Nigeria ready to meet with militants

LAGOS, November 7, 2017 – The Nigerian government is willing to meet with the Niger Delta Avengers, the minister representing the oil-rich region announced Monday.

“If the Avengers wants to meet with us, we are ready to meet with them … We are at all times ready to engage them and other groups and stakeholders,” Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Usani Uguru Usani said. “My message to the Avengers is that they should be patient with the government. We have been doing what we can to ensure the development of the region. Everything has a phase of planning and a phase of execution so I will advise all stakeholders to remain calm.”

The militant group called off their year-long ceasefire on Friday. Over the several months of its previous “Operation Red Economy” campaign, militants attacked oil facilities of Chevron, Shell and ExxonMobil, lowering Nigeria’s oil production to 1.4 million bopd in May 2016. In response, the government has been holding negotiations with the Pan-Nigeria Delta Forum (Pandef), resulting in the government pledging a series of measures in August 2017.

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