Nigerian militants warn residents to vacate oil facilities

             

A war is brewing in the Niger Delta region after militants warned residents living near oil and gas facilities to vacate the area in order to ensure their own safety.

According to Naij, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate (NDGJM) revealed that it had planted explosives in several marked oil facilities, with detonation being delayed due to civilians still being present in the area.

"One more time, we are warning and at the same time appealing to residents around major oil and gas facilities across our region to please evacuate immediately.

“All the marked facilities in all the states have been rigged with explosives at strategic points, waiting to be detonated," the group was quoted as saying in a statement. 

The group also warned the Nigerian government of lies being spread by Chief Edwin Clark, a former federal minister of information who had previously been elected to lead a negotiation between the militants in the region and officials from the government.

NDGJM has since stated that a ceasefire declared by Clark was yet "another charade" and should be ignored, Sun News Online reported.

The group claimed that it had no reason to halt its assault on oil facilities in the Niger Delta at the current moment, due to the government not responding to its multiple demands.

NDGJM claimed a recent attack on a major trunk line operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company in Isoko.

The attack allegedly came about as a result of the government's decision to concentrate on militants from a different ethnic group, the Ijaws, and its dialogue plans, subsequently ignoring other groups in the region.