Niger Delta agitators threaten to attack northern oil interests

A Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators have threatened to attack oil facilities belonging to northerners and asked those living in the region to get prepared to leave the region.

Citing recent developments in the country, they stressed that northerners in the region should be prepared to leave the region, especially if the authorities rig the 2019 election in favour of President Muhammad Buhari.

The militants said the suspension of Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, was the highest form of dictatorship, tyranny and fascism in the 21st century, as well as the highest level of insult on the collective intelligence of the Niger Delta people.

The group made this known in a statement issued after a meeting in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State to brainstorm on the political situation in the country at the weekend.

It noted that the agitators took the stand, particularly after the recent suspension of Justice Onnoghen on trumped up charges and without due process.

Spokesperson of the group, John Duku, warned that any northerner in the Niger Delta will be treated as criminals and all foreign-owned oil companies and those owned by Northerners would be closed down indefinitely if the polls are rigged in favour of the President.

However, Akwa Ibom Leaders Vanguard yesterday restated that President Buhari’s inability to function with the civil society and rule of law has led to his consistent breaches of the country’s constitution.

Chairman of the group, Senator Anietie Okon, made the assertion, while addressing journalists in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

He argued that the President’s intolerance for civil authority and lack of respect for the constitution and rule of law has led to his unilateral suspension of Onnoghen.

“His defiance for rule of law is legendary, as at today, Ibraheem El-ZakZaky the Shiite Moslem leader has been in detention since 2015, same as Col. Sambo Dasuki the National Security Adviser of former President Goodluck Jonathan in deviance to several court orders for their release on bail.

“The All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government has been so unfair to the South-South. One of such is the suspension of Onnoghen; an action that if not carefully handled, could renew restiveness in the region as pipeline explosions, militancy, kidnapping and anarchy could return to the country,” it stated.

Meanwhile, Minister of Environment, Hassan Suleiman Zarma, has disclosed that the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) Ibadan, would play a crucial role in the Ogoni cleanup exercise, especially in the re-establishment of mangroves and restoration of remediated land.

The minister, who stated this during his working visit to Ibadan, Oyo State, also directed the institute to increase its research efforts and training to address gully erosion using biological means, desertification, pollution control and climate change.