MILITANT group the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) appears to have formally declared a cessation of hostilities and agreed to enter into dialogue with the federal government with a view to resolving the region's ongoing problems.
In recent months, the NDA has been up in arms against the federal government over negligence in the Niger Delta and despite the offer of talks, the group has insisted that its campaign will continue. Of late, there has been a split within the tanks of the militants, however, with some wanting to continue the fight, while one faction wants to commence talks with the government.
Over the weekend, Ijaw elder Chief Edwin Clark and other Niger Delta elders appealed to the NDA to embrace dialogue and it looks like their clarion call has been heard. At a stakeholders conference held on Friday they put in place plans to negotiate with the federal government and multinational oil companies on modalities for de-escalating conflicts in the region.
NDA spokesperson, Mudoch Agbinibo, said it will continue to observe cessation of hostilities against the interests of oil companies but warned that it will engage in asymmetric warfare during the period should the federal government use security agencies to harass or intimidate its suspected members. He maintained that the NDA's struggle has always been a Pan-Niger Delta one, stressing that it is aware that anti-Niger Delta elements were using some disorganised characters from the region to scuttle all efforts to restore the essence of their humanity, resource control and self-determination.
Mr Agbinibo said: “We are going to continue the observation of our unannounced cessation of hostilities in the Niger Delta against all interests of the multinational oil corporations but we will continuously adopt our asymmetric warfare during this period if the Nigerian government and the ruling political APC continues to use security agencies/agents, formations and politicians to arrest, intimidate, invade and harass innocent citizens, suspected NDA members and invade especially Ijaw communities."
Reiterating its support for the outcome of Chief Clark’s conference, the NDA warned that the emerging negotiating team from the conference must be peopled by those that have genuine love for the development of the region. Mr Agbinibo added that whenever the federal government is ready for dialogue or negotiations with the team, the mandate must be treated with care.
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