NIGERIA'S main opposition the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the government of bribing militant group the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) with $10m in a desperate bid to get them to call off their insurgency.
Over recent weeks, the NDA has stepped up its attacks on oil and gas installations across the Niger Delta, blowing up pipelines and hampering production. Although President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the army to crackdown on them, the vast array of facilities across the region makes it impossible to stop every attack.
According to the PDP, to get around the problem, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has sought to bribe the NDA in a bid to get them to lay down their arms. It claims that minister of state for petroleum Ibe Kachikwu, met with NSA leaders at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja where he offered them the money.
Making the allegation via Twitter, the PDP, said Mr Kachikwu tried to convince the militant group to stop its Operation Red Economy campaign against oil production in the country. So far, the PDP has not said if the militants accepted the offer or not.
“The $10m bribe was given to representatives of Niger Delta Avengers after a meeting with Ibe Kachikwu at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Mr Kachikwu appealed to the representatives of Niger Delta Avengers to plead to the militants to stop vandalisation of pipelines”, the PDP said.
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