A coalition of three militant groups, Niger Delta Volunteers, Niger Delta Peoples Liberation Movement, and Bakassi Freedom Fighters, on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, chided Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, over remarks he made while delivering a lecture at Elizade University in Ondo State.
In the statement, which was made available to journalists in Uyo, the groups made their grievances known through their spokespersons, Ekpo Ekpo for NDV, Henry Etete for NDPLF, and Asukwo Henshaw for BFF, the Niger Delta militants ridiculed Vice President Osinbajo, and also advised him to save his words for President Muhammadu Buhari, who needed his advise in order to address the injustice in the Niger Delta.
The militants also lampooned President Buhari for saying that “Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable,” stressing that such statements were laughable considering the caliber of people heading both the petroleum ministry and the state-owned oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
“It is an insult on the Niger Delta region that the minister of petroleum, who also doubles as the president of Nigeria is from the North, the group managing director, Maikanti Baru and four other members of the board are also from the North,” the statement said.
The militant coalition vowed to respond to Buhari regionally slanted appointment by resuming attacks against oil companies operating in the oil-rich region in southern Nigeria. They advised oil workers’ unions to withdraw their members from rigs and platforms for their safety during the period.
It can be recalled that another militant group, the Niger Delta Red Squad, operating in Imo had this week vowed to shock the nation in their next attack.
