The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) said the federal
government is not serious in its supposed
commitment to opening dialogue with the Niger
Delta Avengers (NDA).
IYC President Udengs Eradiri said although a
proper invitation had not been extended to the
IYC, the discordant tune coming from members of
President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet and the
absence of the president at the meeting has
made the IYC lose confidence in the dialogue
process.
The Niger Delta Avengers said while they were
never part of any 30-day ceasefire agreed upon
by militant groups and the federal government,
the NDA would only agree to dialogue if it is open
to an international audience.
In a response to the inquiry of the leadership, the
NDA warned "political jobbers" not to assume the
position of the group on issues of a truce.
“Those canvassing and assuming our position on
truce are on their own, but the NDA will only
agree to dialogue if it’s open to international
audience,” the group said.
On his part, Mr. Eradiri, in an interview with
journalists in Yenagoa, said the dialogue would
not be proper without the president’s
attendance, and the IYC would not join such talks
unless he were present for them.
“I can only attend if the president is present. I
won’t waste my time. When former President
Yardua was negotiating with militants, you could
see it clearly. You saw that it was between the
militants and the federal government’s
negotiating team. There was nothing like the
‘NSA is doing this one and the Defence is doing
another one.’ No,” the IYC leader said.
Mr. Eradiri emphasized that the federal
government was not talking the peace process
seriously.
“There has been no seriousness on the federal
government team. The only seriousness expected
is the president leading the team. If the Ijaw team
and the militants present 10 conditions and the
president declines some, we will believe that is
the correct and true position of the
administration. And we will go back to the table
and plan,” he said.