A militant group that claimed responsibility for several attacks on
oil pipelines in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta has agreed to start a
dialogue with the government. The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), however,
said the federal government must meet the group's demands before a
"genuine" dialogue aimed at ending renewed violence can take place.
"We
want the federal government to commit members states of the
multi-national Oil Corporations to commit independent mediators to this
proposed dialogue," the group said in a statement on its website. It also warned against any reparation work on pipeline, oil and gas facilities damaged during attacks.
NDA
claimed that if these conditions are not respected, the group will
carry out further attacks on oil facilities and oil vessels and might
review its "earlier stance of not taking lives".
NDA is the latest militant organisation to wage war against Nigeria due to perceived marginalization in the Niger Delta. Attacks blamed on NDA forced Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell to close two plants, with the group vowing to bring the country's oil production down "to zero".
Nigeria,
Africa's biggest oil producer, has already been negatively affected by
renewed violence in the area as oil production has dropped to 1.6
million barrels per day (bpd), from 2.2m bpd.
NDA's latest statement came days after Nigeria announced it would scale back its military presence in the Niger Delta in order to foster dialogue with militants and reduce attacks in the restive region.
On 12 June, former militant Government Ekpemupolo, or "Tompolo" as he is also known, urged NDA to engage in talks with the government. However, Tompolo, chief commander of the Movement For The Emancipation Of The Niger Delta (Mend), is suspected of being behind NDA, which some analysts believe is simply Mend with a new name.
The birth of militant groups in Niger Delta
Militant groups in the oil-rich Niger Delta
region took hold in the early 2000s following the deterioration of
people's living conditions blamed on the increase of oil-related
activities by foreign exploration corporations. Tensions flared up in
the local communities as some ethnic groups felt they were being
exploited and did not benefit from the crude oil on their land.
The
repeated oil spills that considerably damaged the environment and
affected people's health further deepened the communities' frustrations.
After being elected in 2015, Buhari extended a 2009 amnesty granted to
30,000 former militants in the area.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/niger-delta-avengers-agree-dialogue-nigeria-vow-more-attacks-if-demands-not-met-1565376?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=rss&utm_content=%2Frss%2Fyahoous%2Fnews&yptr=yahoo
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