President Muhammadu Buhari has canceled at the last minute a visit planned<\/p>\n
for Thursday to the oil-producing Niger Delta, which has been hit by a
\nwave of militant attacks, a government source said.<\/p>\n
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will instead visit the restive southern
\nregion to launch a cleanup program of the Ogoniland, an area badly hit by
\noil spills, the source said, without giving a reason for Buhari\u2019s
\ncancellation, reports Reuters.<\/p>\n
Buhari had already skipped a visit to the commercial capital Lagos in the
\nsouth last month at the last minute. Posters with his picture had been
\nalready hung up to welcome the president before his spokesman cited
\n\u201cscheduling\u201d difficulties.<\/p>\n
It would have been the first visit of the former military ruler to the
\nDelta since taking office in May last year.<\/p>\n
Critics have accused Buhari, a Muslim from the north, of ignoring the
\npredominately Christian south.<\/p>\n
The southern Delta swamps have been hit by a series of militant attacks on
\noil and gas pipelines which have brought Nigeria\u2019s oil output to a 20-year
\nlow.<\/p>\n
Hours after the announcement of Buhari\u2019s visit to the swamps on Tuesday
\nthe Niger Delta Avengers militant group, which has claimed several attacks
\non Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell facilities, issued a warning to oil firms
\nthat their \u201cfacilities and personnel will bear the brunt of our fury\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Avengers have accused Buhari of ignoring local problems. Buhari said
\non Sunday the government would hold talks with leaders in Nigeria\u2019s main
\noil-producing region to address their grievances, in a bid to stop a surge
\nin pipeline attacks.<\/p>\n
Residents in the swamp areas have for years complained about oil industry
\npollution and about economic marginalization by the government.<\/p>\n
Local officials and Western allies such as Britain have told Buhari that
\nmoving army reinforcements to the Delta region would not be enough to stop
\nthe attacks and that the population\u2019s grievances should be dealt with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n