Niger Delta Avengers threaten return, vow to crash economy

Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), a deadly militant group in Niger Delta region, has threatened an imminent return with ‘Operation Humble,’ which is similar to its ‘Operation Red’ of 2016, designed to destroy oil installations.

In a statement released on its website on Saturday, the NDA threatened to crash the country’s economy and send it in to a permanent recession.

A statement sighted on the group’s acclaimed website at the weekend stated that they would attack politicians working and collaborating with the Federal Government “to undermine the interest of the Niger Delta region.”

The group bemoaned the fact that the region has remained neglected despite its rich resources, stressing that its fresh violent onslaught against oil installations will shake the economy.

Findings by The Guardian revealed that the acclaimed NDA website that released the statement is different from that which the group used in its build-up to disrupting the oil industry in 2016, with the last statement on that NDA website issued on Wednesday, January 17, 2018.

However, in its fresh statement, the group recalled that it suspended its famous, operation ‘Red Economy‚’ which bled the Nigerian economy into a recession about four years ago not because it was lazy but for the love, it had for the people and out of respect for the voice of the elders of the region. The group lamented the underdevelopment of the region and the undermining of the collective interests of its people.

The NDA also stated that it had lost confidence in all socio-cultural groups like the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the elders and “the bunch of so-called ex-agitators frolicking with the government at our detriment.”

The statement read in part: “This operation shall be coded ‘Operation Humble’ aimed at bringing down targeted oil installations in the Niger Delta capable of humbling the economy into permanent recession. This mission is also targeted at political actors, who are collaborating with the Nigerian government to undermine the interest of the Niger Delta people.

“There is no doubt that the Nigerian Government has continued to pay deaf ears to our demands and the rising challenges in the country because the pipelines that crisscross our lands are left untouched, allowing dollars to flow into the federal treasury on a daily basis for mismanagement.

“We shall spare no single oil installation within our range of strategic targets marked for destruction in the coming days and we bet the Nigerian Government will be humbled to return to the drawing board and chart an all-inclusive course by the time we are done with our action plan. 

“Members of our strike teams across the Niger Delta are commanded to be on red alert awaiting precise strike plans as mapped by the high command of the NDA. The command has promoted and appointed one of our finest operatives, Field Commander Tu-ere aka Queen of the Creeks, to the rank of Brigadier General. She is an experienced field agent who before now was the head of the counterintelligence unit of the NDA, using her connections with top government and security officials to deliver on her assignment.”

The statement continued: “She was part of our elite Strike Teams that attacked and took down the Chevron Valve platform on the 4th of May, 2016; the Shell Forcados 48-inch Export line on the 3rd of June, 2016; and the Exxon Mobil Qua Iboe 48 Crude Oil Pipeline on the 11th of July, 2016.

“Brig. Gen. Tu-ere is the first female to ever attain this level and it is solely out of merit, and she is placed in charge by our High Command to execute ‘Operation Humble’ to the letter.”