Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, over the weekend via his
twitter handle, announced that he held talks with members of the
militant group, Niger Delta Avengers. Speaking to a selected group of
journalists at the end of a stakeholder’s meeting of the Southern
senatorial zone of Plateau State on Saturday July 16th, Dalung said he
took a two-hour journey on the sea to Oporoza in Gbaramatu kingdom in
Delta state last Wednesday July 13th where he met with the leadership of
the NDA who gave him a sealed hand-written letter to deliver to
President Muhammadu Buhari.
“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. As a youth minister, I know the Avengers are mostly
youths who have potentials to be great citizens of this country.”
Dalung stated that after meeting with the communities, he was escorted
by the Niger Delta ambassadors to the leadership of Avengers who gave
him a hand-written letter specifying their demands which he said he was
yet to present to the President. According to him, members of the
militant group raised three important issues
“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. 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.”he said
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