New militant group emerges, demands 60% oil bloc
A new militant group, Ultimate Warriors
of Niger Delta, has emerged with a threat to continue to attack oil and
gas facilities across the Niger Delta region unless the Nigerian
government agreed to award 60 per cent oil blocs to the people of the
region.
The new group which spoke for the very
first time on Wednesday also demanded that the federal government allow
the $16 billion Export Processing Zone otherwise called Delta Gas City
project begin operations in earnest.
It, however, gave the government a
two-week ultimatum to ensure that their demands were adequately met for a
lasting ceasefire in the region.
Spokesperson of Ultimate Warrior, as it
chose to be addressed, Sibiri Taiowoh, in a statement obtained by our
correspondent, said if the FG truly wants peace in the region, it should
award 60 per cent oil bloc to indigenous people from the region as its
primary demand for a ceasefire.
The group further asked for commencement
of academic activities at Federal Maritime University established
during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Warning further, it said failure to meet
its demands, would warrant total shutting down of vital oil facilities
including Chevron BOP, Okan Platform, MEREN Gas Gathering Compression
Platform and Chevron Tank Farm.
The statement added, “We are also behind
the recent pipeline bombing in the Niger Delta region and I can assure
you we will not stop until the EPZ project and the Maritime University
are totally completed and start operations.
“We want to be the ones to be safe
guarding oil pipeline in our area so as to create more jobs for our
people. We would resist any attempt to give surveillance contracts of
pipeline in our backyard to foreigners. We want the pipeline jobs to be
given to our indigenous people.”
“We also want 60 per cent of the oil
blocs to be allocated to the Niger Deltans just as the Federal
Government has also allocated 80 per cent to those who are not from the
oil producing area and just as 50 per cent of the resource was used to
develop the non-oil area when we were producing cocoa and groundnut as
main economic resources, the same 50 percent should be use to develop
the Niger Delta region because we are the ones suffering the brunt of
oil pollution and degradation in the region”, it further added.
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