Adaka Boro Avengers (ABA) said on Sunday that it had concluded arrangements with other militant groups to declare the Niger Delta region an independent republic on August 1.
The militant group also gave the Federal Government an ultimatum to withdraw its personnel and establishment from the region before the date of its declaration of independence.
It also ordered all northerners and people of the South West to vacate its territory.
In the same vein, the Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta, another militant group, said it has rejected the leadership of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
ABA, in a statement issued by General Edmos Ayayeibo, its spokesperson, mandated the Federal Government to use the three weeks’ notice to “move out all military personnel and all government agencies out of the Niger Delta,” and warned that “failure will lead to destruction of military barracks and personnel.”
“We, the Adaka Boro Avengers and all the freedom fighters in the Niger Delta region have met and come to a conclusion that we are declaring the Niger Delta Republic three weeks from today July 18, 2016.
“So we are by this notice calling on the Nigerian government to move out all military personnel and all government agencies out of the Niger Delta. Failure will lead to destruction of military barracks and personnel.
“We are, also, by this notice calling on our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters living in the northern parts of Nigeria to return home immediately.
“We are also warning northerners and westerners to leave the Niger Delta region immediately within three weeks from now, for their own good.
“If they refuse to heed to our warning, we will use so many as example in the Niger Delta region on the due date.
“We are telling the Nigerian government that enough is enough and we are taking our independence by force. We have our foreign backers, so we are not afraid of the Nigerian government but ready for total war.
“The inhuman treatment given to us by Nigerian government is enough. We can no longer withstand the suffering of our Niger Delta people. They should not take us for fools.”
The Ultimate Warriors, in a statement on Saturday, had told MEND to stop parading itself as the leader of the militant groups in the region and vowed to continue with the destruction of oil installations.
The group said: “We have said it before that we have nothing to lose on the bombing of oil pipelines because our mission is to ground the oil economy if our demands are not met.
“We have said we are doing what we are doing to prod the government to renegotiate the control of our oil resources and other related matters.
“We have watched with chagrin the recent utterance by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and all we are see in them are double standard and lips service to the demand of the groups as its concerns the Niger Delta question and that is why all of our units and affiliates have not fully heeded to our ceasefire.”
However, MEND urged Niger Delta activists, militants and other agitators to be united in finding a solution to the region’s crisis.
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MEND said they needed to be united and speak with one voice to channel their grievances and demands to the Federal Government through the Niger Delta Dialogue and Contact Group (NDDCG).
“All aggrieved minor militant groups, all those so-called Niger Delta activists, elders, tribal assemblies, sycophants and parasites amongst others, who have suddenly found their voice after six years of a criminal conspiracy of silence during the neglect and misrule of former President Goodluck Jonathan, and who are now clamouring for recognition, relevance and inclusion in the ongoing Niger Delta peace process should contact and channel their grievances and demands through the NDDCG, which will act as their representative.
“The subject matter of the discourse centers around the forthcoming dialogue with the Federal Government on the resolution of the current Niger Delta crisis and the imperative for the entire Niger Delta region to unite and speak with a single voice under the single umbrella of the MEND Aaron Team 2 dialogue and peace initiative led by Mr. Odein Ajumogobia (SAN),” MEND said.
As at last count at least four new militant groups have emerged in the region.
They include the Niger Delta Avengers; Asawana Deadly Force; the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) and the Adaka Boro Avengers.
The Adaka Boro Avengers had on Tuesday, July 5, indicated that it would team up with the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to attack more oil installations in the Niger Delta.
The activities of these militant groups have negatively affected Nigeria’s crude oil production and sales.
As at May 2016, Nigeria’s oil production had dropped to 1.65m barrels a day, the lowest output in 22 years, as a result of resurgence of militant activities in the Niger Delta region.
Production began sliding in February when the Niger Delta Avengers claimed an attack on an underwater pipeline running that forced Royal Dutch Shell to shut down its Forcados export terminal.
That singular action knocked off at least 250,000 bpd.
Shell had also declared force majeure on exports of Bonny Light crude after a leak on one of its trunk lines in the Delta.
Also, Chevron shut a platform after an attack also claimed by the Niger Delta Avengers.
The Federal Government last week Wednesday said it was not possible to implement in full the nation’s 2016 budget of N6.06 trillion.
In offering explanation on why this has to be so, it stated that the activities of militants in the Niger Delta region were responsible for the unfortunate situation.
According to the government, the nation is presently losing on a daily basis a quantum of about 40 percent to 50 percent of oil production projection due to the activities of the militants.
Mr. Babachir David Lawal, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), brought the unpleasant message to the Senate.
He said the oil benchmark of the Federal Government has been drastically dislocated and grossly affected by activities of militants, lamenting that at a time the country was producing about 800,000 barrels per day.
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