Senior Army Officers have contacted Niger Delta militants on plans to overthrow the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force, NDLF, alleged on Wednesday.
In a statement, the NDLF said the senior officers have been encouraging the militants to intensify bombing of oil facilities in the Niger Delta so as to have basis to overthrow the government.
However, the group said it turned down the plan as it was not in line with the motives for their agitation.
The statement by the Commander, General Duties, Joint Revolutionary Council, JRC, of JNDLF, General Akotebe Darikoro reads:
“We are constrained to let the cat out of the bag today that President Buhari should be wary about the security of this country as some military men are making moves to remove him from power by instigating civil unrest in the country.
“Some top military men through their civil agents approached us to cause and continue the vandalization of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta region to serve as an excuse to take over the government from democracy to military rule in the country.
“We said no, as such plan is not in conformity with our genuine desire of agitation. The military want to disgrace him now and let him quickly look into the issues and make pronouncement for his administration to be in peace.
“Let the President analyze certain memo from the military concerning Niger Delta region before taking actions, otherwise the military will use that as a platform to remove him.
“We know that the issue of Niger Delta is political and we prefer political solution to resolve it, but if the president refuses, that is not our problem.
“Since some military men want to use various agitations in the country and the President’s probing of the military, which they said exposes the respected uniformed personnel to disrepute and ridicule before the civilian populaces as an excuse to strike.
“We received several calls from unknown persons to persuade us to continue the bombing and that when they succeed in overthrowing the government, we will be in a better position.
“We said capital no, when asked of their names, they said they are above Major General level. They refused to disclose their names but their intonation seemed like Yoruba and Hausa.
“Our agitation is not for selfish interest but for the overall benefit of the Niger Delta region. We will not kidnap any person or kill expatriate in the country but will continue our agitation with clear determination to actualize our cause in Nigeria.”
The militant group, Niger Delta Avengers has been bombing oil facilities in the Niger Delta but recently appears to be ready for dialogue with the federal government.
