Militants threaten to launch six missiles in Niger Delta

A consolidated group of militants under the aegis of Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) on Thursday threatened to launch six missiles in the Niger Delta region, The Nation reports. The group said it would commence the testing of its six missiles which would last for three days on June 7.




Though it did not disclose the nature of the missiles, it warned that no airplanes should fly in and out of the country within the period, claiming that the weapons were capable of hitting any object despite its size. It said its fighters trained for that purpose had already arrived the region with its foreign partners through what it described as the country’s porous borders.

The group in an electronic statement said it took the decision to further wreck havoc in the region in a meeting attended in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by its commanders. The militant group said Bayelsa State not Delta State is the command base of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and warned the Commissioner of Information and Orientation in Bayelsa, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite to stop criticizing NDA.

The group in the statement which repeatedly referred to President Muhammadu Buhari as “Pharoh”, said the highest organ of JNDLF, the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) concluded that the launching of the missiles would signal its readiness for the final breakup of the country.

Niger Delta Avengers Threatened Buhari With Death Warrant Ahead Of Visit To Oil Region

A rebel group has threatened to kill Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari if he follows through on a planned trip to the oil-rich Niger Delta region. The Niger Delta Avengers warned in a statement Wednesday that they would kill Buhari or any of his representatives if the trip goes as scheduled after the Nigerian military reportedly killed some of their members, International Business Times reports




The revolt in southern Nigeria has gained ground as the military has been busy fighting the Islamic extremist insurgency by Boko Haram in the northeast. Buhari is expected to visit the Delta Thursday, weeks after the Avengers blew up a major Chevron-operated offshore oil platform in the region. The attack partially halted oil production, forcing Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell to shut down at least two plants that produce more than 35,000 barrels per day.

"This is Niger Delta Avengers. ... The army will hear from us, you are all monsters but you must pay," said a statement the group released Wednesday. "Buhari do not step your foot in our land because we heard you want to visit Ogoni land. Before coming, you should sign your death warrant because we will kill you. If you don’t come and decide to send representatives, you should also sign their death warrant. Any Niger Delta elder working against our people should also sign their death warrant."

The Niger Delta Avengers are supporters and former rebels of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which was known for attacking pipelines and facilities in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern swampland until a peace deal in 2009. Buhari reportedly upset the rebels after taking office a year ago by ending generous pipeline protection contracts.

“The Avengers may not be a defined group of people, except for a core of maybe 100-150 people or so,” Dirk Steffen, from the Denmark-based Risk Intelligence firm, told Agence France-Presse.

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Supporter of OBJ's 3rd-term agenda, Sen. Hambagda is dead

Omar Hambagda‎, an ex-senator from Borno south senatorial district, has died, the Nigerian Senate has confirmed. Ali Ndume, Senate leader, had raised a point of order today, June 1, to announce the passing of Hambagda, who was in the fifth and sixth Senate. Senator Omar Hambagda, a staunch supporter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third-term agenda, died on Democracy Day, May 29, at age 67.




Born July 28, 1949, Hambagda chaired a subcommittee of the National Assembly constitution review panel in 2005-2006, that initiated the third term clause, which would have given former president Olusegun Obasanjo a chance to run for a third term in 2007.

The deceased was survived by a wife and 16 children. Meanwhile, Senate President Bukola Saraki has said that the Senate would work out an internal mechanism of aiding ex-members. Saraki’s remarks comes after a complain from James Manager, the senator representing Delta South Senatorial District at the National Assembly that the Late Omar Hambagda was not well taken care of after he left the Senate.