Niger Delta Avengers: Ex-Militants tell Niger Delta youths what to do to Buhari
– Ex-MEND members called for peace in the Niger Delta region
– The ex-militants asked youths to give President Buhari a chance to deliver his promises
– They also asked the president to continue to honour the amnesty agreement
Former members of the now defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) have called on Niger Deltans to give President Muhammadu Buhari a chance to fulfil his promises and transform the region.
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Several groups in the region with the most notable being the Niger Delta Avengers have been expressing their agitation for the government to make the region better. The Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for the bombing of pipelines in the region which has resulted in the reduction of oil production.
Leadership reports that the ex-MEND leaders from the nine Niger Delta states who re-grouped under a peace advocacy group known as the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI) called on militants to stop their violent operation which has been a distraction to the Buhari administration.
Chief Reuben Wilson known in the creeks as General Pastor who issued a statement on behalf of LPCDI in Yenagoa on Saturday, May 21 said that although they had used violence in the past, it was not the best method of communication.
“There is the need to utilise other peaceful and civil means to build on sympathy of the world towards the region for more effective result rather than violence.
“We should give President Buhari the opportunity to fulfil his promises to the Niger Delta people by maintaining peace in the region because there can be no meaningful development in an environment ravaged by violence. Therefore the current resurgence of militancy is an unnecessary distraction to the current administration.”
The ex-militant leaders called on agitated youths from the region to shun violence and channel their grievances through the office of the Presidential Amnesty Committee, the Ijaw Youths Council or the office of the foremost former militant leader, Comrade Victor Ebikabowei, known as Boyloaf for a more positive resolution of their grievances.
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“We have asked the President, Muhammadu Buhari to strengthen and properly fund the Presidential Amnesty programme in order to stop some of the beneficiaries from going back to the creeks to engage in militant activities owing to hardship and non-fulfilment of the promises made by the federal government to them that led to the acceptance of the Presidential Amnesty programme. The situation where monthly stipends are delayed for months is not encouraging and could lead to undesirable consequences.”
Meanwhile, Chief Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo sent an open letter to President Buhari denying his involvement in the vandalism of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta region.
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