Militancy: FG, N’Delta Avengers Make Contacts

Prospects for peace in the troubled oil-rich Niger Delta region brightened at the weekend as the federal government, using back channel communications, may have established contacts with the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, whose violent activities had shut in about 800,000 bpd of the country’s crude oil production.
Faced with the huge production setback resulting in huge revenue losses to the nation’s purse, the federal government had set up a team under the auspices of the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno, and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, to reach out to the militants and other relevant stakeholders and discuss ways of appeasing the restive youths and bring peace to the region.
To pave the way for the work of the committee, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had met with the governors of the region, including Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa); Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta);
Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) last week, stating the federal government’s position to stand down the military that had been drafted to the area to enforce law and order.
Thisday learnt yesterday that the peace efforts were yielding fruits as Kachikwu might have established some contacts with some of the commanders of the NDA, who had initially repudiated the move, preferring to hang on to its demand for self-determination for the Niger Delta.
The contacts, Thisday further learnt, might have been responsible for the cessation of bombings of oil installations in the last few days, as the avengers were being prevailed upon by FG’s back channels contacts to give peace a chance by embracing dialogue.
Sources close to the process, told Thisday that evidence that progress was being made was the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta’s (MEND) consistent calls for dialogue instead of violence.


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