Militant group defiant, says pipelines bombing to continue

Spokesman wants Amnesty chief sacked

In defiance of President Muhammadu Buhari’s order for security forces to curtail militants’ violence in the South South geo political zone of the country, the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF), yesterday declared that the bombing of pipelines in the Niger Delta would continue, stating that President Buhari “is not God to be feared”.

The group, in a statement yesterday by its spokesman, Mark Anthony, said the entire Nigerian Army was incapable of protecting all pipelines in the Niger Delta.

Anthony said that as at the time they surrendered their weapons during the reign of President Goodluck Jonathan, they made it clear to the world that bombing of pipelines was not over.

While demanding the sack of Paul Boroh, Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, for trying to muscle militants with threat, Anthony stated: “We have not condemned the current bombing because when we surrendered, we told the world that bombing of pipelines was not over yet.”
“Those bombing pipelines in Delta State should not behave like cowards if they are truly fighting the interest of Niger Delta. They should be bold enough to come out. When we were bombing, our leader General John Togo did not hide his face. We dealt with the Nigerian Army, and we were not hiding.”

According to the NDLF, “They should not hide their identity. Buhari is not God and they should not be scared of him. JTF should not attack and arrest innocent people in Ijaw communities; they should go for the real saboteurs.

“We told former President Goodluck Jonathan that Nigerian Army couldn’t protect pipelines in the creek. The current Amnesty Chairman Paul Boroh does not know the boys in Niger Delta. He is not in touch with Niger Delta major ex-agitators. Buhari should sack him immediately and appoint another chairman like Kingsley Kuku, who knows the boys in the creek. This will help the current oil war,” the NDLF spokesman man stated.

The Guardian recalls that the NDLF’s former leader John Togo, who claimed that their main goal is to secede from Nigeria and gain independence from Nigeria, was believed killed on July 19, 2011 in an air strike near Warri, Delta State.

With the death of Togo the NDLF seemed weak and many members joined the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. Although many members left around 2,500 remained in the NDLF. For the next two years they attacked oil installations on and off.