Commandant General of the Riverine Security (Coast Guard), Commander Bibi
\nOduku, whose organization is collaborating with security agencies to track
\ndown criminals on the waterways, has alerted the nation to the fact that
\nthe rampaging Niger Delta Avengers were now planning to bomb bridges to
\ncut off the Niger Delta region from other states.<\/p>\n
Among the bridges pencilled down are Choba Bridge, Rivers State, Kaiama
\nBridge, Patani, Imo River Bridge between Rivers and Abia; and the bridge
\nlinking Rivers and Akwa-Ibom in Ogoni axis.<\/p>\n
The outlaws are also alleged to be targeting Nigeria Port Authority, NPA,
\nWarri; NPA, Port Harcourt; NPA Onne; NPA Calabar; MTN; Airtel; Glo and
\nEtisalat facilities in the Niger Delta region with other major oil and gas
\nfacilities.<\/p>\n
He urged security agencies to take proactive steps to forestall these
\nattacks and this comes as there are cracks in the ranks of the former
\nmilitants<\/p>\n
While the Avengers have vehemently opposed to any negotiation with Abuja,
\nother groups in the region are ready to parley with the federal
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is to inform the general public that we are not negotiating with
\nany committee. If the Federal Government is discussing with any group,
\nthey are doing that on their own\u2019\u2019, Avengers had declared.<\/p>\n
But the Joint Revolutionary Council, JRC, of the Joint Niger Delta
\nLiberation Front, JNDLF, the presumed umbrella group of militants in the
\nregion, countered the Avengers, at the weekend, saying militants would
\njaw-jaw with government.<\/p>\n
The JRC \u2018General Duties\u2019, Akotebe Darikoro, in a statement, with three
\nothers, informed they were already in talks with the government.<\/p>\n
It said: \u201cWe shall continue to engage in dialogue with the Federal
\nGovernment if our demands are met. \u201cOur representatives in the dialogue,
\nespecially the governors and others, will not betray our demands with the
\nFederal Government. Any betrayal on their own part shall be viewed as
\nbetrayal of the entire region and we shall go after them immediately as
\nthey know our mode of operation in which they will not escape from us.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
On the plea by MEND that it should negotiate with Abuja, Avengers in a
\nstatement by its spokesperson, \u2018Brig General\u2019 Mudoch Agbinobi,\u00a0 described
\nMEND as a band of criminal elements and political sidekicks of one of the
\nSouth-South governors and an ex-governor from the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NDA is unperturbed, we have a mandate that is clearly a departure
\nfrom those old tactics of the defunct so-called MEND that indulged in
\nkidnapping, hostage taking, sea piracy, illegal oil bunkering, bank
\nrobberies and social crimes\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Commandant General of the Riverine Security (Coast Guard), Commander Bibi Oduku, whose organization is collaborating with security agencies to track down criminals on the waterways, has alerted the nation to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n