Barely 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari presented the olive branch to Niger Delta militants, the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) has accused some forces in and out of government of frustrating his peace efforts.

The President had on Sunday while receiving a delegation of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) residents led by the Minister, Mallam Muhammed Bello, who paid him a Christmas homage, appealed to the militants to sheathe their swords.

Buhari said negotiation was the best option to decide how resources could be managed, instead of picking up arms.

But reacting yesterday in a statement, the JRF said Buhari should hold Fifth Columnists responsible for the inability of the government to achieve the desired peace in Niger Delta.

JRC noted that peace would have been achieved in the region if some inner members of the Buhari government had not preferred to deal with merchants instead of genuine militants.

Whtye, in the statement titled “Separate the wheat from the chaff and the boys would listen”, said it does not represent the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), but genuine militants interested in peace in the region.

“We received your message of a willingness to talk to agitating units within the Niger Delta struggle with good faith. However, we are burdened by the fact that in the past few month of your administration, certain agents within your administration have shown a preference to dialogue with conmen, conflict entrepreneurs, drivers of extortionist enterprises and wholesale blackmailers. It is for this reason that your pursuit of peace has failed. If you truly seek peace with the Niger Delta, then peace shall come.

“This is the official email address of the Joint Revolutionary Council. This is the same email address we have used since 2005. We do not speak for the Avengers. We do not speak for MEND. MEND is dead. We are just a few people who speak for ourselves, but you may come to see that our word may just be our bond. We do not need a roundtable. Sometimes, just two chairs are enough. Peace is possible even though negotiable. The end of the end might just be about to begin,” the JRF said.

The crisis in the Niger Delta region had adversely affected the nation’s economy with many job cuts being reported in various sectors of the economy.

The National Bureau of Statistics revealed recently that 1.7 million Nigerians have lost their jobs in nine months of this year due to the economy downturn. (Daily Sun)

•Niger Delta militants.

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