President Muhammadu Buhari has canceled at the last minute a visit planned
for Thursday to the oil-producing Niger Delta, which has been hit by a
wave of militant attacks, a government source said.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will instead visit the restive southern
region to launch a cleanup program of the Ogoniland, an area badly hit by
oil spills, the source said, without giving a reason for Buhari’s
cancellation, reports Reuters.
Buhari had already skipped a visit to the commercial capital Lagos in the
south last month at the last minute. Posters with his picture had been
already hung up to welcome the president before his spokesman cited
“scheduling” difficulties.
It would have been the first visit of the former military ruler to the
Delta since taking office in May last year.
Critics have accused Buhari, a Muslim from the north, of ignoring the
predominately Christian south.
The southern Delta swamps have been hit by a series of militant attacks on
oil and gas pipelines which have brought Nigeria’s oil output to a 20-year
low.
Hours after the announcement of Buhari’s visit to the swamps on Tuesday
the Niger Delta Avengers militant group, which has claimed several attacks
on Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell facilities, issued a warning to oil firms
that their “facilities and personnel will bear the brunt of our fury”.
The Avengers have accused Buhari of ignoring local problems. Buhari said
on Sunday the government would hold talks with leaders in Nigeria’s main
oil-producing region to address their grievances, in a bid to stop a surge
in pipeline attacks.
Residents in the swamp areas have for years complained about oil industry
pollution and about economic marginalization by the government.
Local officials and Western allies such as Britain have told Buhari that
moving army reinforcements to the Delta region would not be enough to stop
the attacks and that the population’s grievances should be dealt with.