Niger Delta Crisis: Negotiation Team Must Be Fully Represented, Aggrieved Militants Tell FG

This was contained in a letter signed by the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Intelligence, Tony Alagbakeriowei, and GOC, Logistics and Admin, General Ebi Abakoromor on behalf of the three militant groups, and addressed to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who is driving the dialogue process.

The group in the letter, lamented that the preliminary discussions so far by government officials was slanted towards Avengers and a particular former militant leader, adding that current crisis is not a particular ex-militant leader affair and should be expanded to include various active groups.

The groups, therefore, vowed to cause mayhem if their plea to ensure their inclusion in the negotiation remained unheeded.

The letter read, “We write on behalf of the Reformed Egbesu Boys of the Niger Delta, Egbesu Water Lions and Egbesu Mythier Fraternity to bring to the urgent attention of the Federal Government that the negotiation with the Avengers is lopsided.

“It will be recalled that various militant groups make up the Niger Delta Avengers and we were taken aback that the Federal Government team is negotiating with Gbaramatu kingdom representatives only.

“Be reminded that this current crisis is not a particular ex-militant leader affair and, therefore, Gbaramatu representatives cannot negotiate with the Federal Government to the exclusion of other active participants in the crisis.”

“Consequently, we warn that the negotiation team be expanded to include various active group reps that participated in this current crisis. Failure to heed this wise counsel, aggrieved stakeholders will resort to doing what we know best.

“When the need for the cessation of hostilities arose as a result of pleas arising from national and international sources, the Reformed Egbesu Boys of the Niger Delta were the first to unilaterally declare ceasefire,” the group added.

They said that at the commencement of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, some militant leaders cornered the proceeds of the struggle to the exclusion of other participants, warning: “This is the scenario now unfolding, we object to this with all our might.”

Reacting to MEND Aaron Team 2, the three Egbesu militants groups said MEND exists only on the pages of newspaper and hotels rooms in Abuja and, therefore, could not speak for militant groups in the region.

“We condemn in strong terms the emerging trend where those in MEND, who took to kidnapping and hostage-taking to criminalise the legitimate agitation and had since been disbanded and accepted the poorly coordinated Amnesty Programme, are now seeking relevance and purporting to have raised a negotiation team to dialogue with the federal government,”the groups said.

“This is most ridiculous, embarrassing and nonsensical to say the least. MEND exists only on newspaper pages and hotel rooms in Abuja. We are taken aback that those who collectively destroyed the struggle want to recruit very respected elders for sinister motives.

“If the Federal Government negotiates with the purported MEND team as published, the consequences would be fatal and devastating to the multinationals as usual. We ceased hostilities in the larger collective interest of the Niger Delta environment, security of the people of the Niger Delta and the economic stability of the Nigerian state and the world at large.

“We wish to warn that the Ijaw nation is and shall not be taken as cannon fodder to the other ethnic nationalities as we are seen to be. We are branded criminals and all sorts of name-calling, but when the Federal Government calls for dialogue, our traditional antagonists and agent provocateurs would be the first to present them for dialogue.”