 03 attacked Nembe 1, 2 and 3 trunklines operated by Agip, Oando and Shell at about 11.45p.m last Monday in response to the ongoing naval exercise in the region, particularly in Delta State.
THISDAY checks revealed that the attacks came up less than eight hours to the arrival of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, to Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS Delta) Warri; Navy Hospital Effurun near Warri and other naval formations in Sapele and Oghara in Delta State.
A statement signed by the group’s spokesman, Mudoch Aginibo, said: “At about 11.45p.m. November 15, 2016, our Elite Strike Team 03 struck Nembe 1, 2 and 3 truckline operated by Agip, Oando and Shell with supply capacity of 300,000 barrel per day to Bonny export terminal in Rivers State.
“This is in response to the so-called ‘Operations Sharkbite,’ an art of terrorism inaugurated by the tyranny of the Nigerian Navy establishment and orchestrated by some elements of the ruling political class to continuously undermine any effort by the Nigerian state to addressing the legitimate demands of the people of the Niger Delta and a conspiracy to bloat the accounts of some security contractors and conflict merchants within the party structure of the APC.”
The latest attack was in contrast with the position of the Niger Delta stakeholders led by Chief Edwin Clark which last Friday condemned the renewed attacks on oil facilities, describing the avengers as criminals and enemies of the region.
Other rights groups, including Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative (IPDI) led by Austin Ozobo and Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) headed by Sheriff Mulade, have condemned the renewed attacks on oil facilities by the group.
THISDAY checks revealed that the spontaneous reactions and condemnations of its attacks led to NDA’s statement last Sunday in which it laboured to justify its recent actions which still did not gel with its hitherto supporters and sympathisers in the region.
Trying to justify the attacks on the Nembe lines yesterday, the NDA said its attack on the trunkline was to reiterate its strong resolve that time is running against the Nigerian government and “that there is doom ahead.
“The Nigerian government needs our cooperation more than we need the government as it concerns the extraction of the crude oil and hydrocarbon resources in our God-given land. We are determined to continue this war by all means necessary, until that environment prevails for a genuine dialogue and negotiations within the framework of the 16-point key demands presented to President Buhari by PANDEF on the November 1, 2016.
“We want the peace with honour, we don’t want the peace of our time. Since that moment military was drafted into the Niger Delta as an instrument of suppression to our fatherland against all peaceful protest and legitimate demands, the fear had gone. The message is getting stronger with more messengers.”
Source: Thisday
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