The Federal Government moved earlier this week to end the destruction of oil facilities by aggrieved Niger Delta militants in the oil-rich region of the country by holding a strategic meeting with some militant leaders in Abuja, as a first step, Vanguard reports.
The Federal Government team that met with over 50 militant leaders in Abuja for most of Wednesday at the Transcorp Hilton, included the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd)., Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu, Niger Delta Minister, Pastor Uguru Usani Uguru and the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh, (Rtd). The central message passed down to the Niger Delta elements by the Federal Government team, was for them to stop further destruction of critical government oil assets but to seek peaceful means of expressing their grievances.
However, according to a later Vanguard report, the Niger Delta Avengers in a tweet on Friday, described the Niger Delta stakeholders meeting held on Wednesday in Abuja as an insult to the people of the Niger Delta region. The tweet read, “The Niger Delta stakeholders meeting is an insult to the people of the Niger Delta. What we need is a sovereign state, not pipeline contracts”. “To the International Oil Companies, IOCs and the Nigeria military, watch out, something big is about to happen and it would shock the whole world,”‎ it added.