Fear of fresh recession looms following threats by Niger Delta Avengers

macfranc007 November 11, 2017 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Kess Ewubare

- Chairman of PENGASSAN, Chika Onuegbu, warns that any fresh attack on oil installation could plunge the country’s economy into recession

- Human rights activist, Ann Kio-Briggs, calls on the government to take the threats by the militants seriously

- The Nigerian Navy deploys military hardware including 20 patrol boats to the Niger Delta region

Some prominent Nigerians have advised the federal government to dialogue with the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) in order to prevent the country’s economy from relapsing into another recession.

Among those who called on the government to take cautious proactive steps over the threats by the militants to resume attacks was Chika Onuegbu, the chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Joint National Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

Onuegbu warned that fresh attack on oil installations could plunge the country’s economy into recession, the Guardian reports.

He said: “The threat, if carried out, will be very disastrous for the economy. If you look at the president’s budget speech that explained our recovery from recession, you will see the role played by oil, based on the fact that production has been relatively stable as a result of the understanding reached with the people of the Niger Delta.

“If the militants renege on that and begin to attack oil installations, it means that oil and gas production and revenue of the country and the investors confidence will be impacted and all these will take the country back recession,”

Similarly, human rights activist, Ann Kio-Briggs, called on the government to take the threats by the militants seriously.

She warned that the failure by the government to take the threats seriously could have negative effect on the economy.

“If you say you won’t take them seriously and you ignore the threat and something happens, then it will affect the economy and the environment.

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“If it will affect the economy, it will be foolish for any government to ignore anything that will threaten the economy,” she said.

Briggs however cautioned against the mass deployment of troops in the Niger Delta by the federal government, stating that instead of resorting to a show of force that might further aggravate the situation, the government should address the demands of the region.

On his part, a former president of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Kimse Okoko, stated that it was federal government’s insincerity over the demands of the people of the area that was responsible for the fresh threat by the NDA.

He advised the government to be sincere enough and pay attention to the needs of the people in the region to avoid agitation from militants.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Navy has deployed military hardware including 20 patrol boats to the Niger Delta region, following the threat made by the Niger Delta Avengers, to resume hostilities, New Telegraph reports.

The development was made public by Navy Captain Suleman Dahun, Acting Director of Information.

NAIJ.com gathers that Dahum disclosed that 16 locally constructed Epenal and four Rigid Hall boats are to be inducted in order to stem the tide of crude oil theft, sea piracy, and other coastal crimes.

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