The Niger Delta Avengers have threatened to halt crude oil flow from the Niger Delta and cripple the economy if President Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected.
The group who said this on Thursday decried what it described as the “continuous criminal exploitation and exploration of our natural resources that engender the underdevelopment of the Niger Delta.”
The group, which has been demanding a greater share of the oil revenue produced in the region, said in a statement that it had adopted the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, as its preferred choice.
“We are adopting Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the sole candidate to be voted for by all the people of the Niger Delta as a result of his political ideology, which is in tandem with our agitation for equitable and fair principles of federalism,” it said.
The NDA, in a statement posted on its website, warned that if Buhari was re-elected, there would be “a perpetual recession for Nigeria.”
Atiku has proposed to devolve more power to regions in a policy dubbed “restructuring” that would give states greater control over their finances.
The NDA said, “The High Command of the Niger Delta Avengers is convinced that when elected, the government of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will not only restructure Nigeria but will reverse the inimical ownership rights to natural resources…”
The militants said that if elected, Atiku should start a “restructuring of Nigeria” within six months to forestall further agitation from the Niger Delta.
They warned members of the international community, multinational corporations and their subsidiaries to withdraw their workforce and services from the Niger Delta within the period of the elections in order “not to be casualties to the ongoing provocation in the Niger Delta by the Nigerian Military.”
