‘Your Niger-Delta visit meaningless’ – Militants tell Osinbajo

A coalition of four major militant groups in the Niger Delta has told the Acting-President, Yemi Osinbajo, that his fact-finding visit to the region can only be meaningful when he directly hears from the agitators or their representatives.

The militants, under the aegis of Niger Delta Watchdogs, Niger Delta Volunteers, Niger Delta Strike Force and Niger Delta Warriors, made this known in a statement jointly signed and issued to the media in Port-Harcourt.

The group also reiterated their threat to attack South African investments in the country at the end of the 30-day ultimatum to them to vacate the country, insisting that the recent tour of the region by acting President Osinbajo was hijacked by the political class.

They claimed that they were shut out from various interactions the acting President had with stakeholders during the visit, stressing that it simply implied that the acting President had not been properly briefed on core issues at the root of militancy in the region.

The statement reads: “Let it be known to the acting President that his fact-finding visit can only be meaningful when he hears from the agitators or their representatives.

“The visit of the acting President did not carry along the agitators in the arrangements; those who matter most in this fact-finding mission are the armed and the unarmed youths who are in the forefront of the agitation.

“They are the ones that have the capacity to do harm to the economy of the nation and yet, the government, in collaboration with their political parties, is alienating and shielding these potent forces from the acting President

“We demand that the acting President should invite the representatives of agitating groups to give first-hand information to him, as this will bring the desired long lasting peace to the region.”