Niger Delta militants call off their ceasefire in response to raid on Edwin Clark's home

NIGER Delta militants have declared that they are calling off their ceasefire and returning to the creeks to resume their war against the federal government in response to the recent police raid on the Abuja home of Ijaw elder statesman Chief Edwin Clark.

Earlier this week, police raided the home of Chief Clark, 91, the founder of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (Pandef), which negotiated a ceasefire between the militants and the government. However, the police said they received information that he was storing weapons in his home and obtained a search warrant to visit his Abuja residence but nothing was found.

Despite the police high command saying it had nothing to do with the search and the suspension and arrest of the four officers who conducted the raid, the Niger Delta militants see it as a humiliation of their leader. Inspector-general of police Ibrahim Idris personally wrote an apology to Chief Clark and despatched a delegation of high ranking officers led by a deputy inspector-general of police to deliver it.

However, in spite of this, a coalition of Niger Delta militants has said they were returning to the creeks to disrupt oil production, saying that the raid on Chief Clark's home was part of a wider plot that included the planned assassination of those clamouring for the restructuring of the country. After a meeting, the militants published a communiqué titled Sins of Those Targeted in which they announced the end of their ceasefire with the federal government.

In their communiqué, the militants who go by the name the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators, insisted on the restructuring of the country as a condition for peace in the country. They also issued an ultimatum to all major oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to relocate their headquarters to the zone between now and December 2018.

Those who signed the statement include General John Duku for the Niger Delta Watchdogs, General Ekpo Ekpo for  Niger Delta Volunteers, General Osarolor Nedam for  Niger Delta Warriors, Major General Henry Okon Etete for Niger Delta Peoples Fighters, Major General Asukwo Henshaw for Bakassi Freedom Fighters, Major General Ibinabo Horsfall for the Niger Delta Movement for Justice and  Major General Duke Emmanson for Niger Delta Fighters Network. Others include Major General Inibeghe Adams for Niger Delta Freedom Mandate, Major General Abiye Tariah for Niger Delta Development Network,  Major General Joshua Ebere for Renewed Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Major General Jeremiah Anthony of the Movement for the Actualization of the Niger Delta Republic, Major Francis Okoroafor of the Niger Delta Freedom Redemption Army and Colonel Nelson Okochi Walter for the Niger Delta Liberty Organisation.

Their statement read: “At the general assembly meeting of the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators, we viewed, analysed and also condemned in strongest terms the unwarranted invasion of the Abuja home of Niger Delta leader and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark. This development is one in the series of plots to harass people in the Southern and Middle Belt Forum and our intelligence further revealed that some of the people under the government watchlist that would either be assassinated or framed up are Obong Victor Attah, Dr Alfred Mulade, Retired Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga, Senator Bassey Henshaw, Mr Yinka Odumakin, Professor Chigozie Ogbu and Dr Isuwa Dogo for attempting to stand against the killings across the country as well as their stance on restructuring.

“The recent police action and attempt on the life of the Niger Delta leader is a wakeup call for action, we cannot continue to watch this continue. We also condemned the statements made by the vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo, in respect of the  restructuring of the country.

“After extensive deliberation on these issues, we hereby issue an ultimatum that any oil company that fails to relocate its headquarters to the Niger Delta between now and December 2018 should stop operation and vacate the Niger Delta  or face the consequences. The refusal of the president to sign the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill into law is viewed as an attempt to forcibly control Niger Delta resources by proxy and we advise Mr President to have a rethink on this issue.

“According to reports, the president refused to sign the bill for fear that it would weaken his power as the minister of petroleum resources. His ministers he consulted over the bill advised him against giving his assent as the Petroleum Regulatory Commission would then have powers to check his excesses and the fiscal content of the bill would be subject to litigation.

“This coalition wishes to state here clearly that we have fulfilled our part by maintaining total peace and ceasefire in the Niger Delta since 2017 as advised by Niger Delta elders and leaders and oil output during the period has increased tremendously. However, the federal government has been playing politics with the Niger Delta people, so we, hereby, officially announce that our cease fire ends today and we are returning to the creeks.

“We assure the presidency that with just one month of our operation, oil output will return to 200 barrels per day and we shall crush anything that crosses our line of operation. The actions and utterances of the presidency have taken us by surprise but we cannot help but stand firm and fight with aggression for what rightly belongs to us.

“Finally, we, hereby, call on the international oil companies, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers as well as other individuals that have businesses with oil companies in Niger Delta, especially in the platforms, rigs, pipelines and terminals, to withdraw their members on or before end of December 2018 as we cannot assure the safety of anyone anymore from now on. We want to assure you that our operation shall be second to none and we shall ensure the total liberation of our land and people from the injustices and neo-colonialism of the Nigerian state.”