Police Warn Avengers Over October 1 Secession Plans, Threaten Treason Charges

Police Warn Avengers Over October 1 Secession Plans, Threaten Treason Charges

The Police have warned the Niger Delta Avengers over its decision to announce a secession from Nigeria on October 1, describing the act as a treasonable offence.

This was made known by the Force Public Relations Officer, Donald Awunah, who enjoined the militants to seek legal means to address their grievances rather than engage in acts of lawlessness.

The Niger Delta Avengers on Thursday threatened that it will declare a Niger Delta Republic on Nigeria’s Independence Day (October 1), should President Muhammadu Buhari fail to effect plans to restructure the country.

However, Awunah warned the militant group not to dare the might of the Federal Government by going ahead with such a provocative plan.

“I believe they (militants) know that it is a treasonable felony to declare a republic. The police and other security agencies will not allow any treasonable action to be perpetrated in any part of the country. They have been warned.”

Meanwhile, the NDA, which has claimed responsibility for most of the major attacks on oil installations over the past months, said they earnestly want the Buhari-led Federal Government to discover oil in commercial quantity in the northern part of the country so as to ease the oppression in the Niger Delta region.

Mudoch Agbinibo, spokesman for the group, stated this on Thursday in reaction to President Buhari’s latest order directing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to intensify oil exploration in the North-East.

The NDA stressed that the country was in dire need of restructuring, accusing the present government of divisiveness through her ‘misdirected policies.’

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

“The Buhari-led government has failed Nigerians with its misdirected policies that have divided the country. As such, nobody wants to be part of that failed state; not even the Niger Delta.

“The October 1 declaration of independence is still sacrosanct, if the Nigerian government fails to retrace its step by restructuring this country.

“We want to warn the general public and those using the NDA to defraud the  people, the days of reckoning are close-by.”