All is not well within the rank and file of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) which has been claiming responsibility for the rash of bomb attacks on oil and gas installations in the Southsouth over the last few months.
A splinter group from NDA styled Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) announced its birth yesterday citing call for peace in the region by the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan and the resolve of the Buhari Administration to clean up areas devastated by oil and gas exploration.
It also said it is now convinced about the genuineness of the peace initiative of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
Spokesman for the RNDA,Cynthia White in a statement quoted by Sahara Reporters yesterday threatened to expose the brains behind the recent resurgence of violence in the Niger Delta which brought oil production down to 1.2million barrels per day from almost 1.8million barrels.
It offered to join the MEND Aaron Team 2 peace initiative “through the clearing house of Niger Delta Dialogue and Contact Group (NDDCG) headed by HRH King Alfred Diette-Spiff.”
Besides,it pledged cooperation with government by “exposing the identities of our comrades who remain stubborn in their insistence to continue attacks.”The RNDA added: “it will shock the nation to know the Jekyll and Hyde personality behind the pseudonym ‘Brigadier General Murdoch Aginibo’ and our sponsors.
It advised the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to also embrace peace by accepting the concession secured by MEND for the release of the detained Biafran agitator,Nnamdi Kanu,saying those advising Kanu to reject the renunciation of Biafra as a condition for his release “do not love him or appreciate the level of treason this simple act of common sense humility can extricate him from.”
It warned the IPOB that the Niger Delta will “no longer be your proxy in a war to achieve your ambition,” and the NDA to “stop being defiant and embrace peace and the wise counsel we all received from former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Jonathan on a visit to his successor,president Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday had said he was working with traditional rulers,elders and opinion leaders in the region to restore peace following the recent resurgence of violence.
He said he remained firmly against the balkanization of Nigeria because according to him : “So many countries produce more oil than Nigeria,nobody notices them;we are great because of our size,the human resources we have,the diversity we have.If we fragmentize the country into small components,we will be forgotten by the world.”
