The Niger Delta Avengers has been urged to call its members to sheath their swords, hours after the militant group issued threats to resume attacks on oil facilities in the region.
One of the elders in the region and the spokesperson for Gbaramatu Kingdom, Godspower Gbenekama, made the appeal after a closed-door meeting with the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro, on Saturday in Asaba.
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Gbenekama asked the group to give the Federal Government more time to fulfil its promises to the people of the region.
He, however, blamed the government for not keeping its promises to the requests made by the people which he said was contained in the 16-point agenda of the Pan Niger Delta Elders’ Forum (PANDEF).
“The issues are not leadership issues, PANDEF articulated the issues and as at then, everybody agreed,” he said. If the Federal Government has started meeting those demands one after the other, these threats would not have resurfaced.
“The Ogoni cleanup for instance, take off the Maritime University which the Vice President disclosed that N2bn has been approved but up till now, we have nothing.”
Gbenekama also warned that the threats must not be treated with levity and urged the government to move swiftly to avert what he described as the ‘dangers’ ahead.
He said, “Threats like these are not empty ones, the Federal Government must, therefore, do the needful by addressing some of these concerns.
“We cannot do much, the only thing we can do is beg these faceless youths to be patient with the Federal Government.”
