Tension In Niger Delta As New Militant Group Threatens

– A new militant group named the Red Egbesu Water Lions has emerged in the Niger Delta
– The group has threatened the President Buhari-led administration
– A 7-day ultimatum has been given to the Nigerian government

In a statement by its Creek Network Coordinator, “General” Torunanawei Latei, on Wednesday, the new militant group vowed to work with the Niger Delta Avengers and Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, to ensure that all their demands were met in the next seven days. Among others, the group demanded the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader and the discharge of former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki from prison custody. It also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to defreeze the bank accounts of ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo. 

 

The Red Egbesu Water Lions, said to be an Ijaw group, threatened to shut down all oil exploration activities in the Niger Delta at the expiration of the ultimatum if the president ignores the group’s demands. This Day reports that as part of its requests which must be met in the next one week, the group called for the “unconditional and immediate payment to victims of the Bonga Oil Spill and Chevron gas explosion in Koluama, Bayelsa state”. 

 

While decrying the alleged lawlessness of the Buhari-led federal government, the Ijaw group argued that the government was becoming notorious for deliberate disobedience to court orders. 

 

“It is extremely important to note that the engine room of the national interest is the executive obedience to court orders, protection and preservation of citizens’ constitutional liberties. 

 

“Justification of executive disobedience to court orders as a protection of national interest is abominable. 

 

“This is a deliberate ploy to bend the law and suspend the 1999 Constitution. We ask, does President Muhammadu Buhari have any legal capacity to declare anyone as a criminal? Disobedience to court orders is an act of executive rascality in the country,” 

 

the group contended. It still isn’t clear as at Wednesday, May 18, whether it was a resurrection of the Egbesu Mightier Fraternity Of Izon (Ijaw) Land and The Water Lion, a group which became prominent five years ago when its members threatened to eject people of northern origin from the region when the Boko Haram sect started attacking Christians in the Northeast. In the same vein, reports have emanated that militants operating in the Niger Delta have launched a fresh attack in the region, blowing up a gas pipeline operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) at Ogbembiri in southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa state. The latest attack on the pipeline occurred on Sunday, May 15, at about 9pm when the militants stormed the community, traced the pipeline and ruptured it at the same point where it had been repaired after a previous attack. Some sources in the community said dynamites were used to blow up the pipeline, while others said the gunmen deployed other mechanical devices to rupture the line along the axis. This latest attack has fueled questions within the community over why security agencies saddled with the responsibility of protecting oil installations are unable to stop the frequent breaches. Joe Igbokwe, chairman of the Lagos Wharf Landing Fee Collecting Authority and publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has predicted that a bloody war imminent in the Niger Delta. The scribe has said that unless senior citizens of the Niger Delta and patriots rise now to talk sense into the empty heads of the people that call themselves the Avengers and the concerned militant leaders, a full-scale war is imminent in the Niger Delta, and it is going to be bloody and destructive. Similarly, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, a former governor of Anambra state, has warned President Muhammadu Buhari that any attempt to crush Niger Delta militants may spell doom for Nigeria. Speaking with Daily Sun, the ex-governor advised the president to engage militants and other aggrieved people from the South-South and South-East in dialogue. Commenting on the recent the reawakening of the Niger Delta militants, Ezeife said: 

 

“Buhari might have conquered Boko Haram but, the Niger Delta may spell doom for the country if the language the president is using is crush them.”