The federal government and militant
groups in the Niger Delta, including the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA),
which has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on oil and gas
installations in recent months, have agreed to a 30-day truce to give
President Muhammadu Buhari time to come up with a comprehensive plan for
the oil-rich region, investigations by THISDAY have revealed.
The “30 days of quiet” was said to have
been agreed upon last week by a federal government team led by the
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and
representatives of the militant groups, community leaders and the state
governments.
According to a source who opened up on
the 30-day period of truce, Kachikwu was said to have reached out to the
militants through back channels and pleaded for some time for the
Buhari administration to come up with a comprehensive Niger Delta plan
that would address most of their demands.
The militant groups, the source said,
accepted Kachikwu’s plea, adding that since the agreement was reached
there had been no attacks on oil and gas installations in the oil-rich
region.
“You would have noticed that there have been no bombings of oil assets in recent days. This is the fall out of the 30 days of quiet reached with the minister and his team.“This will give the president time to come up with a comprehensive plan for the Niger Delta,” the source informed THISDAY.
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