The attire of determination is needed to climb the ladder of success- Odoh E justus

Niger Delta Avengers accuse Buhari of stalling peace talks, vow renewed attacks

The Niger Delta Avengers said on Friday that it had launched two simultaneous operations to restart its disruption of Nigeria’s oil and gas production this year.

In a statement signed by its spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo, and posted on its website, the group expressed its frustration with President Muhammadu Buhari’s “deaf” approach towards the ongoing dialogue with leaders of the region.

“It has been evidently clear that the Nigerian state is not ready for any form of dialogue and negotiation,” the Avengers said while accusing the Buhari administration of turning “deaf ears” to the plight of the Niger Delta.
Consequently, the Avengers said it had activated its combatants and bases for a wholesale obstruction of Nigeria’s oil production in 2017.

“On this note, we are declaring ‘Operations Walls of Jericho and Hurricane Joshua’ simultaneously to reclaim our motherland,” Mr. Agbinibo said. “All fighters and commands are hereby placed on high readiness in your webs of operations to hit and knock the enemy very hard.”

The group said it would ensure that Nigeria’s 2017 national budget is not funded with the “crude oil production output from the Niger Delta” but “on the newly found oil deposits in the North and the new pipelines construction from the Niger Republic,” in reference to Mr. Buhari’s policies of prospecting crude oil in the North East and constructing cross-border pipelines with the Republic of Niger.

The Niger Delta Avengers gained worldwide notoriety when its fighters launched a string of devastating attacks on oil and gas installations across the oil-rich region last year, forcing major oil companies —including Shell, Agip and Chevron— to cease operations and withdraw their staff.

Between mid-January and mid-November 2016, the Avengers claimed responsibility for some 50 attacks on oil installations, hitting mostly in Delta State with Bayelsa coming in a distant second.

SOUTHERN KADUNA MUST STAND UP AGAINST THE FULANI INVADERS

Few months ago I stood in a cornfield amid rolling hills of Southern Kaduna, surrounded by shattered human bodies. Men, women, children, even a couple of dogs, lay scattered around me after falling from the sky. I will never forget the sight of a small girl, perhaps five years old, beside her pink stuffed toy whose parents must have been a victim of the atrocities perpetrated by the Fulani marauders. Meanwhile, those behind the deaths strutted around looting possessions receiving applause from their backers.

These were scenes of mass murder. Majority of the victims included non-Muslims and so many minority tribes that make up the Southern Kaduna. They had misfortune to be among the estimated 1000 souls massacred over the past 12 months. All evidence indicates their mode of attack, was the Fulani herdsmen. 

This was a slaughter of innocents indelibly linked to the Northern agenda.

Nasir El rufai smokescreen

How quickly we forget. And as the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai knows better than most, how effective the smokescreen that can be blown up around atrocities with falsehoods, knowing they will be fanned by useful idiots on both far right and far left.

After the tremors of 2016, our own nation stares nervously at the year ahead. This will be a testing time for the people of Southern Kaduna, who in the hope of peace moves are struggling to define herself in a precarious state. At the same time they must stand firm in a potentially-lonely stance against the Northern invaders, who seeks to poison our liberal values.

As last year ended we saw clearly the challenge posed by an ignominious, inglorious, opprobrious governor who in less than two weeks, in a bid to protect his kinsmen accused foreigners for the invasion and later accused the Ijaws for the atrocities perpetrated by his kinsmen. This led to a rebuttal by the Ijaw youth Council.

Is El rufai a governor whose rule is etched in blood?

Buhari’s Silence                                         

The silence of the Federal Government in regards of the murderous act of his kinsmen is alarming. The governor of Kaduna State and the Federal government are designated by the Constitution as the “Chief Executives” and “Chief Security Officers” of their states. It is for this reason that they arrogate to themselves billions of naira worth of “security votes” every year.

The Federal government silence reflects and conveys nothing but unadulterated hate and pure venom against the people of Southern Kaduna and the entire Southern region, which only help sour the murderous intent of his Fulani brothers. No wonder the statement credited to the Presidency in the face of strong opposition of his silence stance on the matter was more of an insult to the Nigerian populace and I quote, “the Federal Government doesn’t need to say something because the Kaduna State Government is on top of the situation.

The question is, has there ever been a time the government is not on top of the situation? Or is the government of France not on top of the situation when faced with terrorist attack that made our beloved President to send condolence?

Take that stand now and fight 

                                                     

This homicidal disposition and ethnic sentiments among the Northern Elites is beyond human comprehension. No wonder Ariyo Raphael Daro-Atoye once said, “The buhari regime is on a conquest mission. It is not hiding its intention because it believes our strong hold has been spiritual damaged. What is going on has a spiritual precursor. They don’t fight in the ordinary alone. The reason the Middle belt is under siege is because they have been spiritually decimated. They have to pray and fight.”

Yes they have to pray and fight. Fight for the defense of your right. Fight for the defense of your ancestral home. Fight for the defense of those you care about because even the constitution acknowledges self-defense. But when oh! When will the people of Southern Kaduna rediscover their gallant nature?

The Middle Belt states are not known for being coward; this is because working for the security agencies appears to be their first choice of profession after farming.  They constitute a sizable element in the security forces today (army, police, DSS, Customs, Prisons, Immigration and other armed services). This same people were used by these Northern elements during the Nigeria Civil and they played a gallant role.  How could such a people renowned for their gallant roles in defending the nation fall so short when armed invaders, for over ten years now, have been threatening their people with extinction?. If the Federal Government does not want to protect them, should they lie supine and allow themselves to be obliterated? Is self-defence no longer the first law of nature?

The people of Southern Kaduna was too slow to see the atrocities of the Northern Fulani marauders, hence, owing to the genocide and carnage that they are subjected to, I boldly say that they must stand up to the Northern Fulani militia men or risk been annihilated from the surface of the earth while watching the impotent Federal Government who has failed woefully to discharge its constitutional duties.

They must take a lonely stand now and defend themselves.

Odoh E. Justus is a writer and entrepreneur, writes from Bayelsa State.