The
Nigerian government will treat Niger Delta armed fighters as terrorists and
deal with them in a similar manner to Boko Haram unless they agree to
negotiate, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.
Mr. Buhari, whose
government has succeeded in taming the Boko Haram insurgents and largely
limited their activities to Borno State, said this in Kenya according to his
spokesperson, Garba Shehu.
Armed militants in the
Niger Delta region have claimed responsibility for several attacks on oil and
gas installations that have reduced Nigeria’s oil output by half and worsened
the electricity situation in the country.
A group, the Niger
Delta Avengers, which claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, recently
indicated its willingness to negotiate with the government. It asked that an
elder statesman from the region, Edwin Clark, be part of the negotiation team
that should also include officials of relevant multinational oil companies.
While speaking at a bilateral
meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on the sidelines of the sixth
Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi,
Kenya, Mr. Buhari indicated his government would use maximum force to deal with
the militants if peace efforts failed.
“We are talking to some
of their leaders,” he said. “We will deal with them as we dealt with Boko Haram
if they refuse to talk to us.”
“As a government, we
know our responsibility, which is to secure the environment. It is clear to us
that lenders won’t fund projects in insecure environments.
“We realize that we
have to secure the country before we can efficiently manage it,” the President
added.
Speaking
at another interview with journalists in Kenya, Mr. Buhari expressed doubt in
the unilateral ceasefire recently announced by the Avengers.
‘‘We do not believe
that they (the militants) have announced ceasefire,” he said.
“We are trying to
understand them more. Who are their leaders and which areas do they operate and
other relevant issues.”
The Nigerian military
has continued its offensive against the militants, whose demand include local
control of oil resources, despite the ceasefire announced by the avengers.
On Saturday, Army
spokesperson, Sani Usman, announced some successes against the armed militants.
“The 133 Special Forces
Battalion of Nigerian Army troops have carried out a precursor operation to
Exercise CROCODILE SMILE aimed at getting rid of all forms of criminal
activities in the Niger Delta geo-political region of Nigeria.
“In the course of the
operation, five militants that attacked the troops were killed in action, while
numerous others were injured and 23 suspects were arrested,” Mr. Usman, a
colonel, said of the attack that happened on Friday.
-Premium Times
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