“Northerners living in the Niger Delta should leave before October 1st” – Niger Delta Militants

A coalition of Niger Delta militant groups has on Thursday ordered all northerners out of the region before the 1st of October, 2017, Daily Trust reports.

The militant groups, under the aegis of the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators, has complained that none of the leaders of the northern groups who issued a statement ordering Igbos out of the north has been apprehended, despite the call for their arrest.

Signatories to the statement include John Duku (Niger Delta Watchdogs), Ekpo Ekpo (Niger Delta Volunteers), Osarolor Nedam (Niger Delta Warriors), Okon Etete (Niger Delta Peoples Fighters), Asukwo Henshaw (Bakassi Freedom Fighters), Ibinabo Horsfall (Niger Delta Movement for Justice), Duke Emmanson (Niger Delta Fighters Network), Inibeghe Adams (Niger Delta Freedom Mandate), and Ibinabo Tariah (Niger Delta Development Network).

This is coming after the coalition had on last week Friday ordered the Federal Government to handover all oil blocs owned by the northerners to Niger Delta indigenes.

The statement reads:

“As a follow-up on our previous press release, a joint meeting between the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators and youth leaders across the Niger Delta region held today (Thursday) in Port Harcourt to review the state of the Nigerian nation and the position of Niger Delta in the Nigerian state. After hours of deliberation; we hereby resolve as follows:

All northerners living in the Niger Delta have been given three-month notice to quit the Niger Delta before October 1, 2017. We still stand by our previous decisions and we demand the immediate return of the oil blocs owned by northerners to Niger Delta people.

All oil and gas companies operating in oil bloc(s)/well(s) illegally owned by northerners should also vacate such oil blocs/wells/platforms before October 1, 2017.

We demand an immediate relocation of the NNPC headquarters to the Niger Delta and the replacement of the Group Managing Director of the NNPC with an indigene of the Niger Delta region. All offices/boards/agencies that have anything to do with oil and gas should be relocated immediately to the Niger Delta region and all non-Niger Delta directors/staff replaced with Niger Delta indigenes.”