Mili tants in the Niger Delta region have issued a three day ultimatum to the Nigeria Agip Oil Company, (NAOC) and Saipem to leave the area.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) had earlier suspended attack on the oil installations in the region but decided to resume hostilities based on the alleged Italian government collaboration with the federal government to supply combat craft with a view to dislodging militants from the mangrove swamp.
But one of the militant leaders operating in Bayelsa creek, General Africa Ukparasia who claimed to be MEND leader in a statement said the Italian government’s plan to assist the Nigerian Armed Forces with two sophisticated gunboats to combat militancy would be resisted.
The statement reads in part, “Federal Government bid to only protect oil facilities in the oil rich Niger Delta and neglect the people who daily suffer the pains of degradation and oil exploitation is tantamount to official treason”, more so when it is done in collaboration with foreign countries.
“It is the duty of the federal government to protect its citizens from foreign aggression, but the story is different in our country.
“As a result, the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, (NAOC) and Saipem whose interests the Italian government has sought to protect are by this notice given a 3-day ultimatum to quit the Niger Delta region.””