Militants threaten to resume attacks, condemns VP Osinbajo’s comment

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has been criticised by the trio of Niger Delta Volunteers, NDV, Niger Delta Peoples Liberation Front, NDPL, and Bakassi Freedom Fighters, BFF, for saying that Niger Delta militants were fighting for their pockets.

Osinbajo was reported to have made the statement last weekend while delivering a lecture at Elizade University in Ondo State.

The militant groups, in a statement signed by their spokespersons – Ekpo Ekpo for NDV; Henry Etete for NDPLF and Asukwo Henshaw for BFF, stressed that instead of ridiculing them, the Vice President should have advised President Muhammadu Buhari to address the injustice in the Niger Delta.

In the statement made available to journalists in Uyo on Tuesday, the militants criticised Buhari for saying that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable, stressing that the people of the Niger Delta were tired of one Nigeria filled with injustice, marginalisation and oppression minority ethnic groups.

They threatened to resume attacks against oil companies operating in the region and they urged oil unions to withdraw their members from rigs and platforms for their safety during the period.

The groups also condemned the newly constituted Board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company and demanded the appointment of someone from the Niger Delta as GMD.

“It is an insult on the Niger Delta region that the Minister of Petroleum who also doubles as the President of Nigeria is from the North, the Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru and four other members of the board are also from the North,” they said.

The militants further called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate what happened to local government funds in Akwa Ibom State “because the local government areas in the state had not carried out people-oriented projects in the past one year.”