Nigeria and the Niger Delta Avengers, the
militant group that has been attacking
oil pipelines in the Niger Delta region, on
Wednesda
y agreed during a secret meeting to
pursue dialogue to end the violence, which
has reduced Nigeria’s daily oil production to
680,000 barrels per day.
The meeting was held at the Governor’s Office
in Asaba, Delta State between Nigeria’s Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, with
representatives of Niger Delta Avengers and
other militant groups.
A copy of the communique of the meeting obtained
by SaharaReporters shows that
the meeting also had in attendance the Delta
State Governor, Patrick Ifeanyi
Okowa; an Itsekiri militant leader, Ayirimi Emami; a
representative of Gbaramatu Kingdom,
Michael Johnny; and two persons representing the
interest of the Niger Delta
Avengers: Gbeneka Godspower and Dan Ekpebide.
The meeting resolved
that Mr. Kachikwu would visit Gbaramatu today to
show good faith by the federal government to
reinstate the “Maritime University” project, which is
one of the key issues in the conflict.
As a result, the Minister traveled to the kingdom
today and met with various stakeholders. A source
told SaharaReporters that while in the
area, Kachikwu also met with wanted Niger Delta
militant, Tompolo, but SaharaReporters could
not verify that information. In previous
statements, Tompolo had stated that he was not in
the area, and he has recently been reported to be
abroad.
A source at the meeting said that from all
indications at the meeting the Delta State Governor
and Mr. Kachikwu clearly knew who the ND
Avengers are, and had brought in Ayiri, who is
an Itsekiri militant, as a way of
reconciling both sides. The Itsekiris are however
said to have expressed the view that
Mr. Kachikwu’s travel to Gbaramatu without visiting
the controversial EPZ zone, located just five
minutes away, showed he was more interested in
pleasing Tompolo and the ND Avengers than
anything else.
Mr. Kachikwu had held a series of meetings with
representatives of the ND Avengers
before today’s visit to Gbaramatu.
It would also be recalled that at a meeting last
week with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and
governors of the South-South States, the
Minister was reported as having sided with those
governors who demanded that corruption charges
be dropped against politicians and militants in
the Niger Delta region in exchange for peace.
