The Niger Delta Avengers, on Saturday, dismissed claims by the Nigerian Navy that two of its members had been arrested.
The NDA claimed that the suspects
arrested by the navy, Felix Ebiador, and another person identified as
David, were not its members.
The militant group through a statement
by its spokesperson, Mudoch Agbinibo, added that its members were
intact, and that the Navy could not arrest any of them because they have
superior weapons..
It will be recalled that two suspected
members of the Niger Delta Avengers, who were arrested on July 10, 2016
were on Friday paraded in Delta State.
They were said to have been apprehended
with new 11 vehicle batteries and electric cables allegedly used for
bombing oil and gas pipelines in the state.
But the NDA insisted that the Commanding
Officer, NNS Delta, Commodore Joseph Dzunve, was trying to please the
Chief Naval Staff, Vice Admiral, Ibok-Ete Ibas, with the claims and to
give the impression that he was working.
The militant group in a statement
titled, ‘Stop going after soft targets’ also described the two persons
arrested by the Navy as innocent, and alleged that the Nigerian Navy was
incapable of policing the nation’s maritime space.
The statement read in part, “From the
media reports, it is clear that the Commanding Officer, NNS Delta,
Commodore Joseph Dzunve, has lost his sense of professionalism. How are
those innocent boys connected to NDA?
“We don’t know Prince David and Felix
Ebiador; they are not part of us. All NDA operatives are intact. No
security operative has arrested any of our members. What the commanding
officer is doing is to please his boss that he is working.
“Must he connect innocent people to us?
Very soon, the general public will know the truth about the Nigerian
military, especially the Nigerian Navy that specialises in illegal oil
bunkering.
“Stop arresting innocent people in the
name of looking for NDA operatives. It’s obvious that the Nigeria Navy
is incapable of policing the Nigerian maritime space.
“Even the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice
Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, made it clear while briefing the Senate that
Nigerian Navy was ill-equipped to match the Niger Delta Avengers. So how
can the well-trained NDA members bring themselves so low to be arrested
by the Nigerian Navy?
“They should follow the path of honour
and morality by telling their Commander-in-Chief the truth instead of
arresting innocent civilians and tagging them as NDA operatives. The
days of wire and battery are over; we are far advance in guerilla
warfare.”
The NDA called on the Federal Government
to accede to its demand for self-determination, adding that everybody
was tired of Nigeria as a country.
It stated that the group would only
embrace the option of a dialogue with the Federal Government if the
parley were done with representatives of the international community in
attendance.
The NDA said, “Government should heed
our demand of self-determination. Mr. President, everybody is tired of
this thing called Nigeria. The ship called Nigeria is grounded right now
and you are so confused.
“You lied to your foreign allies, your
citizens on daily basis. Mr. President, you even lie to yourself. Even
if we are going to dialogue, it will be in the presence of the
international community.”
The NDA said it should not be associated with Chief Government Ekpumopolo, also known as Tompolo, describing him as an enemy.
It alleged that the Federal Government
was engaging people to sabotage the struggle of liberating the people of
the oil rich region, and that those contacted were taking part in
pipeline bombing through members of the defunct Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
The statement added, “With an open
confession by the criminals that they are paid to sabotage the Niger
Delta struggle. Yet, the DSS is shielding these criminals because they
(are) working against the interest of the Niger Delta people.
“The NDA has not shared (shed) any blood; or partake in sea piracy, hostage taking. That is not our style.”
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