My Meeting With Niger Delta Avengers - Dalung

Daily Trust reports that the minister of youths and sports had traveled to Oporoza in Gbaramatu kingdom to meet with the militants and described what transpired.

Dalund said he took a two-hour journey on the sea to Oporoza in Gbaramatu kingdom where he met with the leadership of the NDA who gave him a sealed hand-written letter to deliver to President Muhammadu Buhari. He said: “On reaching the community after the two-hour journey on the high sea, I met with the members of the communities who told me that their dream was to be included in the Nigerian project, that the education facilities and other basic social amenities are almost non-existent in the communities. They also raised concern of incessant attacks by the Nigerian Military.”

He revealed he embarked on the journey on Wednesday, July 13 as part of federal government’s commitment to good governance and his strong concern for the Nigerian youths and that “as a youth minister, I know there the Avengers are mostly youths who have potentials to be great citizens of this country.” Dalung said that he was escorted by the Niger Delta ambassadors to the leadership of Avengers who gave him the letter and that although he did not open the sealed letter, they militants raised three key issues with him.

 “The issues include the Niger-Delta Maritime University, pipeline community policing which they said the government had denied them, and the inability of the government to continue with the amnesty programme established by former President Umaru Musa Yarádua Yar’Adua.”

Dalung noted that the level of degradation in the communities is very high and blamed the past administration for being unjust to the Niger Delta communities. “After going round some of the communities, I noticed that government projects were almost non-existent. I saw a secondary school signboard somewhere but the school is yet to be developed, the community has a clinic but still at the foundation level and a borehole that is not functional.”