Fed. Govt, Niger Delta Avengers Agree to a 30 Day Ceasefire
Posted by admin | 8 years ago | 2,288 times
The federal government and militant groups in the Niger Delta, including the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), which has claimed responsibility for series of attacks on oil and gas installations in recent months, have agreed to a 30-day truce to give President Muhammadu Buhari time to come up with a comprehensive plan for the oil-rich region.
ThisDay reports that the “30 days of quiet” was said to have been agreed upon last week by a federal government team led by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and representatives of the militant groups, community leaders and the state governments.
Last week, Kachikwu had led a government delegation to different camps in Bayelsa and Delta States, including visiting the temporary site of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko, Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, in a bid to reach out to representatives of the militant groups to get them to stop its attacks on oil and gas facilities.
The activities of the militants have halved Nigeria’s oil production to some 1.4 million barrels per day, impacted negatively on power supply in the country and the country’s oil earnings.
According to reports, Kachikwu was said to have reached out to the militants and pleaded for some time for the Buhari administration to come up with a comprehensive Niger Delta plan that would address most of their demands.
The militant groups, the source said, accepted Kachikwu’s plea, adding that since the agreement was reached there had been no attacks on oil and gas installations in the oil-rich region.
He also revealed that some of the demands made by the militants were for greater control of the hydrocarbon resources in their communities, improved funding for the Amnesty Programme, clean-up of oil producing communities in the Niger Delta that had been devastated by oil exploration activities, and funding for the Maritime University, among others.
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