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On the morning of the 1st of October 1960, Nigerians celebrated their freedom from British colonial rule. Now, 56 years later, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) group hopes to recreate this for the Niger Delta region by seceding from the rest of Nigeria. How they intend to do this remains unclear but, one established fact is that President Buhari will not rest on the country’s oars and watch it disintegrate. Rather, he is prepared to use every single governmental structure available to retain Nigeria’s sovereignty which he swore to protect. Is a repeat of the 1967 Biafran war on the horizon? No one can say, really, until the 1st of October this year. In the meantime, there is a need to understand how the Niger Delta Avengers have since positioned themselves in the oil rich region, and how they can now demand a republic of their own.
What you may not know about the Niger Delta Avengers
The Niger Delta Avengers pride themselves on being “a group of young Niger Deltans who have support from other [western, northern and eastern] parts of Nigeria.” They also call themselves educated and well-travelled, stating that most of them “were educated in eastern Europe.” They do not have any recognised leadership, except for one ‘Brig. Gen. Mudoch Agbinibo’ who signs most of the statements published on their website. Statements and announcements of their attacks are usually made via their website. The Avengers had aTwitter handle before now, but it was shut down by Twitter about a month ago because the account violated some of the social media platform’s rules. According to a statement from the group, they are displeased with the way President Muhammadu Buhari is running the country and will not stop until their demands are met. The militants operate in teams and they have up to nine ‘Strike Teams’ spread across states, including Rivers, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom.
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