Buhari, tackle NDA now

AFTER a brief suspension on attacks on oil pipelines, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) has resumed its hostilities in the region.

This now brings to the fore why it is important for President Muhammadu Buhari not to employ dialogue in resolving the militants’ insurgency. How do government even identify the faceless group, as well as its demands.

While there is nothing wrong in government meeting the representatives of the militants to ascertain what they really want, the truth is that if they are not crushed militarily, then we will continue to have the same problem. When the government identifies their leaders, and the peace talks begin, there will definitely be individuals who will not feel satisfied with their leaders, and then they will break away to form another group.

That is why we have so many militant groups in the region; until now, no one heard of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). Have we forgotten about the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)? Or the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), among other militant groups.

These militants are just selfish people who want to feed fat at the expense of their people.

The Niger Deltans are peace-loving people, but this minute group are just capitalising on the fact that the region boasts of oil. Won’t they be productive if the region has no oil?

If they are not satisfied with the situation their region is in today, then they should ask their governors, both past and present, what they have done with the billions of naira they have collected from the Federal Government over the years.

Consequently, it is necessary that President Buhari looks at other options towards bringing an end to the activities of these militants.

One of the best ways to realise this is to equip our naval force, while also sending them on anti-terrorism trainings abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom, which has one of the best naval forces in the world.

We can’t continue to survive at the mercy of these miscreants who call themselves freedom fighters, but who are only terrorists.

• Edwards Kati,

Kaduna,

Kaduna State.