The Niger Delta Avengers have denied being part of a one-month ceasefire agreement with the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Sources at the Petroleum Ministry had earlier claimed the federal government has agreed to a one-month ceasefire with militant groups in the Niger Delta.
The deal was reported to include the Niger Delta Avengers, a group, which has claimed responsibility for a string of attacks.
A petroleum ministry official said the Avengers, who have claimed responsibility for most attacks in the last few weeks that have pushed Nigeria’s crude output to 30-year lows, were among those who agreed to a truce.
“It was very difficult getting the Niger Delta Avengers to the negotiating table, but we eventually did through a proxy channel and achieved the truce,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. A second government official also said that a ceasefire was agreed.
But hours later the Avengers issued a statement on Twitter denying that it had an agreement with the government.
“The NDA High Command never remember having any agreement on ceasefire with the Nigeria government,” said the group.
The group had stated a number of conditions that it expects the Nigerian government to meet before it would engage in any form of dialogue.
The group is requesting that the home countries of international oil companies operating in the Niger Delta must be involved in the peace process.
It also said that the sincerity of the Nigerian government was paramount and would be a major factor that would determine if its call for dialogue would be successful or not.
The group has also warned the government, oil companies and their service firms not to carry out any repair works and suspend the buying of crude oil from the Niger Delta region pending the creation of “the right atmosphere that will engender genuine dialogue”.
