A group,
Reformed Niger Delta Avengers, RNDA, claiming to be a breakaway faction of the
Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, emerged, yesterday, backed out of the continued
attacks on pipelines by the principal organization, threatening to expose the
identities of NDA fighters and their sponsors if the militant group do not
cease hostilities.
AvengersThe
new group in a statement by Cynthia Whyte, last night, said: “Permit us to
begin by introducing the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA), a breakaway
faction of the Niger Delta Avengers.” Saturday Vanguard sent an electronic mail
to NDA yesterday evening for its response, but at 8.35 pm, it had not responded.
A privileged
source, who preferred anonymity, hinted: “I don’t think it is true, the Niger
Delta Avengers we know cannot chicken out of the struggle, I think some people
have been paid to cause confusion and derail their struggle.
” RNDA,
however, said: “A majority of us in consideration of the recent personal appeal
by His Excellency, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the peace efforts
and initiative of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)
and the feeling of guilt over the damage being effected on our environment.
“And at the
same time, the government of President Buhari has exhibited political will and
backing words with action to clean up the environment, we have decided to join
the MEND Aaron Team 2 peace initiative through the clearing house of Niger
Delta Dialogue and Contact Group (NDDCG) headed by HRH King Alfred
Diette-Spiff,” the group said
It asserted: “ We will also cooperate with the
government by exposing the identities of our comrades, who remain stubborn in
their insistence to continue attacks.
For example, it will shock the nation to know
the Jekyll and Hyde personality behind the pseudonym ‘Brigadier General Murdoch
Agbinibo’ and our sponsors.”
It added:
“We also use this opportunity to call on the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB,
to take advantage of the olive branch concession secured by MEND and renounce
the Biafra question which is an anachronism.
“Those
advising Mr. Nnamdi Kanu to do otherwise neither love him nor appreciate the
level of treason this simple act of common sense and humility can extricate him
from,” the new group pointed out. It stated: “ The Niger Delta will no longer
be your proxy war to achieve your ambition.
To our
comrades in the NDA, we urge you to stop being defiant and embrace peace and
the wise counsel we all received from former President Jonathan.”
Meanwhile,
the Ijaw Human Rights Monitors, IJHR, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to
liaise with former President Goodluck Jonathan to help him in resolving the
Niger Delta logjam.
Coordinator
of the group, Fred Brisibe, in a statement, said: “We noticed from the body
language of former President Goodluck Jonathan after his meeting with President
Muhammadu Buhari that there are flickers of light at the end of the tunnel for
the bleak situation of uncertainty around the agitation for restructuring.”
“However, this hope may fizzle out too soon if certain ugly trends are not
arrested without delay.
Truth is,
certain characters who are members of the so-called Niger Delta Contact and
Dialogue Team are on a mission to thwart the peace initiative. “They frolic
daily with the fraudulent MEND and use the opportunity of their membership of
the committee to extort money from unsuspecting government officials for self-enrichment.
This is adversely affecting the peace process and may completely frustrate the
dialogue,” he said.
The group
asserted: “It is important, therefore, that for any meaningful and pragmatic
solution to emerge, President Muhammadu Buhari should liaise with Goodluck Jonathan
to get a proper team of delegates from the region to dialogue with.” “We wish
to use the opportunity to call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and the DSS to arrest and prosecute anyone who is involved in this
syndicate,” it added
Read more at Vanguard News
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