Unlike the Niger Delta Avengers who have embraced dialogue and promised to stop hostilities with Federal Government, a new militant group, the Niger Delta Searchlight (NDS), which announced its existence last weekend, has vowed to flout any ceasefire agreement between the Federal Government and other armed groups in Niger Delta.
It threatened to continue the bombing of oil installations, if the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) pulled out after the dialogue between government’s representatives and armed groups.
In a statement yesterday, NDS said it was not comfortable with Niger Delta leaders spearheading the dialogue on behalf of armed agitators.
The group, which declined to give the names of its leaders, said: “We will not recognise any ceasefire agreement and we are ready to sustain the struggle until all oil firms in Niger Delta abandon the region. The bombings and destruction of oil installations currently going on in Niger Delta will be nothing compared to what will come, if the Federal Government does not include recognised Niger Delta leaders in the current negotiations.”
NDS added: “It is not true that all the bombings are done by the Niger Delta Avengers, but we have allowed them to claim responsibility to allow for cohesion in the struggle. But it is obvious that they are compromised, especially given their choice of representatives.
“We want leaders who can command followership in the Niger Delta, who can state our demands without fear, not Abuja politicians who are only using the struggle as a platform to advance their selfish interests at the detriment of the overall interest of the region.”
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