Militants list conditions for peace in Niger Delta 

A group of militants have listed alleged needs of Niger Delta communities for President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that if the needs were met, that the agitations in the region would be laid to rest.

The group under the umbrella of the Niger Delta Cleanser (NDC) said it had examined the events that led to the recent attack on critical oil facilities belonging multinational companies in the area, adding that the steps already taken by President Buhari resolve the issues were not apt.

Speaking in Port Harcourt, Wednesday, the spokesman of the group, Fikenibai Miesin said the only solution to the situation in the Niger Delta was the provision of critical needs of the people of the oil rich region.

Miesin said after a meeting of the group in Bayelsa State, one of the conditions stated by his group was that the Federal government and the multi-national oil companies must clean up and remediate the Niger Delta environment to make its viable for agricultural purposes.

Miesin said, “The federal government should make petrol available and accessible to every community in the Niger Delta as it is obtainable in other parts of Nigeria. All operational head offices of multi-national oil companies should be sited within the host communities while the Corporate Head Office should be cited in cities within the Niger Delta.

“The Federal government should pay the amnesty allowances regularly to beneficiary. The multinational oil companies should as a matter of necessity and compulsion withdraw all pending oil compensation cases at all superior courts of record and compensation to the plaintiffs immediately.

“That pipeline security contract should not be awarded to any person outside his community. And the federal government should convene a meeting of all genuine agitators in Niger Delta to discuss a way out of this quagmire.”

He, however, noted all oil block licenses should be revoked and the proceeds be repatriated to the federal government in line with extant laws on ownership of mineral resources or the federal government should cede all oil blocks to Niger Deltans.



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