2017: Expect surprises, reconfiguration of struggle —Avengers

Members of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have said on Saturday that the remaining 11 months in 2017 will be filled with surprises and a configuration of the struggle for the liberation of the people.

The group gave the submission in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Brig.Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, and published on its website.

Following the foot-dragging disposition of the Federal Government to commence dialogue with the aggrieved persons in the region as initiated by the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), NDA said it was obvious that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was unserious and unready for any jaw jaw.

“Since, the declaration of cessation of hostilities in the region by all fighters and affiliates, it has been clear that the Nigerian state is not ready for any form of dialogue and negotiation with our people to addressing the issues concerning the unending sufferings and deprivation of the people of the Niger Delta.

“The world is aware that, after listening to calls from our royal fathers, community leaders, stakeholders, and especially the governments of the United States of America, Britain and the European Union, we halted all actions. But this government decided to politicise and blackmail the process to forestall dialogue.

The world should be assured that our next line of actions will be unannounced.

The militant group, which halted hostilities last August to enable the FG and stakeholders from the region dialogue, said it hoped the FG’s 2017 budget was not hung on proceeds from oil exploration in the Niger Delta.

The group warned that “It is our belief that the 2017 national budget of the federal republic of Nigeria is not based on the crude oil production output from the Niger Delta but it is based on the newly found oil deposits in the North and the new pipelines construction from the Niger Republic.

On this note, we are declaring “Operations Walls of Jericho and Hurricane Joshua” simultaneously to reclaim our motherland and dislodge all cleavages the Nigerian Ruling oligarchy has foisted on the region,” the group warned.