{"id":12237,"date":"2016-11-06T20:02:44","date_gmt":"2016-11-06T20:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=12237"},"modified":"2016-11-06T20:09:23","modified_gmt":"2016-11-06T20:09:23","slug":"niger-delta-fragile-peace-threaten-as-militants-army-prepares-for-major-was-as-group-condemns-invasion-of-gbaramtu-kindgom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=12237","title":{"rendered":"Niger Delta fragile peace threaten as militants, Army prepare for &#8220;major war&#8221;: Group condemns invasion of Gbaramtu Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p><code><wbr \/><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Egbesu-Fraternity.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-10834\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Egbesu-Fraternity-300x188.jpg\" alt=\"Egbesu-Fraternity\" width=\"300\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Egbesu-Fraternity-300x188.jpg 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Egbesu-Fraternity-128x80.jpg 128w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Egbesu-Fraternity.jpg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <wbr \/><br \/>\nNiger Delta militants <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083376\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Saturday<\/span><\/span> threatened \u2018war\u2019 while dissociating themselves from the meeting elders from the oil-rich region had with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, last Tuesday.<br \/>\nApart from distancing themselves from the meeting, they warned the Federal Government not to rejoice yet over the recent rise in oil production in the country, threatening that a series of attacks await oil facilities in the region in the days ahead.<br \/>\nThe militants also asked the Federal Government to drop the charges against Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, and other leaders from the region.<\/code><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=11489&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, which is the only militant group that has refused to key into the ceasefire with the government, also claimed responsibility for <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083377\"><span class=\"aQJ\">Wednesday\u2019s<\/span><\/span> bombing of the Trans-Forcados Crude Export pipelines near Batan community in the Warri South-West Council Area of Delta State.<br \/>\nThe Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083378\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Tuesday<\/span><\/span> said Nigeria\u2019s oil production had recently risen to normal after a sharp drop earlier this year due to renewed militant attacks on oil and gas facilities in the region.<br \/>\nIn a statement issued <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083379\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Saturday<\/span><\/span> by its spokesperson, Aldo Agbalaja, the militant group accused President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s government of plotting to wage war against the people of the Niger Delta region.<br \/>\n\u201cAs a matter of fact, what the Avengers did to the oil industry will be nothing compared to the grand plan already set by our central command. We shall bring Nigeria\u2019s daily output quota to below 500,000 barrels. Just be ready for the approaching tsunami.<br \/>\n\u201cThe multinational oil companies, we know you are recalcitrant and will always come to test wills, we hope you will continue in this tradition so there will always be reason to let the world know that \u2018you don\u2019t contest the corners of a house with the owner of the house.\u2019<br \/>\n\u201cThe destruction of the Trans-Forcados Pipeline is just a warning. We warned against the restarting of the facility, but the daring companies won\u2019t listen. That shadow operation that brought the TFP down was only meant to let these companies know that we aren\u2019t kidding with them; when we say stay down, you stay down, and it\u2019s in your best interest.\u201d<br \/>\nThe militant group described last Tuesday\u2019s meeting between Buhari and stakeholders, including traditional rulers from the region as a humiliation of the people of the Niger Delta.<br \/>\n\u201cThe humiliation that came with the meeting of the elders with President Muhammadu Buhari did not come to the NDGJM as a surprise. We expected it because we know even the government knows the character and intent of the man and most of those he led to the meeting.<br \/>\n\u201cThe only painful part is the fact that the humiliation is stamped on the collective image of our people. However, we want to dare President Buhari and his administration to attempt or fully carry out his military action against our people and see the response that will follow.<br \/>\n\u201cWe want to say here, without mincing words, that we are aware of his intentions. We heard loud and clear his hostile message, we understand his message and the NDGJM is saying we are ready for him. We know he has reportedly threatened war on our people; we had been calm enough not to respond to the threats, but at this point, we believe it is time for us to come out to say to him \u2018enough is enough.\u2019<br \/>\n\u201cIf it is war, bring it on, we are no cowards, just be sure you can sustain the consequences because this is not going to be another vanquished \u2018Biafran Uprising\u2019. Niger Deltans are nobody\u2019s slaves; we shall fight until there\u2019s nothing left to defend.\u201d<br \/>\nSimilarly, leaders of the Niger Delta Peoples Democratic Front, Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta, and other major players in the Niger Delta Avengers, who spoke with <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083380\"><span class=\"aQJ\">SUNDAY<\/span><\/span> PUNCH <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083381\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Saturday<\/span><\/span>, said they were not a party to the 16-point demand presented by their leaders to Buhari.<br \/>\nThe leader of the NDPDF, simply identified as General Playboy, faulted the stakeholders\u2019 meeting with Buhari, describing it as a platform for them (leaders) to expose their selfish interests.<br \/>\nHe expressed surprise that the 16-point agenda submitted by the Niger Delta stakeholders to the Federal Government did not address the issues of Tompolo who was declared wanted by the FG.<br \/>\nHe said, \u201cThe stakeholders are talking about negotiation. They are talking about $10bn for Niger Delta people; they (stakeholders) are thinking about oil blocs that will be released to Niger Delta people and how they will share it among themselves. That is the only thing they are thinking of.<br \/>\n\u201cThey have refused to talk about the fact that there is a matter against Tompolo that should be dropped. None of the stakeholders is thinking about others; they are only thinking of themselves. But it will not work as far as I am concerned except President Buhari comes down here to know the problem of the Niger Delta. That is when Nigeria will have peace. If not, there will be no peace. We are not interested in what the stakeholders went to do in Abuja.\u2019\u2019<br \/>\nThe militant leader stated that a situation where ex-agitators like Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo, Boyloaf and Soboma Jackrich (Egberipapa) were not part of the stakeholders\u2019 meeting, was an indication that government was not ready for peace.<br \/>\n\u201cAny meeting geared towards peace without protecting Tompolo\u2019s interest will fail. Tompolo himself cannot come out to negotiate his freedom. As far as we are concerned, Tompolo\u2019s case needs a political resolution, just like that of Henry Okah and Charles Okah.<br \/>\n\u201cThese are forces in the region that should not be undermined. We want the Federal Government as part of the dialogue process to get a legal framework to free Okah and let Tompolo have peace otherwise peace will continue to elude the region, and oil pipelines will be blown off continuously to protest their persecution.\u201d<br \/>\nApart from persons from the region who were facing prosecution, he also demanded the release of the Indigenous People of Biafra\u2019s leader, Namdi Kanu.<br \/>\nSimilarly, a member of the Niger Delta Avengers who spoke on condition of anonymity told <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083382\"><span class=\"aQJ\">SUNDAY<\/span><\/span> PUNCH that peace would continue to evade the oil-rich Niger Delta until the government stops the persecution of Tompolo and other leaders of the region.<br \/>\nHe said, \u201cAll the politically motivated cases against Tompolo, Godsday Orubebe, Kingsley Kuku, Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, and Mrs. Patience Jonathan, should be dropped by the Federal Government, otherwise, agitation continues.\u201d<br \/>\nAlso, the spokesperson for the Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta, Sibiri Taiowoh, vowed that his group would open a new chapter to the struggle.<br \/>\nHe said, \u201cWe will return to the drawing board. And we know the Federal Government will fail (to meet the demands) because they are not sincere. We have lost faith in Buhari, so whether he will grant all the requests or not is irrelevant to us.\u2019\u2019<br \/>\nNDA warns Buhari against dealing with sycophants<br \/>\nThe Niger Delta Avengers, in a statement <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083383\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Saturday<\/span><\/span>, warned President Buhari against dealing with \u201csycophants in his cabinet\u201d if he really wants to achieve peace in the region.<br \/>\nThe NDA Spokesperson, Brig.Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, in a statement made available to<br \/>\n<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083384\"><span class=\"aQJ\">SUNDAY<\/span><\/span> PUNCH , also challenged Buhari to visit the region instead of relying on information from his ministers and political friends from the region.<br \/>\nThe group said, \u201cYou cannot treat the Niger Delta with disdain while you treat your brothers that are terrorists and kidnappers (Boko Haram) like kings and queens by committing the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement from Geneva to witness your transactions with them, before they released their hostages to you.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cLet Muhammadu Buhari be advised to come down from his ethnic and religious fundamentalist iron horse to lead the Federal Government dialogue and negotiations team with neutral international observers and representatives of international oil companies.\u201d<br \/>\nMeanwhile, the President of the Ijaw National Congress, Chief Boma Obuoforibo, has said Niger Delta stakeholders will not give the Federal Government an ultimatum or a timeframe to implement their demand for the development of the region.<br \/>\nObuoforibo, who spoke in a telephone interview with <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083385\"><span class=\"aQJ\">SUNDAY<\/span><\/span> PUNCH <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083386\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Friday<\/span><\/span>, said the stakeholders were optimistic that the President would not renege on his promise to alleviate the sufferings of Niger Delta people.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cWe are not going to be negative about the ability of the Federal Government to implement the demands because we have a positive mindset and we have never reached this length in the past. We are doing all this in good faith.\u201d<br \/>\nMeanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, told one of our correspondents <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_27083387\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Saturday<\/span><\/span> that the release of Tompolo was not part of the demands of the Niger Delta leaders.<br \/>\nShehu said, \u201cI was present when the Niger Delta Elders met the President. At no point did anyone mention this (Tompolo) or any other name by way of a demand for release.<\/p>\n<p>Meahwhile, the Ijaw People&#8217;s Development Initiative, IPDI has condemned what they described as the unprovoked military attack against the sleeping Tebujor community in Gbaramatu kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>The attack is unfortunate, especially at a time peace is a crucial ingredient in the Niger Delta .It is obvious that this attack is coming barely 4days after a parley of Niger Delta leaders and President Buhari to seek lasting peace in the region.<\/p>\n<div class=\"text_exposed_show\">\n<p>The military latest attack on Tebujor community is out of desperation of marauding military men to wept Gbaramatu Kingdom from existence.<\/p>\n<p>The reoccurring daily military invasions in Gbaramatu kingdom is uncalled for. Currently there is humanitarian crisis in the kingdom. Internal displaced persons in previous military invasions are lavishing in hunger, with no shelter. Several genocidal attacks had been carried against sleeping innocent communities in the kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>The military should exercise caution. Moses Bebenimibo and other arrested persons be released and the military should immediately evacuate Gbaramatu kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>Comrade Austin Ozobo<br \/>\nNational president and Mayor Timi Ogobiri,Acting Spokesperson Ijaw People&#8217;s Development Initiative, IPDI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Source: PUNCH<br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><code><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=11489&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Niger Delta militants on Saturday threatened \u2018war\u2019 while dissociating themselves from the meeting elders from the oil-rich region had with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, last Tuesday. Apart from distancing themselves from the meeting, they warned the Federal Government not to rejoice yet over the recent rise in oil production in the country, threatening [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[2707,1092,621,1719,2690],"class_list":["post-12237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-aldo-agbalaja","tag-government-ekpemupolo","tag-ibe-kachikwu","tag-ijaw-peoples-development-initiative","tag-niger-delta-greenland-justice-mandate"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Egbesu-Fraternity.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-3bn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12237"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12244,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12237\/revisions\/12244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}