Niger Delta Avengers say they'll declare Independence, Oct. 1

Niger Delta Avengers, a group giving mixed signals regarding dialogue with the federal government, has vowed to declare the Niger Delta region an independent entity on October 1, 2016.

Ballantyne Agiri, “spokesman” for the dialogue group of the Avengers, had indicated the readiness of the group to engage the federal government in dialogue in order to resolve the lingering crisis.

But Mudoch Agbinibo, spokesman of the Avengers, denied the report while saying that "Ballantyne Agiri" was not authorised to speak for the militant group.

In a statement released by Avengers on Thursday, Agbinibo claimed the Niger Delta no longer wants to be part of Nigeria.

“Our prayer for Buhari and the Northern hypocrite (Northern Governors) is that oil should be found in commercial quantity in the North, so they can let the Niger Delta go.

“The Buhari-led government has fail Nigerians with their misdirected policies that has divide the country, as such nobody wants to be part of that failed state not even the Niger Delta.

“The October 1st, declaration of independence is still sacrosanct. If the Nigeria government fails to retrace it’s step by restructuring this country, we want to warn the general public that the day of reckoning is close for those using NDA to defraud people.”

A similar statement released by the Avengers in May 2016 had said that “by October 2016 we will display our Currency, Flag, Passport, our ruling Council and our Territory to the world."