A militant group with a camp in Bayelsa State, the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), yesterday joined in the battle of credibility ranging among militia groups in the region over the purportedly 30-day ultimatum issued by a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to the Federal Government on the continued detention of Mr. Henry Okah.
Also, the group stated with emphasis that the next civil war may be ignited by the continued exploitation and marginalization of people of the oil and gas region.
The new leader of the NDPVF, Africa Ukparasia, who disclosed this in an online statement obtained by newsmen in Yenagoa, stated that militants would soon proceed with phase one of its liberation programme, unless the apex government heeded the demand for Okah’s release on bail and publicly face trial to enable the international community watch the proceedings.
The phase one of the liberation struggle, according to the statement, entails “the demolition of all oil installations in the Niger Delta,” before proceeding to ignite civil war by any means to free the region from internal colonialism which presently holds sway.
Among the grievances of the NDPVF is the “continual assassination of innocent citizens of the Niger Delta” by the men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the guise of security.
They also view the recent shake-up in the military which saw the removal of a son of the Niger Delta, General Andrew Owoye Azazi as Chief of Defense Staff, as another form of marginalization of Ijaw people.
The group also listed the ceding of the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon as criminal and tantamount to official treason.
The militant leader said that no amount of intimidation, black mail or threat to the existence of the Ijaw people can deter them from pursuing the cause of freeing the region from all forms of oppression.
NDPVF also condemned criminality by some groups in the region in the name of freedom fighting, describing it as an attempt to frustrate their gallant efforts to send the right message about an oppressed people.
Like the late Isaac Boro, the group expressed faith that Nigeria is their country and is always willing to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.