The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is prepared for war against the federal government this year.
In a statement posted on its site on Friday, January 6, titled ‘Operations Walls of Jericho and Hurricane Joshua’, the group said it was set to resume hostilities in the Niger Delta region.
The militants congratulated its fighters and commands for a job well done in 2016 while declaring that the months and weeks in 2017 will be filled with surprises and a reconfiguration of the struggle for the liberation of their motherland.
The statement signed by its spokesman, Brig.Gen Mudoch Agbinibo read: “Since, the declaration of cessation of hostilities in the region by all fighters and affiliates, it has been evidently clear that the Nigerian state is not ready for any form of dialogue and negotiation with our people to addressing the issues sustaining the unending sufferings and deprivation of the people of the Niger Delta. The world is aware that, after listening to calls from our royal fathers, community leaders, stakeholders and members of the comity of nations especially the governments of the United States of America, Great Britain and the European Union, we halted all actions.
“This prospect for hope for a genuine dialogue and negotiations have been dashed and rejected. The world knows that PANDEF as team of critical stakeholders was mandated to engender a genuine dialogue and negotiations process that will be made of apolitical committed Niger Deltans to engage with the government and people of Nigeria, representatives of the International Oil Corporations and neutral observers. But this government decides to go around to politicising and blackmailing the process to forestall any genuine dialogue and negotiations.”
The NDA said it will resume Operations Red Economy and its next line of action will be unannounced with overwhelming signatures to this government and humanity.
The militants said it is only through hard knock that the Nigerian government can listen as it has ear problems which has taken a “deteriorating deaf level dimensions.”
“It is our believes that, the 2017 national budget of the federal republic of Nigeria is not based on the crude oil production output from the Niger Delta but it is based on the newly found oil deposits in the North and the new pipelines construction from the Niger Republic,” the group added.
The Avengers said the 2017/2018 crude oil term contracts awarded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company was conspiracy against the Niger Delta people and it will fail.
“To our Niger Delta people, we feel your pains from these dashed hopes of a genuine talk once again. All fighters and commands are hereby placed on high readiness in your webs of operations to hit and knock the enemy very hard. That is the way to discuss with a deaf, when he cannot understand your soft massage. We are determined to hit him very hard and deadly that even his eyes will shed blood, his ear will be more deafened and his heart shall quake; when he sees, hear and feel the outcome of our next activities.
On this note, we are declaring ‘Operations Walls of Jericho and Hurricane Joshua’ simultaneously to reclaim our motherland and dislodge all cleavages the Nigerian Ruling oligarchy has foisted on the region that is sustaining the ongoing primitive accumulation by dispossession,” the Avengers added.
The federal government has been trying to solve the Niger Delta crisis to no avail. All efforts to reach a truce with the militants has failed.
Three weeks ago, former militant commander, Israel Akpodoro, said Buhari should negotiate with the ex-militants and not Niger Delta elders as that is the only solution to the problem in the Niger delta region.
