Niger Delta agitators including the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have dismissed the Thursday statement by President Mahammadu Buhari that the Presidency was in touch with the militants in the region.

According to a statement by Brig. Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, spokesperson of NDA, which was made available on Friday to the public in the group’s website, “If there is any such peace talk, it means the President is talking to its mercenaries set to disturb the genuine struggle of the agitators.”

He stated that President Buhari-led government is not sincere to the Nigeria people and its foreign allies, “maintaining that if we are to engage in any peace talk, the international community must be part of it.”

“The truth is that we are not aware of any peace talk. President Buhari knows our demands. So they should stop deceiving the international oil companies, the general public and the international community.”

President Buhari had said on Thursday that his administration was engaged in talks with Niger Delta militants through the oil companies and law-enforcement agencies to find a lasting solution to insecurity in the region.

He stated this when he hosted Mr. Michael Zinner, the outgoing Ambassador of Germany to Nigeria at the State House.

President Buhari said that government was studying the instruments of the Amnesty Programme inherited from the previous administrations with a view to carrying out commitments made that were undelivered.

“We understand their feelings,” the President said adding “We are studying the instruments. We have to secure the environment, otherwise investment will not come. We will do our best for the country.”

Meanwhile, The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has said that President Buhari and the Federal Government should stop deceiving Nigerians and the international community about talks with Niger Delta militants on how to stop attacks in the oil facilities in the Niger Delta region.

According to Eric Omare, Secretary, IYC, it is highly ridiculous and laughable for President Buhari to say that his government is negotiating with Niger Delta militants through oil companies and law enforcement agencies during the farewell audience with Mr. Michael Zinner, the outgoing Ambassador to Germany on Thursday, on July 21, 2016.

“It is even embarrassing for the President of an independent nation such as Nigeria to say that it is oil companies that are negotiating for peace with Niger Delta agitators which in effect amounts to surrounding the sovereignty of Nigeria to international oil companies.

“The IYC wonders if Nigeria is back to the pre-colonial and independence Royal Niger Company days where international companies govern Nigeria. The point must be made that the issues at stake are completely beyond the capacity of oil companies to resolve.

“For the umpteenth time, the IYC calls on the Aides and Advisers to President Buhari to properly advise him on how to solve the current hostilities in the Niger Delta region and equally display a determination to resolve the problem as his predecessors did.”

“Only a sincere and holistic dialogue with the people of the Niger Delta region which is aimed at addressing the remote causes of recurrent militancy can bring permanent peace to the Niger Delta region. This can only happen when President Buhari as the political leader of Nigeria come down to the negotiation table.”

•Text courtesy of Independent. Photo shows Niger Delta militants.

Update news