Nigeria\u2019s President Muhammadu Buhari needs to address grievances in the<\/p>\n
Delta region where militants have been blowing up oil pipelines in a
\nconflict that has become a \u201cmajor concern\u201d, a senior British official said
\non Saturday.<\/p>\n
The swamps of the southern Delta have been hit by a series of attacks on
\npipelines and other oil and gas facilities that have reduced Nigeria\u2019s
\noutput by 300,000 barrels a day, closed a major export port and two
\nrefineries.<\/p>\n
Nigeria has moved in army reinforcements to hunt the militants but British
\nForeign Minister Philip Hammond said Buhari needed to the deal with the
\nroot causes because a military confrontation could end in \u201cdisaster\u201d.<\/p>\n
Crude sales from the Delta account for 70 percent of national income in
\nAfrica\u2019s biggest economy but residents, some of whom sympathise with the
\nmilitants, have long complained of poverty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a major concern,\u201d Hammond told reporters on the sidelines
\nof a regional security conference in Abuja when asked about the Delta
\nsituation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea that your answer is by moving big chunks of the Nigerian army to
\nthe Delta simply doesn\u2019t work,\u201d he said, adding that the army did not have
\nthe capacity while fighting Boko Haram jihadists in the north. \u201cIt won\u2019t
\ndeal with the underlying issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBuhari has got to show as a president from the north that he is not
\nignoring the Delta, that he is engaging with the challenges in the Delta,\u201d
\nHammond said.<\/p>\n
Buhari is a Muslim from the north who has not visited the Christian Delta
\nsince taking office a year ago, something highlighted by a militant group,
\nthe Niger Delta Avengers, which has claimed a string of attacks on
\npipelines.<\/p>\n
The group has warned oil firms to leave the region within two weeks and
\nsays it is fighting for independence for the Delta. It has said it wanted
\na greater share of oil revenues and an end to oil pollution.<\/p>\n
The attacks have driven Nigerian oil output to near a 22-year low and, if
\nthe violence escalates into another insurgency, it could cripple output in
\na country facing a growing economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Buhari, who has not commented about not visiting the Delta, has extended a
\nmulti-million dollar amnesty signed with militants in 2009 but upset them
\nby ending generous pipeline protection contracts. He also cut the amnesty
\nbudget by around 70 percent, which partly funds training for unemployed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria\u2019s President Muhammadu Buhari needs to address grievances in the Delta region where militants have been blowing up oil pipelines in a conflict that has become a \u201cmajor concern\u201d, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n