MEND backs Buhari against Avengers

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has condemned the latest militant group Niger Delta Avengers which has been claiming responsibilities for series of bombings of oil facilities in Delta and Bayelsa.

“Their sudden emergence has absolutely nothing to do with the Niger Delta struggle but rather a tool by certain elements to destabilise the current government,” MEND stated in a press release on Sunday.

MEND said it still respects the 2014 truce between the federal government and the militants, and is willing to let President Muhammdu Buhari buy more time to stabilise the country already grounded by the group during the last administration.

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“MEND serves notice to the International Community that the Niger Delta region shall NOT be part of a secessionist Biafran State. Rather, the group believes in one strong united Nigerian federation….”

Discrediting the Presidential Amnesty Programme as unsustainable and corrupt legacy of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, MEND asled Buhari to address the core issues in the Niger Delta using dialogue, which the group believes is better.

And MEND has its bargaining chips. It urges Buhari to release the Okah Brothers – Henry and Charles who were arrested in 2010 on trumped-up charges.