You can win battles but not the oil war, Avengers tell Buhari

Militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, has told president Muhammadu Buhari that no amount of military operation in the oil-rich region can quell the agitation therein.

The Avengers informed the president that the Nigerian military cannot win the “oil war” in the Niger Delta because the locals know the secret of the terrain better than them.

In a statement released on Monday, Mudoch Agbinibo, spokeperson for the Avengers, said: “We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to put away the garb of a stooge to the imperialists, whenever he speaks outside Nigeria.

“We have listened carefully and halted hostilities in the Niger Delta; we expect a genuine and positive attitude to restructuring and self-determination for every component unit of Nigeria.

“Dear president, what makes those countries (Japan, Germany, France, USA, Britain etc.) great is the ability of their governments to accommodate internal protestations and conflicts for the greater good of their nations over the years.

“Please stop presenting your government as pawn to the web of military industrialists complex, whenever you leave the shores of Nigeria.

“Nigeria is not a one-man personal property we must have these talks every time if this union must continue to work as one. The people of the Niger Delta have been living here from time immemorial, so we have the secret of the terrain and survival of amphibious operations.

“No amount of troop surge and simulation exercises will make you win the oil war, you can only win battles. You cannot apply the might of the state to restore the people’s confidence in your leadership when you cannot differentiate between genuine demands and being mismanaged by disorganized characters and tribal lords around you in your government that are playing the court jesters role as well as counting the days that is left in your four years term.

The militant group further noted that it is ironic that the code name of the Niger Delta operation is “Operation Crocodile Smiles” and alleged that the Nigerian military has a predetermined agenda to carry out genocide in the region.

“You can deceive the whole world but We cannot be deceived by the so glamorized ongoing military operations in the creeks Of Ijaw communities in the Delta coded “Operation Crocodile Smiles”.

“The world should know that with your pronouncement in Kenya and your attitude to the military build up in the Niger Delta, it is crystal clear that the military has nothing less than a pre-determined genocide in Niger Delta and burn more already scared national resources to the pockets of those that have failed to locate the missing Chiboks School Girls.

“Conclusively, dear President Muhammadu Buhari please also tell those foreign nations that you are always at ease talking to, while refusing to listen to Nigerians that your troops are about to carrying out extra judicial killings in the Niger Delta in violation of article four of the Geneva Convention with “operation crocodile smiles”.

“All sane minds knows the meaning of “crocodile tears” so by code-naming your military operation crocodile smiles only betrays your motives and attitude to the whole world about the Niger Delta question. The whole world will surely applaud you in The Hague when you leave office. This is not the Nigeria and the world of the 1980s and 1990s under General Sani Abacha and your watch.”