Niger Delta militant groups have angrily faulted a
recent statement credited to the Vice President of
Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on the selfish
motives behind the new spate of militancy in the
South-south region.
A recent comment by Professor Yemi Osinbajo on
the hidden agenda of the rampaging Niger Delta
militant groups seem to have infuriated the
militants who have threatened to resume their
insurgency in the South-south region.
The trio of Niger Delta militant groups namely
Niger Delta Volunteers, NDV, Niger Delta Peoples
Liberation Front, NDPL, and Bakassi Freedom
Fighters, BFF have express their disaffection with
the recent statement that rubbishes their
advocacies for the development of the region,
Dailypost.
Osinbajo was reported to have made the statement
claiming they were fighting for their pockets last
weekend while delivering a lecture at Elizade
University in Ondo State.
The militant groups, in a statement signed by their
spokespersons – Ekpo Ekpo for NDV; Henry Etete
for NDPLF and Asukwo Henshaw for BFF, stressed
that instead of ridiculing them, the Vice President
should have advised President Muhammadu Buhari
to address the injustice in the Niger Delta.
In the statement made available to journalists in
Uyo on Tuesday, the militants criticised Buhari for
saying that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable,
stressing that the people of the Niger Delta were
tired of one Nigeria filled with injustice,
marginalisation and oppression minority ethnic
groups.
They threatened to resume attacks against oil
companies operating in the region and they urged
oil unions to withdraw their members from rigs and
platforms for their safety during the period.
The groups also condemned the newly constituted
Board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company
and demanded the appointment of someone from
the Niger Delta as GMD.
“It is an insult on the Niger Delta region that the
Minister of Petroleum who also doubles as the
President of Nigeria is from the North, the Group
Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru and four other
members of the board are also from the North, ”
they said.
The militants further called on the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate
what happened to local government funds in Akwa
Ibom State “because the local government areas in
the state had not carried out people-oriented
projects in the past one year.”
