Rampaging Niger Delta Avengers have announced a ceasefire with a cogent message to President Muhammadu Buhari on military operations in the region.
The Niger Delta Avengers militants said last night that they were done with the hostilities. The group whose attacks have caused a huge dip in Nigeria’s oil exports, forcing the economy into a big crisis.
This was revealed in a letter posted on its website by its spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo.
The letter reads in part: “We have listened carefully and halted hostilities in the Niger Delta. We expect a genuine and positive attitude to restructuring and self-determination for every component unit of Nigeria. .
"Dear president, what makes developed countries great is the ability of their governments to accommodate internal protestations and conflicts for the greater good of their nations over the years. Nigeria is not a one-man personal property. .
"We must have these talks every time if this union must continue to work as one. The people of the Niger Delta have been living here from time immemorial, so we have the secret of the terrain and survival of amphibious operations. No amount of troop surge and simulation exercises will make you win the oil war; you can only win battles.
"You cannot apply the might of the state to restore the people’s confidence in your leadership when you cannot differentiate between genuine demands and being mismanaged by disorganised characters and tribal lords around you in your government that are playing the court jesters’ role as well as counting the days that is left in your four years term.
"You can deceive the whole world but we cannot be deceived by the so glamorized ongoing military operations in the creeks of Ijaw communities in the Delta coded “ Operation Crocodile Smiles"
"The world should know that with your pronouncement in Kenya and your attitude to the military build-up in the Niger Delta, it is crystal clear that the military has nothing less than a pre-determined genocide in Niger Delta.
"Please also tell those foreign nations that your troops are about carrying out extrajudicial killings in the Niger Delta in violation of Article Four of the Geneva Convention with “OPERATION CROCODILE SMILE”.
"All sane minds know the meaning of “ CROCRODILE TEARS” so by code-naming your military operation CROCODILE SMILES only betrays your motives and attitude to the whole world about the Niger Delta question.”
With an end to bombings, there is hope for increased oil and gas production, which will translate to more revenue for the federation as daily crude oil production has dipped from 2.2 million barrels per day to a reduced sum of 1.4 million which has further crippled the Nigerian economy.