Over recent months, the NDA has reintroduced militancy into the Niger Delta, blowing up oil pipeline and installations, cutting Nigeria's crude oil output. Despite government attempts to get the militants to lay down their arms and enter into negotiations, the NDA has refused to stop its campaign.
Exasperated with the refusal of the NDA to agree to a ceasefire, one senior government official who is an ex-army officer, said they are now planning to take them on. He added that the plan has reached advanced stage with some retired army officers from the Niger Delta region having already met and may call a larger meeting to take up the fight themselves if the militants do not stop destruction of oil and gas installations.
“We have kept quiet for too long and with the way the militants are going, they do not seem to understand that they are destroying our environment and inviting the security agencies to come to our territory and kill our people,” he added.
Community group Voice Delta, also opposed to the bombings, claiming that an ex-militant leader was behind the Avengers. One of its spokesmen said: “Intelligence available to us indicates that over 90% of the ex-agitators in the region are ready to partner with the federal government in flushing out the NDA.”
This came as the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, which gave the government a two-week ultimatum, last Saturday, to declare its stand on the planned dialogue, extended an olive branch to the NDA to join its Aaron Team 2 for peace talks with government under stipulated conditions. However, the well-placed government official maintained that the government will not dialogue with criminals but will talk with well-meaning stakeholders in the region that are working for peace.
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